March 31, 2023 by Eric Friesen

Connor McDavid scored his 300th career NHL goal and Stuart Skinner turned aside all 43 shots he faced, as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 at Rogers Place on Thursday night. The game was reminiscent of the Oilers’ Game 7 victory over the Kings in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Just like in the series-deciding contest last May, Edmonton held a held a 1-0 lead going into the third period, before McDavid provided the dagger. With the victory, the Oilers completed their schedule for March with a 12-2-1 record (setting a franchise record for most wins in one month), and moved past the Kings into second place in the Pacific Division standings.

Since their loss to the Kings on January 9, the Oilers own a league-best 23-5-6 record (.765 points percentage) and are averaging an incredible 4.50 goals for per game. While the Oilers boast the best offence in the entire NHL, their triumph over the Kings was a low-scoring, tight-checking battle between two of the top teams in the Western Conference.

This felt like a playoff game. And these clubs could be headed toward a post-season rematch in less than three weeks. If they do meet in either the first or second round, this very important win could ultimately help Edmonton secure home-ice advantage in the series.

“That’s the type of game you have to play against this team,” Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said in his post-game presser on Thursday. “We know that. We’ve seen a lot of them here over the last, probably, 14 or 15 months. You have to have a level of patience and endurance to your game. It sounds like two different things, but it’s not. It’s understanding how they want the game to be played and trying to negate some of their strengths and waiting for opportunities that present themselves without forcing anything.”

McDavid reaches the 300-goal plateau

Heading into Thursday night’s encounter, McDavid had gone three straight games without finding the back of the net, leaving him stuck on 299 goals for his career. But with an opportunity for the Oilers to leapfrog the Kings in the standings and with his family in attendance, McDavid seemed determined to join the 300-goal club before the night was over.

Just under four minutes into the third period, McDavid grabbed a misguided pass in the defensive zone and was off to the races. The Oilers captain skated in on a shorthanded breakaway and ripped a wrist shot over the blocker of Joonas Korpisalo for his 300th career goal and 61st of the season.

It was his fourth shorthanded goal of season, tying him for the second-most in the league. Though the Kings managed to keep him off the scoresheet through the first 40 minutes, a player of McDavid’s ilk only needs one quality chance to score, and he capitalized on it.

“That was a really good message to send, not only to them, but to everyone, that we can play that patient game and win,” McDavid said on Thursday. “These are the games you’re going to play coming down the stretch into April and May. We’ve got to be comfortable in these games, and we are.”

Related: Connor McDavid joins the 60-goal club in dramatic fashion

McDavid became the 11th-youngest player in NHL history and third-youngest among active players to reach the 300-goal plateau at 26 years and 76 days old. The league’s leading goal-scorer also joined Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Peter Stastny and Bryan Trottier as the only player in NHL history with 300 goals and 500 assists prior to their 600th career NHL game.

McDavid, who wasn’t done making history on this night, also became the first player to ever record five 10-game point streaks in a single season. In addition, he’s currently riding a 19-game home point streak, where he has amassed 36 points (1.89 P/GP). He has picked up at least one point in every home game since the calendar turned to 2023.

Skinner shuts the door

It took 76 games, but an Oilers goalie finally earned a shutout. Skinner produced an outstanding performance against the Kings, coming up with breathtaking saves throughout the entire 60 minutes., including an Adrian Kempe breakaway in the second period.

The rookie netminder set the franchise record for most wins in a month, with 10. Andy Moog (January 1983), Grant Fuhr (December 1988), Tommy Salo (March 2003) and Mike Smith (April 2022) each have recorded nine wins a month with the Oilers.

Skinner registered the second shutout of his career and first on home ice. His 43 saves also tied him with Nikolai Khabibulin for the third-most in franchise history in a shutout. It was the seventh time this season where Skinner has made 40 or more saves in a game.