GAME RECAP: Oilers 7, Kraken 2

SEATTLE, WA - Sea-venth heaven in Seattle.
Captain Connor McDavid had a goal and four assists, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins contributed four helpers to go along with multi-goal performances from Klim Kostin and Zach Hyman for the Edmonton Oilers in a 7-2 blowout of the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday night.
The Oilers came out of the gate with three goals in the first four minutes of the contest to chase goaltender Phillip Grubauer, with Stuart Skinner making 36 saves on 38 shots at the other end to secure his third win in four games.
"I just thought it was a complete team effort," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said. "I thought we had 20 players pulling on the same rope tonight. We were able to assert the game. We wanted to play right off the bat, put the other team on the back foot and we took the game to them and that allowed us to settle into the game and play the way we wanted."
Defenceman Darnell Nurse added a goal and assist, along with Jesse Puljujarvi scoring his third goal of the campaign as the Oilers earned their 20th win of the season to improve to 20-15-2 and end the evening third in the Pacific Division.
Thge Oilers complete a back-to-back on Saturday night at Rogers Place when they entertain the Winnipeg Jets on New Year's Eve.
Video: POST-RAW | Connor McDavid 12.30.22

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Before the sirens could even sounds to warn Seattle of the impending waves, it was already too late.
The Oilers were three goals ahead and had chased Grubauer out of the game on only five shots by the time the first four minutes of the contest had passed.
An early Kraken penalty to Carson Soucy sent the Oilers to the power play where McDavid, manning the right-circle spot with Leon Draisaitl out of the lineup, set up Hyman at the back post for the 1-0 lead to officially match his career-high point streak of 17 games (as if that seemed in doubt).
Hyman's tap-in set off a tsunami of Edmonton goals in the first 3:54 of the hockey came that would go down as the third-fastest three goals in Oilers history to begin a road game.
Kostin took advantage of a deflected pass from Mattias Janmark to go backhand shelf on a wide-open chance from the danger zone on Grubauer 32 seconds later for his first of two goals on the evening. "I surprised myself, so I just got lucky," he said. "Yeah. My game is simple."
Video: EDM@SEA: Hyman, Kostin, Nurse score for 3-0 lead
Nurse lifted the Oilers to a three-goal lead 39 seconds later on a 3-on-2 after Kailer Yamamoto took a sacrificial hit at the blueline to make a play, leading to the Doctor beating Grubauer on a clean look that ended the netminder's night before the four-minute mark.
"I mean, it's huge," Nugent-Hopkins said. "Way easier than playing from behind. It's something that we've talked about all year and were starting to get better and better and learn from our mistakes. You can't let off the gas, too. I thought we did a pretty good job of that."
Edmonton still had 16 minutes left in the period, and they weren't done there.
Video: POST-RAW | Klim Kostin 12.30.22
Forward Jesse Puljujarvi got in on the scoring with his third of the season just past the midway mark of the opening period to make it a four-spot of goals for Edmonton.
The Finn's linemates McDavid and Hyman did some good work in the corner to win a puck battle and kick it out in front for a wide-open chance for Puljujarvi one-on-one against Martin Jones, who relieved Grubauer in ther Kraken goal. While Kostin elected to backhand his chance in close, the Bison King snapped a quick shot glove side for his second goal in four games.
Video: EDM@SEA: Puljujarvi scores in 1st period
Despite the waves of goals from Edmonton in the first 10 minutes, it wouldn't have felt as comfortable it it weren't for 'Stuuuuuuu!'coming up huge.
They say you're at your most vulnerable defensively after scoring a goal, and the Kraken nearly nullified Puljujarvi's goal on a breakaway opportunity for Andre Burakovsky a minute after the Oilers made it a 4-0 score. The Seattle forward picked off a wayward pass to go in alone on Skinner, trying to place a shot low blocker but seeing his effort get parried away by the Edmonton product that was coming off a 46-save performance in the Battle of Alberta on Tuesday.
"I think especially when you get up a couple of goals, you know that they're going to respond physically," Nugent-Hopkins said.
Physicality naturally ensued with the Oilers ahead by four goals, and it led to Dylan Holloway scrapping Vince Dunn in his first professional fight.
The two were wrapped up battling in front of the Kraken net a minute-and-a-half into the second period when pushing and shoving eventually led to throwing fists. After Holloway delivered a few shots, a right hook from Dunn ended the scrum when its momentum sent both players tumbling to the ice before they trudged to the penalty box to serve their respective five-minute majors.
"You saw Dylan Holloway step up physically," Woodcroft said. "He didn't like getting cross-checked in the ribs. He thought it was a dirty play and he stood up for himself. I was proud of that."
Tweet from @EdmontonOilers: Am I the villain? I don't think I'm the villain. pic.twitter.com/6DJbX6DQeS
After exiting the box and returning to the bench, Holloway received plenty of shinpad taps and board claps from the Oilers side of the ice as an appreciation for the young forward's first NHL scrap. Later in the third period, Kostin would shed the mitts in defence of a teammate and wound up earning the Player of the Game vest from his teammates in the locker room.
"We got like four or five goals, so they start playing a little dirty," Kostin said. " But yeah, we weren't letting them to play that way. If (I need to), I will fight for everybody on the team."
In the city where Starbucks was founded, the special blends and the special teams of the Oilers percolated to provide plenty of offence.
The Oilers power play went 2-for-2 on the evening, increasing their efficiency to 33.3 percent that would stand alone as an NHL record if the regular season ended tonight. Both of those goals came off the stick of Hyman, who finished the night with a pair of goals and assist to help carry the load offensively with Draisaitl out of the lineup.
Video: POST-RAW | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 12.30.22
There were, however, the ones behind the scenes pulling the strings and lending the helping hand. Nugent-Hopkins and McDavid both had four assists each, with the captain also adding an unassisted goal in the third period to extend his incredible point streak to a career-tying 17 games that includes 16 goals and 21 assists for 37 points.
"I'm running out of adjectives, analogies, metaphors or whatever you want to call it," Woodcroft said. "I'm not an English major, so I don't know the proper term, but I said that the other day because what he is doing I think we should all realize is quite special. It's the best league in the world, he's off to a career year, and he's doing something that the league hasn't seen for a very long time."
Quietly, Nugent-Hopkins has now snuck into the NHL's top-10 for scoring with his four-point night, along with being only five points off his 2021-22 total of 50 points.
Keep those brews brewin' boys.
Video: POST-RAW | Connor McDavid 12.30.22
Coach Woodcroft on the Oilers sharing the load with Draisaitl out of their lineup:
"To me, I think we have a lot of really good hockey players. Obviously, Leon, you know where he's at in the point race and in the league. He's a Hart Trophy winner. He's a blood-and-guts warrior. What he did in the playoffs last year, the level of pain that he's willing to play with, I don't think you're ever going to replace someone like that. But when you take his 20-to-21 minutes out of the lineup, it's an opportunity for others and we believe we have a good team here. We believe we have a lot of really good hockey players, and when you're missing someone like Leon, it's not that you're replacing them, it's just other people are able to step up to the forefront and pick up the slack."
Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers performance without Draisaitl:
"Obviously when you lose a guy like that and such a big part of the team, guys have to step up and pick up the pieces a little bit. I thought we all did a good job of that, and right from the get-go, we had a simple mentality of just putting pucks on net and going to get them and moving pucks quick. I thought we just kind of carried that too through the whole game."
Nugent-Hopkins on Kostin's impact since being traded from St. Louis:
"I think since he's come in, he's been great. Obviously a big body, but makes plays smart with the pluck, protects the puck well and obviously stands up for his teammates. So great addition to our team and I think he's having some fun playing out there too."