GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 2

SEATTLE, WA – Now you SEA us, now you don't.

The Edmonton Oilers turned the lights out on the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night to claim their third straight win and their seventh straight victory over their Pacific Division foes with a 4-2 result at Climate Pledge Arena, starting their four-game road trip off with a victory in the second of back-to-back games.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, with the German's empty-net goal with 1:58 remaining in regulation marking his league-leading 29th of the season after stretching his personal point streak to 14 games less than a minute into the first period with the primary helper on Vasily Podkolzin's opening tally.

Jeff Skinner made it 2-0 for the Oilers to end his seven-game goalless drought and continue Edmonton's strong start in Seattle before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the game-winning goal 11:52 into the second period, finding the back of the net for the third straight game.

Viktor Arvidsson contributed two assists, while Brett Kulak, Evan Bouchard, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown and Derek Ryan all got on the scoresheet with helpers in the win that improved Edmonton's record to 24-12-3 this season.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard only had to make 15 saves, but other than Jaden Schwartz's 3-2 tally that came off a tricky broken-stick shot from defenceman Vince Dunn in the final frame, the Oilers backup was solid to record his 10th win of the campaign.

The Oilers will now travel to Boston to continue their four-game road trip on Tuesday night at TD Garden against the Bruins.

FIRST PERIOD

The Kraken were probably wishing the lights would've stayed off.

In a bizarre start to Saturday night's matchup, both the Kraken and the Oilers were plunged into darkness during the opening moments of the first period when the lights at Climate Pledge Arena flicked off, drawing a quick whistle before they returned within a few seconds to allow play to resume.

Seattle might've still been adjusting, but Edmonton was seeing clearly before the first minute had expired when Vasily Podkolzin made a great play on a zone entry to start the scoring play that'd result in the winger firing the Oilers into an early 1-0 advantage on the West Coast.

With two Kraken players stepping towards him at the blue line, Podkolzin flicked a saucer pass left to Viktor Arvidsson, who then offloaded it to Draisaitl to deliver it back onto the tape of the Russian for a quick one-timer inside the right circle that beat the sliding Philipp Grubauer for his fourth goal of the season just 57 seconds into the contest.

Draisaitl left it late in the first half of Edmonton's back-to-back against Anaheim on Friday night to extend his double-digit point streak with the game-winning goal, but the German didn't waste any time in Seattle to tie his career-best point streak at an impressive 14 games.

"I don't know where to start with everything he does," Knoblauch said of Draisaitl. "The other night, he was obviously a little bit critical of himself. It wasn't his best game, but tonight, he really came out strong and that whole line was playing well."

Podkolzin's goal was his first in 14 games since scoring in three consecutive contests near the end of November, and the good start for the Oilers didn't end there after winger Jeff Skinner ended his own goal drought off another good play at the blue line by Edmonton's fourth line less than five minutes later.

"I we got off to a good start," Skinner said. "Playing the night before, it's nice when you can sort of roll into the game and get off to a good start in the first period and I thought it was a pretty solid game."

Centre Derek Ryan marked his return to the lineup in his home state of Washington by forcing a turnover near the benches before Kasperi Kapanen crossed the Seattle blue line and found Skinner behind the Kraken defence to roof his first goal since Dec. 14 into the top corner for the 2-0 advantage.

Skinner's tally was his seventh goal of the season, giving the winger points in back-to-back games after he picked up an assist in last night's victory over Anaheim.

"It was a nice play by DR and Kappy, but I think in the last couple of games, the lines have been playing pretty well," Skinner said. "I've been with a couple of guys here and there kind of rotating through, but I think there's a lot of depth and a lot of good players. Wherever you're playing, there will be guys that make plays. I've had some good results in the last couple of games, so hopefully, we can keep that going."

The Kraken seemed to have no response in the first period, trailing 2-0 and being limited to only three shots in the opening 20 minutes as defending became a big factor for the Oilers in shutting down Seattle.

SECOND PERIOD

For the third straight game, "Nuuuuuuge!" has got himself on the scoresheet.

Early in the middle frame, the Oilers killed off penalties to Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard to keep their two-goal lead intact and improve their League-best penalty kill since Nov. 12 to 47-for-52 (90.4 percent) with a 2-for-2 evening on Saturday.

Calvin Pickard then had to come up with his best save of the game, denying Matty Beniers on a dangerous rush near the midway mark of the period, which proved vital in leading to Nugent-Hopkins making it three goals for Edmonton and three straight games for No. 93 with a goal.

"I'm just trying to trust the process, and obviously, it doesn't always happen for you, so you just have to trust it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I'm trying to do the right things and rely on habits, and I'm taking advantage of some really nice plays by other guys, too."

McDavid took a hit along the boards from defenceman Vince Dunn, but the Oilers captain had already offloaded a pass to Brett Kulak, leading to a shot from the Parkland County Kid that Connor Brown knocked down to leave it for Nugent-Hopkins to snap a quick shot over the glove of Grubauer for the 3-0 lead with 8:08 remaining in the period.

"I think Connor pushed them back with some speed and gave it back to Kuley, and when you get an up-and-down play like that, sometimes, there's some separation," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I was a little tight to Brownie there, but he made a nice play to put it in my wheelhouse, and I just tried to get it off quick."

Nugent-Hopkins has four goals in his last five games and six goals in his last 10 games, with the Oilers holding an 8-0-1 record this season in contests where their longest-tenured player gets on the scoresheet.

"I rely on him quite a bit, whether he's playing centre, mostly left wing, but he's on our first-unit PK, first-unit power play, and he's maneuvering up and down the lineup – but usually, a lot more up than down," Knoblauch said. "I think at the start of the year, he was playing fairly well but not at his standard. He was making a lot of good plays and was solid defensively, but now, he's starting to contribute a little more offensively.

"You knew it was going to happen eventually."

The Oilers could've put the game out of reach on their first power play two minutes later with Tye Kartye in the box for hooking, but as the penalty was about to expire, a giveaway by Mattias Ekholm in Seattle's zone led to an odd-man rush that resulted in the Kraken getting on the board.

Forward Chandler Stephenson intercepted Ekholm's wayward pass and took it to the house by himself, picking his spot low blocker on Pickard three seconds after Kartye exited the box to give the Kraken some life entering the final period.

Seattle had 10 shots through 40 minutes, and after fighting back from two goals down on Thursday to ultimately earn a point in a 4-3 shootout loss against the Canucks, the home side would have to do the same in the third period if they were going to scrape any points off the defensively-resilient Oilers.

"I think a lot of good things defensively," Nugent-Hopkins said. "We knew coming into tonight that they put a lot on that, so to keep them at 10 through two shows a lot of good signs. And obviously, Picks made some good ones for us when he had to, so overall, it was a solid 60 minutes and we've got to keep it rolling now."

THIRD PERIOD

Make it a league-leading 29 goals for the German superstar who wears No. 29 for the Blue & Orange.

Despite Jaden Schwartz halving the Kraken's deficit 7:27 into the final frame off a broken-stick shot from Vince Dunn, the Oilers were able to secure their seventh straight victory over their Pacific Division rivals with the help of Draisaitl's 29th of the season that he easily slid into an empty net after Dunn blew a tire at the blue line.

Draisaitl has owned the Kraken over his career with an average of 2.27 points per game, with a goal and an assist on Saturday night giving him six goals and 19 assists in 11 career games against the NHL's expansion side from 2021, who've been dominated by the Oilers over their franchise's history to the tune of nine defeats in 11 total meetings.

"Whether it's the power play, faceoffs or scoring goals, he's been at another level," Knoblauch said. "If you go back to probably that Columbus game or shortly after when Davo got hurt, he stepped up in McDavid's absence and he really hasn't looked back. He's put together a nice string of games."

"He's a guy that we always rely on in many different aspects," Nugent-Hopkins added. "He just keeps getting better and better, so it's fun to see. We lean on him and he's definitely putting it all out there right now."

The Kraken had brief glimpses at a comeback, but the defensive effort from the Oilers was solid overall, limiting the Kraken to only 17 shots over the full 60 minutes by having the puck under their control for most of the game.

"I thought that was good," Knoblauch said. "I think the best defensive hockey you can play is how you manage the puck, and I think our execution was really good, and we're making a lot of small passes coming up the ice together. It's just been getting better since the holiday break."

"The first two games that we played in LA and Anaheim, it looked like we were coming back from a break, but tonight it was really good, especially in the first period where pass completion was very high. When that happens, you just have the puck and generate a lot, and ultimately, you don't have to defend."

The Oilers earned their third straight victory to move to 14-3-1 in their last 18 games as they now travel over five hours to the East Coast to continue their four-game road trip against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

"Some might get a little nap and do some video, but it's always easier watching the video after wins, and we'll be collecting a lot of good things to reinforce our players with what they did well tonight and the last few games," Knoblauch said.