GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Kraken 1

EDMONTON, AB - Now, the real fun begins.

The Edmonton Oilers closed out their pre-season schedule with a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place on Friday night after receiving 35 saves from Jack Campbell and goals from Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane in the victory that sends them into the regular season on a three-game exhibition win streak.

"It was a long Camp. I think everybody's glad to get playing for real here," Kane said post-game. "We're coming off a couple of nice wins and we feel good going into the next couple of days before Wednesday, so we're excited."

Jared McCann scored unassisted to open the scoring in the first period before Evan Bouchard provided the primary assist on McDavid's fourth marker of the preseason, sending Edmonton & Seattle into the first intermission all square at 1-1.

Hyman went top shelf in the middle frame to secure the Oilers a lead they wouldn't relinquish, with Kane's bar-town tally in the final frame providing the insurance in front of Campbell, who was strong once again for Edmonton with his third 30-plus save performance of the preseason.

"It's pretty solid right now," Campbell said when describing his game. "I'm feeling good just having fun and boys are playing great, so it's fun to get some wins and just tune things up. I think we're ready to rock and roll here come next week."

The Oilers open their regular season on Wednesday night in Vancouver for the first game of a home-and-away set against the Canucks.

"I thought it was a competitive Camp; a serious Camp," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "It was a lot of work put in by our players. Most of them played five or six pre-season games. I think we're seeing positive signs, but we're still a work in progress. We're not a finished product, but I thought we got a lot of good work done, so it's a credit to our players."

FIRST PERIOD

After pressure from the Kraken forecheck forced Bouchard into a turnover that led to Seattle's opening goal, the defenceman was determined to get it back.

A diligent effort from former Oilers winger Jordan Eberle at hounding the back of Bouchard inside Edmonton's zone created a turnover up the middle for McCann to intercept in the neutral zone, where the former 40-goal scorer for Seattle picked up speed before firing an unassisted short-side snipe over the right pad of Jack Campbell on the Kraken's second shot of the hockey game.

The Oilers had outshot the visitors 12-2 at that point, with Hyman having missed the opportunity to put the hosts ahead on three separate breakaway opportunities that were shut down by Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer.

But despite serving up the giveaway that directly resulted in Seattle's first goal, Bouchard was pivotal in providing an immediate response for Edmonton.

Bouchard crossed the Kraken blueline with McDavid streaking to the back door, and No. 2 connected a perfect feed onto the tape of the captain to tap into an open net for his fourth goal of the exhibition campaign and square the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

SECOND PERIOD

The Blue & Orange pulled ahead by the end of the middle frame thanks to Hyman and Campbell despite being heavily outshot 17-5 in the period.

Hyman was unlucky not to find the scoresheet in the opening 20 minutes, but there was nothing lucky about his power-play finish that started in Edmonton's zone off a slick little takeaway from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with just under four minutes remaining in the second period.

The Kraken stormed up the ice on an odd-man short-handed rush, but with Nugent-Hopkins tracking down Brandon Tanev on the backcheck, No. 93 stole the puck to send the Oilers back up the ice with numbers. The longest-tenured Oilers skater sifted a pass over to Hyman, who cut back into the middle around a diving Kraken defender before sending his shot into the top-left corner of Grubauer's goal to give Edmonton the lead before the second intermission.

Throughout Camp, the trio of Hyman, Draisaitl and Nugent-Hopkins were a regular line for the Oilers and look to take advantage of a few seasons of chemistry heading into the regular season.

"We were together most of Camp and got a couple of games together, so I definitely like the way that we kind of vibe off each other and just feel it out," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We've played together for years now, so we definitely know each other's game."

"Nuge is such a cerebral player, makes good plays and has subtleties to his game," Woodcroft added. 'Hyman plays a power-forward type of game. I think he had three or four breakaways tonight. He gets in behind people and hangs onto pucks. Leon's passing ability complements anybody he plays with."

Tanev had the opportunity to take the goal back for the Kraken with 22 seconds left in the period, but Campbell came up with his biggest save of the night with a terrific reactionary glove stop after the puck bounced right back into the winger's path off a Seattle offensive opportunity.

A few days back when these two teams met at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the Oilers goalie completely denied McCann with a sprawling glove save. So you might imagine that he's in the heads of Edmonton's Pacific Division foes.

"The big thing I'd say is I'm making the [saves] I should make," Campbell said. "When I'm just out there playing and having fun, my track record is to not give up the ones I should have and then make some of the ones I shouldn't – no chance type plays – but I just feel really grounded out there and I'm just trying to control the game and control the rebounds.

"The guys in front of me are doing a great job, and obviously, it's a skilled game out there. Sometimes, you've got to go outside the box and just compete, so I'm fortunate to make a couple of those, too."

THIRD PERIOD

It was a sensational snipe that sealed Edmonton the victory.

The Oilers were penalized to begin the final period after Adam Erne was given an instigator penalty for starting a brawl at the end of the second period. But after a strong penalty kill, Kane picked up the puck on the right side in the neutral zone before going bar down on Grubauer from inside the right circle just four seconds after Erne exited the box.

The winger is feeling confident, both mentally and physically, coming off a scary wrist injury during the '22-23 NHL season with two tallies this preseason.

"Functionally, the wrist is good to go," he said. "It's just some nerve stuff and that's part of the process. So for me, it's nice to get a couple of goals and get feeling good with your linemates and getting some chemistry going the last couple of games. I think we're all feeling good about it."

The goal provided the insurance on Edmonton's third-straight win of the preseason that'll provide plenty of momentum heading into Wednesday's season-opener at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

PARTING WORDS

Kane on the progress from the Oilers on their defensive changes over the preseason:

"Yeah, we've obviously gone to a different system in the neutral zone; a little bit of a different system in the D-zone that's a little bit more under control. I think we're giving up less inside and keeping pucks to the outside, and it allows our goalies to go make saves and not have to fend off too many slot shots. So I think it's a work in progress still. I think we've done a good job thus far and we're going to have to keep getting better at it."

Campbell on the club's commitment to following through and improving defensively:

"I think everybody can see it and I really like it. It's more predictable, the chances against, and the job for Stu and I is to keep the puck out. So however we play, nothing changes on our end. It's nice to see the guys comfortable playing well and confident heading into Vancouver."

"I think as a group, we worked on these new structural changes; we competed; and we found ways to win tight games. All the things. It's important in the preseason, but blank slate now. So it's time to get back to work Sunday and let the fun begin."

Nugent-Hopkins on Edmonton's preseason after arriving two weeks early and participating in Captain's Skates:

"I think we came back hungry for sure; hungry to get it going and get everybody together. Everybody came back two weeks early, so we kind of had our own little camp before camp actually started. So once camp did start and preseason games started, we were all ready to go. I think we're just excited to get back at it and excited to get everybody together and start feeling it again."

"I think obviously a few tweaks in structure. We got to work on that and then just kind of getting everybody together, getting the chemistry back and feeling good again. I think we did a good job of that. Like I said, everybody came back two weeks early. Everybody took that seriously when we came back and wasn't just coming out and going through the motions. We were going hard, so I think that was important for us and I think hopefully, that should help us get a good start here."

Coach Woodcroft on Campbell's play and Edmonton's strong tandem in goal heading towards Opening Night:

"He's given everything he's had to make another good start tonight, and I thought he was excellent again. I think both goaltenders give us a chance to win. The reality is it's a two-goaltender league. I don't know what the split will end up at the end of the year, but both of them are going to help us win and get to where we want to get to.

"I haven't even given a thought on Opening Night yet. I'm going to digest this win and then we'll see over the next couple of days which direction we'll be leaning."