What we learned from the Kings’ 4-2 victory over Edmonton

What we learned from the Kings’ 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at Staples Center.

The Kings’ third line has stepped up

The trio of Dustin Brown, Nic Dowd and Devin Setoguchi has been effective the past few games, providing a big lift to the Kings’ flagging offense. Setoguchi had a goal, Dowd had an assist and each member of the line was +1 defensively against Edmonton. Dowd, with seven assists, leads the team’s forwards in assists.

“I think it’s just we’re able to read off each other and check as a five-man unit when we’re on the ice,” Setoguchi said of their success. “If one guy is going to a spot, we know where the other two guys are going to go and where they’re going to be. It’s key when you play with guys over a certain amount of time and you know their tendencies and where they’re going to be and what they’re going to do.

“I didn’t think we were that good [Thursday] in the first couple periods. In the third we had a couple of good shifts back to back and we were able to score one. For us, it’s the reading and shutting down and getting in on the forecheck. When we forecheck, that’s usually when we get our opportunities.”

Reuniting ‘That 70s Line’ was a good decision

Coach Darryl Sutter reunited the line of Tanner Pearson (No. 70), Jeff Carter (77) and Tyler Toffoli (73) during the Kings’ recent trip in an effort to find some scoring after Anze Kopitar was injured, and all three players responded well on Thursday. Carter (one goal, two points) had his team-leading fourth multi-point game of the season and Toffoli (one goal, two points) scored his fifth goal and first shorthanded point with his assist on Carter’s shorthanded goal.

Darryl Sutter is a realist

Asked about the Kings’ apparent streakiness, the Kings’ coach said, essentially, they are what they are— and they’re not a dominant team.

“We aren’t the same team that we were. We’re in a fight for the division,” he said after his team improved to 3-2 against its Pacific division rivals. “This is the first time we were able to beat a team that was ahead of us in the division. The teams that were behind us, we beat them. It’s a division thing. There’s 29 games in our division.”

Youth alone isn’t the key to success in the NHL

The Oilers won seven of their first eight games this season, triggering thoughts of imminent playoff glory and, at the very least, an end to their 10-season streak of missing the playoffs. But they’re 2-7-1 since then and have scored only nine goals during their current five-game losing streak. It isn’t enough to be fast — you’ve got to be mentally strong and learn to ride out some storms.

But bless Coach Todd McLellan for not taking complaining that Connor McDavid has been the target of dirty hits as he gets more and more attention from opponents.

“It’s called the NHL. Other teams pre-scout and they know he is such a key player,” McLellan said. “We can’t have a bunch of players running over the glass all the time going to fight. It doesn’t work that way.

“One of our media guys said, ‘You probably get a lot of questions about the missed calls.’ I didn’t think there were any missed calls on Connor McDavid or anyone [Thursday]. They called a pretty fair and even game….There is no whining at the officiant or the opponents playing Connor hard. We have a team full of guys that can play as hard. I don’t see it that way one bit, but maybe I’m missing something.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen