Out of Town Scoreboard: Oilers gain ground thanks to win over Vegas and Flames win over Kings

Everything fell in the Edmonton Oilers’ favour on Tuesday night as they gained ground on both the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division standings.

Following their win in Arizona over the Coyotes on Monday, the Oilers rolled into Vegas to face a well-rested Golden Knights squad. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins led the way with five points as the Oilers put together a dominant performance in Vegas and earned a 7-4 win. It was the last meeting between the two teams in the regular season and the Oilers won the season series three games to one.

The Kings kicked off a four-game road trip with a tight 2-1 loss in Calgary to the Flames. All three goals were scored in the first period and Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom slammed the door the rest of the way, stopping 32 of the 33 shots that the Kings threw at him. The loss snapped a streak in which the Kings went 12 games without losing in regulation time.

The Oilers are now one point behind the Kings for second in the Pacific Division and they’re three points back of the Golden Knights for the top spot, though both Los Angeles and Vegas have one game in hand on Edmonton. That was also an important win for the Flames as they’re now just two points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

There aren’t any Pacific Division teams in action on Wednesday but Thursday will be another important day for the Oilers. They’re hosting the Kings while the Golden Knights are in San Jose to face the basement-dwelling Sharks.