“It's a tough game to evaluate, I'll be real honest with you,” said Dave Hakstol after the game. "There were spurts, probably both directions that weren't real sharp or real clean. I thought the first 10 minutes our pace was poor and because of that we turned over a lot of pucks. We turned it around the next 20 to 25 minutes, looked a little bit better. All we wanted to do was be able to push our pace to a little bit higher level and we were able to do that in the middle portion of the game. “We were happy with that aspect.”
McDavid Ties it
EDM superstar Connor McDavid answered McCann's goal three minutes later in the opening period with his fourth preseason goal to solve Grubauer, who made several big stops and benefitted from the competitive shots fired his way all night long. He was putting up highlight-reel saves in the first minutes and continued to keep his squad close when the home Oilers were up 3-1 in the third period, including a late-game solo break for Oilers first-liner Zach Hyman. The Kraken’s No. 1 goalie looked tuned up for next week’s opener.
Larsson Awaits Partner, Praises Evans
The Gourde line started and Adam Larsson paired on defenseman Ryker Evans, the American Hockey League all-star and 2021 second rounder still in the NHL mix and subbing for Vince Dunn, who did participate in Friday's morning skate.
“We'll just take that day by day,” said Hakstol, when asked if Dunn is close to game-ready. “He's in a spot where he's itching to get goint and probably wanted a little bit more today.
‘But we've got a full practice day [Saturday] so it's a good progression for us. He's been able to be on the ice for you five or six consecutive days, getting the morning skate today, full practice tomorrow. We believe that's the best progression for him to be ready to go early next week. We'll take it one step at a time, but I would project that."
Larsson said he “would love to see his partner at some point” in Dunn, but was quick to praise the progress of Evans throughout camp during a media scrum Friday morning: “Ryker looks a little bit more ready body-wise. I think he looks a lot more confident and obviously that's a big part of the sport. When you play confident you tend to to look bigger and play bigger. That's what he's been showing throughout camp ... We're all enjoying seeing what he’s brought this year. The future is bright for him.”
Line Items
The Matty Beniers line (with McCann and Jordan Eberle) was making plays and showing speed and skills. Jamie Oleksiak and Will Borgen were back as the second pairing after working with younger prospects for portions of training camp.
For fans monitoring the competition for spots on the fourth line, Friday’s trio dressed was veteran free-agent signee Pierre-Edouard Bellemare centering between Brandon Tanev and Tye Kartye.
Oilers goalie Jack Campbell, who starred Monday night at Climate Pledge Arena, looked sharp again Friday, making pivotal saves on Beniers, Eberle and others. Campbell finished the night with 34 saves.
Seattle’s roster stood at 27 going into Friday’s game. It will need to be at 23 by Monday, reported into the league by mid-day.
