Hyman's hat trick, McDavid's 5-assist effort help propel Oilers past Kings 7-4 in Game 1

For once the Edmonton Oilers won't have to dig themselves out of a hole to start the NHL playoffs.

Zach Hyman had three goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had five assists, and the Oilers ended their series-opening jinx with a 7-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in Monday's start to the first-round, best-of-seven series.

"I thought we had a good start, I thought we were good in the first period, worked our way to a 2-0 lead and I thought we showed good energy and we played really well in the first," McDavid said.

Adam Henrique, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl and Warren Foegele also scored, and Evan Bouchard chipped in with four assists for the Oilers who had lost the first game of their last seven playoff series and had not won Game 1 of a series on home ice since 1990.

"I thought it was a great overall performance," Bouchard said. "We got on them early like we wanted to do, got up on them. They pushed, but we battled back and it worked out in our favour.

"Whenever you can get up in a series it's always a good feeling, especially the way we did it."

Edmonton is 21-3 all-time when taking a 1-0 lead in a best-of-seven series. Game 2 is in Edmonton on Wednesday.

Zach Hyman<br><br>13th different player in Oilers history with a playoff Hat Trick <a href="https://t.co/usjn3bk7DZ">pic.twitter.com/usjn3bk7DZ</a>

In other games last night, Auston Matthews scored in the third period to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins to even their series, 1-1. The Carolina Hurricanes took a 2-0 series lead over the NY Islanders with a 5-3 win, while the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Mikey Anderson, Adrian Kempe,