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Whether it’s a first-round playoff series or a mid-season measuring stick, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings are turning their mutual dislike into one of the most compelling feuds in hockey.

That’s what happens when one team boots the other one out of the post-season two years in a row. It’s the kind of stuff that burns in a player’s stomach.

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So it’s no surprise that these two rivals, meeting for the first time since Edmonton eliminated L.A. last year, picked up right where they off last April, with the Oilers prevailing 3-2 in a hard-hitting and dramatic shootout victory.

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Derek Ryan scored in the fourth round of the shootout to seal the comeback win for Edmonton.

It’s only Dec. 30, but both sides came into this showdown at Crypto.com Arena with a lot to prove.

After a solid run before and after the Christmas break to improve to 13-6 under head coach Kris Knoblauch and bring a three-game win streak into Los Angeles, it was a perfect time to see how the new-look Oilers stack up against one of the Pacific Division powers.

But this was also just as much an opportunity for the Kings, wearing two years worth of playoff scars, to see if they finally figured out a way to beat their springtime nemesis.

“We thought about it all summer, losing to the Oilers two years in a row,” said Kings defenceman Drew Doughty. “We came into this game remembering all the things that happened, remembering how badly we want to beat them.”

For the Oilers, the game was a microcosm of the season so far: A garbage start, a nice recovery and a third period that leads you to believe they are headed in the right direction.

Being able to hang with the 20-8-4 Kings is another in a growing list of positive signs for Edmonton.

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Connor McDavid marked the 600th game of his NHL career with a highlight reel power-play goal, an assist, and another goal in the shootout.

He helped get Edmonton back in the fight after a first period in which the Oilers could do little more than hang on for dear life. It was all Los Angeles for the entire 20 minutes. The Oilers looked overwhelmed by the Kings’ forecheck at one end and their defensive structure at the other. Edmonton managed just two shots on net in digging a 2-0 deficit.

Stuart Skinner should have had L.A.’s second goal, a short-side shot from a manageable distance with no screen, but his first-period heroics are also the only reason it wasn’t 4-0 or 5-0 at the first intermission.

As they are doing with their season, the Oilers dug themselves out of their with a strong second period, pushing back against L.A.’s momentum with two goals of their own — McDavid on a power play and Draisaitl with the teams playing four aside.

“They got the jump on us, we were a little flat,” said McDavid. “But we responded well. We had lots of chances, lots of looks, and got ourselves back into it.”

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McDavid joins Wayne Gretzky, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl as Oilers who found mesh on their milestone night.

His 581 assists over 600 games are behind only Wayne Gretzky (925), Mario Lemieux (721) and Bobby Orr (591) on the all-time list.

It was a rough start for Draisaitl. He put the Oilers down 1-0 with an offensive zone hooking penalty and then left them shorthanded again early in the second period with an undisciplined minor that could have spelled the end for Edmonton if the Kings had converted.

But his power-play one-timer made it 2-2 in the second period.

Raphael Lavoie was added to the lineup as an emergency recall after Evander Kane tweaked something in practice. Lavoie played just 5:26 but played hard when he was out there.

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