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Hejda leads Oilers past Kings in overtime

Jan 9, 2007 - 7:56 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Defenseman Jan Hejda's first career goal couldn't have come at a better time for the Edmonton Oilers.

Hejda scored the game-winning tally 1:14 into overtime to lead the Oilers to a 2-1 triumph over the Los Angeles Kings.

Ryan Smyth made a last-second pass to the hard-charging Hejda, who tipped the puck past the out-of-position goaltender Mathieu Garon to give Edmonton its third win in its last 11 contests.

"This is my first NHL goal and for me a great moment because it was the winning goal for the team, which is most important," Hejda said. "Ryan made a great pass and it was not hard for me to score that goal."

"He's a good all-around defenseman," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "He's strong, a good skater, he moves the puck well and has a good shot. He makes pretty good decisions."

Smyth said the win was a result of constant energy in the extra session.

"We cycled the puck well and wanted to make sure we were attacking the net," Smyth said. "Garon was playing real well and on top his game, we just kept pressing and pressing. The end result was we got the win."

Jarret Stoll opened the scoring for the Oilers with a power-play goal 7:17 into the second period on a one-timer from the left side of ice which beat Garon on the glove side.

Konstantin Pushkarev tied the game, 1-1, with his first career goal by redirecting a shot under the pads of netminder Dwayne Roloson at 5:49 of the third period.

Roloson made 34 saves for the Oilers, who were 1-for-7 on the power play.

"(Roloson) was on his game and on top off all the deflections all night long," MacTavish said. "He played really well, we needed him to get that game out of him. The other guy (Garon) was pretty good too. He made some key saves. We had a lot of chances around the net and nothing to show for it."

Garon stopped 27 shots for Los Angeles, which was 0-for-5 with the extra skater. The Kings also outshot Edmonton, 35-29.

"We played a good game, but obviously we made a little mistake in overtime and it hurt us," Garon said. "We just have to try to get better as a team. It felt good out there. The defense was solid and that's what we can build on."