GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 1

SEATTLE, WA – Winger Xavier Bourgault recorded a pair of goals, while netminder Jack Campbell was stellar in his second pre-season appearance by making 32 saves on Monday night as the Edmonton Oilers were able to come away from Climate Pledge Arena with a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

Edmonton was only able to muster 14 shots against Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, with only eight being recorded by the Blue & Orange through 40 minutes, but a three-goal third period off goals from Connor McDavid, Bourgault and an empty-netter from Mattias Janmark lifted the Oilers to victory and their third exhibition win of Training Camp.

Defenceman Ben Gleason continued his impressive play by recording two assists as one of two Oilers alongside Bourgault to record multi-point nights. Former Oilers winger Kailer Yamamoto scored Seattle's lone goal in the loss after the Kraken found it difficult to break down Campbell between the pipes for Edmonton over the full 60 minutes.

Campbell put a staple on the victory with an incredible glove save inside the last 10 minutes of the third period when he robbed Jared McCann with his best save of the pre-season, sliding across to take away with the glove what looked like an easy goal for last year's 40-goal scorer for the Kraken.

"It's just fun to be out there, so whatever it is, I'm just trying to do my job and be ready," said the netminder, who's now recorded back-to-back 30-plus save performances this preseason. "Tonight was fun. It was pretty fast-paced, and the guys were blocking shots and just doing everything they could to keep it out of the net. A couple of big plays in the crease by the boys and we found a way to get a win."

Edmonton returns to Rogers Place for their final two exhibition games against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday and Friday versus Seattle.

FIRST PERIOD

Two former first-round picks for the Oilers got on the scoreboard in the first period. One has yet to play an NHL game for Edmonton, and another is a familiar face who dressed in 244 contests for the club.

There were plenty of ex-Oilers in the lineup for Seattle on Monday night, including defenceman Adam Larsson, Justin Schultz and forwards Jordan Eberle, Devin Shore and Kailer Yamamoto – the latter two suiting up for the Blue & Orange as recently as last season before swapping to the Deep Sea Blue of Seattle this summer.

Larsson rattled the crossbar early in the opening five minutes of regulation that were dominated by the Kraken in large part due to a high-sticking penalty on Brad Malone, but Bourgault was able to crack things open at Climate Pledge Arena soon after the Bakersfield Condors captain got out of the box.

After cruising up the ice in transition out of Edmonton's end with Gleason, the young winger picked up the rebound off Gleason's shot that Philipp Grubauer spilt out front, leaving the former Shawinigan Cataractes standout to bury an easy backhander into the open Kraken net for the opening marker at 13:22 of the first period.

"I think my confidence is a lot higher," Bourgault said of this year's Camp experience. "I'm making more plays. I'm going to the areas where maybe I was not going last year. If you're going to the net, good things happen. It's your blade, it's your stick, so tonight I got rewarded for going to the blue paint."

But as we should've expected, one of the former Oilers was bound to exact revenge on their old team.

Yamamoto, whose last goal for Edmonton on April 29, 2023 went down as the series-winning goal in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, continued his start to his Kraken account by scoring an easy tap-in from the goal line for his third of the preseason after Jaden Schwartz's deflection snuck through Campbell's left arm.

SECOND PERIOD

Thanks to Jack Campbell, the Oilers were lucky to escape into the second intermission with the score still 1-1 from the opening 20 minutes.

The Edmonton netminder carried over his momentum from a 34-save and First-Star performance in Friday's 2-1 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome with another strong showing on Monday – most notably in the middle frame where the Kraken had a 12-2 shot advantage.

Campbell shut the door on Jordan Eberle five-and-a-half minutes into the second period at the near post off a behind-the-net feed from Jared McCann. Nearly three minutes later, the Port Huron, Mich. product was called upon to make a quick reactionary save on Justin Schultz, who snuck down from the blueline to get a dangerous scoring chance after the puck deflected onto his blade off Janmark's stick.

Campbell came up big again on a short-handed opportunity for the Kraken and Calder Trophy-winner Matty Beniers, who flew by Cam Dineen after the puck slid out of the Seattle zone to earn an open look on the Oilers goalie from the left circle at 9:25 of the second period.

THIRD PERIOD

After a tumultuous 20 minutes in the second period, the Oilers were able to find their offensive touch.

Coach Woodcroft elected to split the Dynamic Duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl onto separate lines after the two began the game on the top unit together, and the decision helped lead to the captain scoring the go-ahead goal less than three minutes into the period.

McDavid was flanked by Raphael Lavoie and Dylan Holloway on a successful offensive-zone shift that led to his second pre-season goal. Vincent Desharnais' rim around the Kraken zone was kept in by Gleason, leading to McDavid collecting the puck and skating through the left circle unopposed before going five-hole under Grubauer to lift Edmonton to a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.

Gleason continues to be a standout performer for the Oilers this preseason, with the defender looking to lift his reputation as a potential contributor on Edmonton's back end after spending the last four years with the AHL's Texas Stars.

"I think he ended plus-four. He's a heads-up player, made some good passes and seems to be growing in confidence as camp wears on here," Woodcroft said. "He's given a good account of himself and there were lots of really good plays and clean plays from Ben tonight."

The bench boss spoke pre-game about the opportunities for young players like Bourgault and Philip Broberg, and both prospects were involved when Edmonton added insurance at 13:22 of the final frame. The Swedish defender sauced the perfect backhander for Bourgault at the right circle dot to line up and beat Grubauer clean on the far side with an unbeatable one-timer for his second goal of the hockey game.

"I think I was involved in every area of the game," Bourgault said. "I think I was aware defensively and on the PK. I was finding the open area on the ice, but I mean, great play by my teammate."

Campbell put a staple on the victory and another impressive performance for him when he sprawled out to commit highway robbery with the glove on Jared McCann, who had a great opportunity to pull one back for Seattle off Cale Fleury's feed through the slot.

The netminder is piling up momentum heading into the regular season with two back-to-back 30-plus save performances during Edmonton's exhibition schedule.

"I said this in Calgary the other day. He's probably the best player on the ice for us in both of those games," Woodcroft said. "That's how he expects to play, and that's how we as a coaching staff, we as a group of players, we as a management group – basically, our whole organization – expects Jack to play. We know he can do it, and he put in another good game tonight. He's going to look to build on that as we move forward in the last two exhibition games, so I'm happy for him."

Janmark's empty-net goal completed the victory for Edmonton, who took the 4-1 victory despite being heavily outshot 32-14.

PARTING WORDS

Bourgault on his physical improvements this offseason helping contribute to a strong Camp performance:

"Yeah, I feel stronger in my battles for sure. The guys are a lot stronger than junior. It's a big step. Last year, I had the experience of playing in the American Hockey League. I gained ten pounds this past summer, so I feel a lot stronger in those battles."

Campbell on the energy that Bourgault is bringing this preseason to the Oilers locker room:

"Bourgy, he's such a good guy. It's fun to have him in the locker room. he brings a nice energy and a great sense of humour, but man, it's great to see him show off that talent that he has and he buried some nice goals and got the boys going. So we're going to need that from him. That's what we expect out of him, and he's a great guy and a really great player too."

Campbell on enjoying every day and learning from last year as the regular season approaches:

"Yeah, I'm just doing it right now. It's been great. I just learned so much last year and worked super hard this summer on so many things, and it's just fun to be back. This group's hungry and there's nothing better than being around a bunch of guys that are craving winning, so we're just enjoying ourselves right now and just trying to get ready each day for the regular season."

Coach Woodcroft on Bourgault's goals and the growth he's showing at this Training Camp:

"What I like about it is that he found himself in the scoring area – that little red zone around home plate. One was off a rush, one came at the tail end of a power play expiring, but both were good shots. I think Xavier's had a really good Camp. He's a really smart player, and last year he got his feet wet in professional hockey and kind of learned what it was all about. He's giving a good account of himself."

Coach Woodcroft on the energy on the bench generated from 18 blocked shots:

"Well, I think it's exciting when players do things to help the team win. That might not always be the highlight or a real play, but it is certainly appreciated by teammates and coaches and I thought it was important. We had a lot of guys willing to sacrifice."