GAME RECAP: Kraken 6, Oilers 2

SEATTLE, WA – Leon Draisaitl and Travis Dermott scored goals for the Edmonton Oilers in a 6-2 defeat to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night in pre-season action at Climate Pledge Arena.

Trailing by two in the second period, Draisaitl notched his first of the preseason on a five-on-three 8:45 into the frame before the German connected with Dermott for the equalizer almost two minutes later, with the defenceman continuing his strong Camp on a professional tryout by finding the scoresheet.

But the Kraken would score four times on five shots against netminder Olivier Rodrigue in the middle stanza, receiving goals from Brandon Montour and Shane Wright over a 35-second span to take back Seattle's lead at 4-2 through 40 minutes despite Edmonton's dominance in the period with 15 shots.

"I thought we carried the most of the momentum in the second period, but we just made mistakes that ended up in our net," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "That often happens when you have the puck as much as we did in the second period. You often neglect your defensive responsibilities and they capitalize on them."

The Kraken tacked on two more goals in the final frame, finishing with six goals on 24 shots against Rodrigue in the 6-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena. Edmonton went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and converted one of five power-play opportunities.

The Oilers end off their pre-season schedule on Friday night in Vancouver against the Canucks before they return home to host the Jets in their regular-season opener at Rogers Place on Oct. 9.

FIRST PERIOD

During the preseason, the power play often takes a little bit longer to catch up to the penalty kill.

Zach Hyman got tangled up with Eeli Tolvanen for the first penalty that the Oilers killed off, but Leon Draisaitl shortened things up again almost three minutes later with a crosscheck to the back of Jordan Eberle after the former Edmonton forward set the physical tone with a heavy check on Mattias Ekholm that caught the Swede off guard.

The Oilers managed to outshoot the Kraken 3-2 in a low-scoring opening 10 minutes despite spending four of those on the penalty kill, as Head Coach Kris Knoblauch tried to cycle through as many forwards into PK roles as possible with only two pre-season remaining to figure out the final few roster spots for opening night on Oct. 9 against Winnipeg.

During the opening period, eight separate Oilers forwards saw time on ice while shorthanded, but the Blue & Orange power play failed to generate any meaningful chances on their only PP of the first frame with Brandon Montour in the box for slashing against Draisaitl.

McDavid failed to control a hard pass from Nugent-Hopkins to the far post on an odd-man rush that nearly produced the game's opening goal before the Oilers captain was tagged for high-sticking Kraken centre Matty Beniers on the way back up ice.

The two sides were scoreless at 0-0 through 20 minutes, but defenceman Travis Dermott described the team talk in the intermission where they talked about some of the defensive areas that ultimately couldn't be handled by the time the second period started.

"I feel like we came out with some pretty good speed early on," he said. "We had a couple of defensive lapses that we tried to get ahold of in the first intermission, but we didn't really quite figure it out. I think we had some good momentum throughout and then we kind of lost it there, especially in the third.

"I think we're pretty upset with how many goals we're letting in, especially as a D core. We take pride in taking care of our team that way, and I think that that's just another game that we kind of let down."

SECOND PERIOD

Following a scoreless first period, the offence came quickly in the middle frame, starting with an early chance for McDavid in between the hashmarks on the power play that goaltender Philipp Grubauer managed to fight off despite having difficulty tracking the puck through traffic in front.

The Kraken netted twice over a 1:55 span to take a two-goal lead, opening the scoring on a deflection by Brandon Tanev that went bar down before Shane Wright tucked in a spin-around backhand past Olivier Rodrigue.

Eeli Tolvanen beat the chipping Brett Kulak at the Oilers' blueline and managed to win the puck race against Josh Brown down the right side before firing a pass in front to the 2022 fourth-overall pick to spin and fire Seattle to a 2-0 advantage.

The Oilers were then given a rare five-on-three opportunity, and the club's top power-play unit showed some of its world-best ability on Leon Draisait's first of the preseason that the German drove home from his spot in the right circle after Seattle was passed into submission by a combination of Draisaitl, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins.

Just 1:51 later, professional try-out Travis Dermott activated down into the slot and found space in front to pick up Draisaitl's pass from the right side and take a few whacks at his own rebound to beat Grubauer in the Kraken crease and make it 2-2.

The veteran NHL defenceman is making a strong case this Camp for a contract this preseason and has enjoyed every moment in the Oilers locker room as a piece of the blueline.

"I'm sure you guys know there's a lot of familiar faces in here for me," Dermott said, referring to former Erie Otters' teammate and coach Connor McDavid and Kris Knoblauch. "And I think on top of that, I was expecting to come in and maybe lean on those guys a bit, but it's really shown to me how deep of a core we have here all the way through.

"Especially our D corps. I can learn something from everyone, and I think everyone's there to give you a pat on the shoulder when you have a tough shift and to give you the same thing when you have a good one. Everyone here really cares about each other, and I think that's probably a good reason they went so far last year."

Seattle only had five shots in the second period, but two more tallies over a 35-second span would build back up the Kraken's two-goal lead at 4-2 with 2:52 left in the period.

Brandon Montour came into the Oilers zone with speed to accept the pass from John Hayden and wire a hard slap shot from the right circle that squeaked through Rodrigue and snuck over the goal line before Noah Philp could get prevent it from going over.

Just over half a minute later, Shane Wright wristed one blocker side against Rodrigue, who conceded his fourth goal on five shots during the frame.

Despite it being a tough period for the 24-year-old shot-stopper, Coach Knoblauch didn't like his team's attentiveness in the moments that resulted in their quick return to a two-goal disadvantage.

"Both off the rush there, we were being a little too passive with our responsibilities," he said. "That's stuff we can't allow to happen in the regular season."

THIRD PERIOD

Jayden Schwartz redirected home Seattle's fifth with just over five minutes remaining, but the tough night for Edmonton's goaltender continued with 2:52 left on a rocket of a one-timer from Will Borgen that slid through short side to make it 6-2.

"We came in knowing that we had an opportunity to kind of prove it to ourselves that we can come into the season with speed and feeling good, and I think we kind of let that slip," Dermott said. "I think everyone had the right mentality, but it was just that the execution wasn't there."

With one more pre-season game to go on Friday, the Oilers bench boss will be looking for more focus from his team to make sure they're prepared for the start of the regular season on Oct. 9 against Winnipeg.

"I think we just need to be very cognizant of what's in front of us and be ready to play immediately," Knoblauch said.