GAME RECAP: Oilers 5, Kraken 2

EDMONTON, AB - Ohciyâkêw!
The Oilers downed the Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Indigenous Celebration Night at Rogers Place, improving to 7-1-0 on the year thanks to a four-point night from Leon Draisaitl and first goals of the season from Duncan Keith, Kyle Turris and Kailer Yamamoto.
Keith scored his first goal in an Oilers uniform in his 1,200th NHL game, and Mikko Koskinen made 27 saves to secure his fifth victory in his sixth-straight start of the young campaign.
Turris got on the board just under three minutes into the third period before Yamamoto was able to provide breathing room with his first goal in 22 regular-season games for the Oilers.

YOUR GAME-DAY ESSENTIALS

GAME DAY
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Full Highlights
Look Back at the In-Game Blog
POST-GAME VIDEO
OILERS TODAY | Post-Game vs. SEA
POST-RAW | Coach Tippett
POST-RAW | Yamamoto & Koskinen
POST-RAW | Keith & Draisaitl

POST-GAME UPDATES
Inside The Oilers Blog

FIRST BLOOD

Get in the right spots, and you'll be rewarded. It wasn't a pretty opening goal, but Draisaitl will take it. Coasting towards the slot just past the two-minute mark, the German blindly redirected Tyson Barrie's hard pass along the ice with his left skate to send the puck inside the near post past Joey Daccord for his first of two goals and four points on the night. Just like how they drew it up.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Are we repeating ourselves? Because it feels like we're repeating ourselves. The Oilers power play converted its 12th goal with the man advantage this season six minutes into the opening frame on a nice transition that started behind Edmonton's net through Barrie. The defender made a two-line feed to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on Seattle's blueline before a perfect saucer pass was put onto the tape of a flying Zach Hyman, who sent his pass across goal to Draisaitl to bury his second of the contest.

SAVE OF THE GAME

Daccord was forced into a sprawling save in the dying seconds of second period, collecting the puck between his pads as he laid flat after the Dynamic Duo of McDavid and Draisaitl tried to work its magic before the clock hit zero. The Seattle netminder only faced 12 shots from the Oilers through the first two periods, but had conceded three goals after 40 minutes of play.

TURNING POINT

Turris put the game out of reach for the Kraken 2:57 into the final frame after Devin Shore delivered a perfect cross-ice pass that the New Westminster, BC product calmly tucked into the open net for his first goal of the campaign.

MARKING A MILESTONE

Get that puck, Duncan. Playing in his 1,200th career NHL game tonight, Keith netted his first goal in a Blue & Orange uniform when he snuck to the back post undetected and reaped the rewards from a deflected Draisaitl dangle that fell kindly to the veteran's stick. It's the 38-year-old's first goal with any club other than the Chicago Blackhawks, where he tallied 105 goals and 520 assists in 1,192 games to go along with three Stanley Cups, two Norris Trophies, and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

TOP PERFORMER

Draisaitl was a force to be reckoned with tonight, posting two goals and two assists to improve his season total to seven goals and 10 assists in eight games and tie himself for the team lead for points alongside McDavid.

PARTING WORDS

Yamamoto on the relief of scoring his first goal of the season and his first in 22 regular-season games:
"It definitely does. Any time you start the season without a goal in the first seven games, you start to worry a little bit. The guys were really good, though. They were telling me it's coming, and finally it came. The goal was honestly just a really good pass by (Draisaitl), kinda getting a partial breakaway and finding the five-hole."
"The first couple of games, myself included, I wasn't happy with it. Over the last couple of games, I've thought I've definitely played better. hockey. But they were just telling me to get to the net and keep shooting. Eventually it would come, and tonight it finally came."

Koskinen on his 5-1-0 streak over the last six games and bouncing back from the loss to Philadelphia last Wednesday:
"It's pretty easy. Like I said before the season started, I just want to have fun. No matter what happens, I try to have fun on the ice. That's the mindset of what I have and I try to keep doing that."
Keith on the land acknowledgment and his perspective on Indigenous Celebration Night:
"I think that it's important for Truth & Reconciliation, for the indigenous people, and for everybody. I grew up in Fort Frances, Ontario, and I had a lot of friends who were Native Americans. I was really close with a lot of those guys, and all are great people. I brought the Stanley Cup one time back to Couchiching Native Reserve and we had a little celebration there. Very memorable times.
I just think that as a nation, for Indigenous people, we have to understand that there's a lot of pain there too that we need to acknowledge. It's nice to see the ceremony tonight."
Keith on scoring his first Oilers goal during his 1,200th NHL game and enjoying being an Edmonton Oiler:
"It was nice. A couple of good players there with the assist, so it was pretty special. Just to get the win for sure. Obviously, I don't think it was our best game overall, but good teams find a way to win and we did that tonight. I'm just proud and grateful to be a part of this organization. They've been welcoming since Day 1. This guy (Draisaitl) was the first guy to give me a call and text, and you always remember things like that. It just shows the leadership that they have in this room. I'm just glad to be a part of it."

Keith on McDavid and Draisaitl assisting his first Oilers goal and keeping the puck for his accolades:
"I honestly don't think too much about milestones, but maybe as you get a little bit older you appreciate those a bit. They're pretty good players -- two Hart Trophy winners with the assist. It's going to be a special plaque for sure."
Draisaitl on the celebration after Yamamoto notched his first goal of the season and its importance to the group:
"It's big. He's a huge part of our group. It's tough to see teammates go through slumps like that, if that's what you want to call it. We've all been there. It's tough. He's worked so hard each and every day, and lately, he's been playing better and better and getting a few looks that weren't going in. It's very easy to get frustrated, but he's been sticking with it. This is awesome for him. It's great to see, and hopefully, this opens the floodgates a little for him."
Head Coach Dave Tippett on the performance from his players and finding a way to win tonight against Seattle:
"I thought Draisaitl's line was really good. I thought Keith and Ceci were good, and I thought Mikko was good. We won. We were opportunistic. We capitalized on some chances and found a way to get two points."
"We just didn't play as well as I'd like to see us play, but like I said, sometimes that happens when you come into a game but still find a way to win."