GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 2

EDMONTON, AB – Make it a dozen.

The Edmonton Oilers scored three times in the second period, twice through winger Warren Foegele, to claim a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place and extend their franchise-record win streak to 12 straight victories on Thursday night.

Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann each scored on a breakaway in the opening 20 minutes for Seattle, but it was Foegele's pair of goals and Leon Draisaitl's goal and three assists on the night that led the charge for the Oilers, who've now won eight of their 12 straight victories via the comeback after scoring three times in 7:38 of the second period to erase their two-goal deficit from the first period.

Evander Kane recorded two assists to reach 600 career points, while Zach Hyman notched a goal and assist – including a late power-play goal in the third period – after Kraken centre Yanni Gourde was charged with a five-minute major for boarding Mattias Ekholm in the final four minutes of regulation.

Stuart Skinner secured his 20th victory of the season and his ninth consecutive win with 25 saves, improving to 6-3-0 in his career against the Kraken.

Edmonton's 12-game win streak ties the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens for the longest win streak in NHL history by a Canadian team, while their two points tonight coupled with a Los Angeles Kings defeat sees the Blue & Orange move into third place in the Pacific Division with a 25-15-1 overall record.

The Oilers now head to Calgary to defend their winning run in the Battle of Alberta on Saturday night at Scotiabank Saddledome against the Flames.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers received a steady dose of pucks behind their defence from the Kraken in the opening 20 minutes, which contributed heavily to their early 2-0 deficit and represented an early challenge towards their 11-game win streak.

Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol said pre-game that he wanted to see his side start on time against Edmonton after losing back-to-back games following their own franchise-record win streak of nine games. The visitors had the early jump on the Blue & Orange and turned their good start into offence with a pair of breakaway tallies from Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann.

After a spin-o-rama from McDavid was broken up as he attacked the Kraken zone midway through the first period with Mattias Ekholm, the puck was poked out to Oliver Bjorkstrand in the left circle and then sent up the ice to a wide-open Tolvanen, who placed a beautiful wrist shot into the top-left corner for the 1-0 Seattle lead at 10:11 of the opening period.

The Kraken counterattack continued to cut Edmonton's defence apart in the first period and made it a two-goal game almost four minutes later when Jordan Eberle slid a pass under the stick of Darnell Nurse to unlock McCann, who went blocker side on Skinner to solve the netminder with another breakaway tally.

Edmonton was kept off the scoresheet in the first period for the fourth straight game, and the seventh time during their last 12 contests.

"I don't see anything. I think each time it's been a little bit different," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said of Edmonton's recent slow starts.

"I think we've been a little unfortunate on the goal-scoring. I think there have been times when we should have scored some goals and we just didn't capitalize. Tonight, there was just one area I didn't like in the first period. I thought we did a lot of good things. We broke out, we were good in the defensive zone, but the only thing was on our line rush.

"They've got a lot of speed, got behind us, and we weren't quite ready for that other than that one little aspect of the game and it's a really big aspect of the game. We fell behind, but we addressed that and our defence got a little bit better at that. We don't want to fall behind and we'll try and address our starts."

SECOND PERIOD

A major part of Edmonton's record-setting win streak has been their ability to claw their way back in close games, with seven of their 11 victories being of the comeback variety.

"That's been the theme of this winning streak," Ekholm said. "I think we've stayed composed. We knew we didn't like the first, and then we just came in, took a breath, got out there and got back into the game.

With another come-from-behind effort in the middle frame on Thursday, the Oilers were tracking to increase those numbers to eight comebacks over 12 straight wins.

"I feel like it hasn't really mattered if it's going into the third, going into a second or going to the last five minutes of a game – we're finding a way right now to stay in it and ended up on the right side of things, so that's obviously a big strength of ours right now. I think the patience and the confidence in our game has shined through in that part."

Foegele got the Oilers on the board by finishing off Draisaitl's rebound from a tight angle just 37 seconds into the frame, squeezing his ninth goal of the season and his first of two on the night short side on Daccord as Edmonton responded right out of the gate.

Edmonton had the game knotted at 2-2 before the period's five-minute mark when Draisaitl initially tried to set up Zach Hyman in front of Seattle's crease. But instead, the German got the opportunity to bank a shot in off the back of Daccord on the power play for his 22nd tally of the campaign.

Draisaitl was on course for another exceptional offensive night with his line consisting of himself, Kane and Foegele and would set up his linemate soon after for his second goal of the game to complete a three-goal stretch of 7:38 for the Oilers.

Exactly three minutes later, Draisaitl moved the puck over to Foegele along the Seattle blueline for a breakaway opportunity that the Markham, Ont. product deposited into the back of the net to record his first multi-point game since his five-point explosion on New Year's Eve against the Anaheim Ducks.

"They played really well. They were our best line tonight and created a lot of scoring chances," Knoblauch said.

The Kraken looked to have equalized before the second intermission when Alex Wennberg finished off Daccord's full-ice pass from the Seattle crease, but the Oilers bench made a quick challenge for offside to overturn the call when it was proven that there was a Seattle player well offside as they tried to make a line change.

"A recommendation from our video coaches Noah (Segall) and Mike (Fanelli) back there," Knoblauch said. "They're the ones that recommend doing it or not. Ultimately I make the last decision, but they're the ones who picked it up. They gave me the advice and I just followed my orders, so I don't get any credit on that. That's all the video staff."

THIRD PERIOD

The Oilers held down the fort defensively until the final five minutes of regulation when a five-minute major to Yanni Gourde for charging Mattias Ekholm awarded Edmonton's power play the opportunity to close the book on their 12th straight victory.

The Kraken centre jousted with McDavid in the neutral zone before coming back into Edmonton's end on the ensuing forecheck and hitting Ekholm with a jumping hit, leading to the Swede taking exception on him in front of the crease after Skinner made the next save to freeze the play.

"I don't think I'm in a position to comment too much on what refs do or whatever happens after, but I didn't love the hit per se," Ekholm said of Gourde's charging major. "I thought he jumped way too hard. I don't think he should ever jump into a hit. I think he jumped right at my face and I was just the recipient of it more than anything, and that's about it."

The penalty was reviewed and upheld by the officials, and the Oilers weren't about to waste the chance to put the result to bed.

The Dynamic Duo of McDavid and Draisaitl worked a tidy exchange in the right circle before it was kicked to the left post to Hyman, who quickly converted his 27th goal of the season to put the game out of reach at 4-2 with 2:38 remaining.

Edmonton saw out the final few penalty-filled minutes to skate away with their 12th straight victory on the back of 25 saves from Stuart Skinner, Draisaitl's four points and Foegele's two goals on the night as the respective Third, Second and First Star of the evening.

PARTING WORDS

Ekholm on the Oilers not getting complacent during the win streak with plenty still left to decide in the standings:

"There's still a lot to be played, a lot of games left and a lot of positioning to be done, so we know we're nowhere near where we can just relax and coast the rest of the year. I think this year has taught us that there have been teams that have come out scorching hot, and then they go on a 10-game losing streak. So I think that as long as we focus on ourselves and keep bringing the effort we are doing right now, we'll be just fine."

Foegele on scoring twice with his brother Reese in Edmonton for the start of the Siblings & Guest trip this week:

"That's my older brother by two years. And honestly, I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Constant mini-stick battles, letting me play road hockey with him, and I definitely get my competitive drive just from battling with him throughout the years. So he's a huge part of my life and I'm happy he was here tonight to give me some luck and hopefully, he can bring me some more on Saturday. 

Kane on the discussion around the win streak inside the Oilers locker room:

"I don't know if we really think about it as a group. I think maybe at the end of the season or when your career is over, you think about some win streaks you've had over the years. This is the longest one I've ever been a part of, but we want to keep it going as long as we can."