When the Seattle Kraken scored two early goals against the Edmonton Oilers last night at Climate Pledge Arena, chances are some of the Kraken faithful were already dreaming of the expansion club winning a season series from the mighty Oilers of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. It was just a little over two weeks ago (Dec. 3) that Seattle handed Edmonton a 4-3 loss.
Because of COVID and other injuries, several of Edmonton’s top scorers after McDavid and Draisaitl were sidelined. But the two superstars still led the way – Draisaitl with three assists and McDavid with a goal and an assist as the Oilers posted a come-from-behind 5-3 victory.
Then there was Warren Foegele. In these times when players are being scratched from the lineup right up to game-time, the `next man up’ cliché takes on added meaning. Acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the off-season, Foegele was penciled in as a third liner at best. But lately, he’s been moved to the top line with McDavid and also seen time on the power play.
Foegele scored two goals, including the game winner, and was last night’s number one star. With the score tied 3-3 in the third period, Foegele’s second goal was disallowed due to goalie interference. But replays showed that Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano clearly pushed Foegele on top of Seattle goalie Chris Driedger and the officials ruled it a goal. McDavid then added an empty netter in the final minute.
Seattle drops to 10-17-3 on the season while the Oilers improve to 18-11. Edmonton’s now won two in a row after dropping six straight. The Kraken, who early in the season had played more games than most NHL teams, now get a respite in the schedule. Tonight’s game with the Toronto Maple Leafs has been postponed due to COVID. The Kraken’s game with Arizona on Tuesday night is still on, but Thursday’s game at Calgary has also been postponed. Seattle’s next game after Tuesday is scheduled for Dec. 27 at Vancouver.
The Oilers outshot their hosts, 41-17 in the contest, and perhaps feeling a little snarly about their loss to the Kraken earlier this month, outhit Seattle, 29-16. McDavid, who surprisingly ranks second on Edmonton in penalty minutes, was also annoyed with Kraken defensemen Vince Dunn and Jeremy Lauzon getting in his face throughout the game.
“In a lot of ways, it was a tight hockey game,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We couldn’t get a push [sustained pressure in the offensive zone] in the second and third period. We did not have any movement in the neutral zone and we didn’t forecheck.”
“We’re still turning down too many shots entering the offensive zone, in my opinion,” Hakstol said. “We’re good when we are a shoot-first mentality [team]. It gives us a chance to retrieve those pucks and get a little motion going.”
Seattle also boasted some fine individual performances in last night’s game. Ryan Donato opened the scoring at 4:18, his third goal in three games, a first for the former Harvard Crimson star. Donato was set up by Morgan Geekie, his linemate since the first day of training camp.
“He (Geekie) gets me a lot of opportunities,” said Donato. “He makes good passes and wins a lot of faceoffs.”
Jordan Eberle also made a nice pass to set up the second Kraken goal, which has become his forte lately. Eberle, who scored a goal for Edmonton in his first NHL game way back in 2014, found linemate Jared McCann in front of the net. Kudos to McCann, who looks smaller than the 6-1 185 listing in the media guide. He took a wicked cross check from defenseman William Lagesson, but bounced up quickly to secure Eberle’s pass.
Eberle also had an assist on Seattle’s third goal. At 16:23, Lauzon drilled a shot from the right circle that went off goalie Stuart Skinner’s pads and came out to Carson Soucy pinching in from the left side. Soucy wristed that shot home.
Driedger would have liked the first Edmonton goal back. For the second time this season, Oilers’ defenseman Evan Bouchard scored on a drive from the point. This one went off Driedger’s catching glove and dropped into the net. It would be hard to pin this loss on the Kraken goalie as Driedger stopped 35 shots, including 19 in the first period.
GAME NOTES
* The Kraken’s 4-3 win on Dec. 3 started a downhill slide for the Oilers. Despite returning home to start a six-game homestand, the Oilers lost five games in a row. Edmonton halted the losing streak Thursday, finishing the homestand with a 5-2 victory over Columbus. Rookie goalie Stuart Skinner was a standout in that contest with big third-period saves.
* In the latest COVID news – AKA, the state of the world we live in – two players were scratched from yesterday’s game hours before the opening faceoff – Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and Edmonton forward Jesse Pulujarvi. Oleksiak joins teammates Colin Blackwell (missing his fifth game) and Yanni Gourde and Ryan Sheahan (missing their fourth game). The Oilers have recently been missing eight or nine players a night – including front-line players Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Duncan Keith and Zach Hyman. Hyman’s almost a rarity these days, he was sidelined with an injury that had nothing to do with COVID.
* In league-wide COVID news, the league has shutdown the Boston Bruins and the Nashville Predators through the Christmas holidays. The Vancouver Canucks and the Toronto Maple Leafs had both of their weekend games postponed. The league has now postponed over 40 games this season. Boston and Nashville join Calgary, Colorado and Florida as teams that are now on pause. The league has no games scheduled Dec. 24, 25 and 26 and no games have been postponed past those dates. The league upgraded COVID protocols this week including more testing and confining players to hotels during road trips.
- For anyone who has tickets to tonight’s Maple Leafs-Kraken game, those tickets will be good whenever the game was made up. Despite the postponement, Kraken fans can still donate items to the toy drive at the KEXP gathering space at Seattle Center or The Lair team store. Last night, the Kraken filled one bus with toys from fans.
GAME SUMMARY
1st Period
S – Ryan Donato (Morgan Geekie, Haydn Fleury) 4:18.
S – Jared McCann (Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz) 9:03.
E – Evan Bouchard (Cooper Marody, Leon Draisaitl) 13:05.
E – Warren Foegele (Kailer Yamamato, Draisaitl) 17:08.
2nd Period
E – Colton Sceviour (Conner McDavid) 12:52.
S – Carson Soucy (Jeremy Lauzon, Eberle) 16:33.
3rd Period
E – Foegele (Bouchard, Draisaitl) 8:54.
E – McDavid (Zach Kassian, Cody Ceci) 19:08.
Goals/Shots – E: Stuart Skinner 3-17. S: Chris Driedger 5-41.
Penalties – E: 3-9. S: 4-11. Referees – Wes McCauley, Jon McIsaac. Linesmen – Dan Kelly, Ryan Gibbons
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