Oilers’ 5 Most Incredible Stats From Game 1 Win vs. Kings

Coffey did it twice during his time with the Oilers: On May 14, 1985, he had five assists against the Blackhawks to set the NHL record for most assists by a defenceman in a single playoff game; just 11 days later, he had four assists against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the 1985 Stanley Cup Final.

Bouchard became just the 25^th blueliner in NHL playoffs history with at least four assists in a game. The league’s single-game postseason record remains five assists, shared by Coffey and Risto Siltanen.

Connor McDavid: 5 Assists

Edmonton’s captain was credited with five assists on Monday, the most by any player in an NHL playoff game since Geoff Courtnall had five apples for the St. Louis Blues in an 8-3 victory over the Kings on April 23, 1998. McDavid is also the first Oiler with five or more assists in a game since Glenn Anderson in the 1987 Campbell Conference Final against the Detroit Red Wings.

McDavid is just the 14^th player in NHL history to have at least five assists in a playoff game, and joins Anderson, Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky as the only players in Edmonton franchise history with five or more helpers in a postseason game. The NHL playoffs single-game record for assists in six, held by Gretzky and former New York Rangers forward Mikko Leinonen.

Zach Hyman: 3 Goals

Hyman notched his first NHL career playoff hat-trick, scoring once in each period against Los Angeles on Monday. He’s the 13^th different Oiler to score at least three times in a postseason game, and recorded the 32^nd playoff hat trick in franchise history.

What makes Hyman’s performance particularly special is that, at 31 years and 318 days, he is the oldest player in franchise history with three or more goals in a postseason game. The winger is also the 10^th oldest player in NHL history with a hat trick in Game 1 of a Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

Bouchard, Hyman and McDavid: 4+ Points

Hyman also recorded an assist on Monday, giving Edmonton three players with four or more points. Only 15 other times in Stanley Cup Playoff history have three or more teammates totalled at least four points in the same game, most recently on April 14, 2018, when Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak did it for the Boston Bruins in a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1.

This was the fourth time in Oilers franchise history that three players have recorded at least four points in the same game. The last Edmonton teammates to do it were Gretzky, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier, on April 12, 1988, against the Winnipeg Jets.

Bouchard and McDavid: 4+ Assists

Not only do Bouchard and McDavid become the first Oilers to record at least four assists in the same postseason game, but they are also just the fifth pair of teammates in NHL history with four or more assists in the same contest. Bergeron and Marchand were the last to do it, also on April 14, 2018, against Toronto.

Now that Edmonton has exorcised its Game 1 demons, the Oilers will look to take a 2-0 series lead when they host the Kings at Rogers Place again on Wednesday (April 24). They have a much more favourable precedent in the second game of a series, with a record of 7-2 in Game 2 during the McDavid era.