A Saturday night showdown saw the Seattle Kraken battle the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place. The home team were without superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and the visitors were missing Chandler Stephenson due to injury. The Oilers have dominated the Kraken since they joined the NHL. In their first 13 meetings, Edmonton has an 11-2-0 record against Seattle, including victories in eight straight games. That streak continued as the Oilers defeated the Kraken 5-4 in a back-and-forth affair. Here’s your game recap.
Game Recap
The Oilers opened the scoring on the power play 14:30 into the first period. Adam Henrique walked in at the top of the left faceoff circle and ripped a shot upstairs, past goaltender Joey Daccord for his ninth of the season.
Just over a minute later, the Kraken answered back with a power-play marker of their own. Jani Nyman’s wrist shot was kicked out by goaltender Stuart Skinner, but Kaapo Kakko pounced on the rebound and buried it for his 12th of the campaign. This game was tied after one, with Seattle holding a slim 11-10 shot advantage.
Edmonton re-took the lead 3:48 into the middle frame. Kasperi Kapanen found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins streaking down the right wing, and his shot deflected off the stick of defenceman Brandon Montour and past Daccord.
7:01 into the period, Kakko tied the game for Seattle on his second goal of the contest. Nyman made a great defensive play at his blue line and sprung Kakko on a breakaway, and he went backhand, beating Edmonton’s netminder.
Once again, the Oilers re-took the lead courtesy of Jeff Skinner’s 14th of the season. Connor Brown found Skinner in the slot and his wrister beat Seattle’s netminder high glove. Then, Nugent-Hopkins made it 4-2 on a double minor power play late in the second period. His wrister from the left faceoff circle beat a screened goaltender for his second of the game. The Oilers took that two-goal lead into the intermission.
Seattle thought they scored early in the third period on a jam play in the blue paint, but the play was successfully challenged for goaltender interference to maintain Edmonton’s lead. But, the Kraken got that one back 5:57 into the period. Andre Burakovsky walked in and ripped a short-side shot, over the shoulder of the Oilers’ netminder for his seventh of the campaign.
However, Nugent-Hopkins completed the hat trick on a shorthanded empty netter with under three minutes remaining for the fourth hat trick of his career, and the Oilers’ first one this season.
But, the Kraken answered right back with 2:03 remaining in the period to cut the lead to 5-4 on the power play. Jared McCann found Jaden Schwartz for the backdoor tap-in for his 20th of the season. However, they couldn’t find the equalizer as Edmonton held on for the victory.
The Kraken conclude their four-game road trip on Tuesday (March 25) against the Calgary Flames. Meanwhile, the Oilers have a few days off before concluding their four-game homestand on Wednesday (March 26) against the Dallas Stars. These two teams don’t have to wait long to renew hostilities as they conclude their season series on Thursday, March 27, in Seattle.
