Four nights after losing 4-1 at home to the Oilers, the Seattle Kraken thought they had successfully turned the tables. Despite outworking their opponent most of the night, Seattle couldn’t hold a late two-goal lead and lost in Edmonton 4-3 in overtime. Oilers winger Evander Kane tallied a natural hat trick to win the game.
The Kraken will turn right around and host the New York Islanders at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night. The Isles lost in overtime 4-3 to the Canucks in Vancouver on Wednesday night, a game that included the emotional return of former captain Bo Horvat to Rogers Arena.
1st Period
This was the line-up tonight for Seattle, first reported at the morning skate by the law firm of Fitzhugh and Benton.
Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz – Alex Wennberg – Brandon Tanev
Eeli Tolvanen – Yanni Gourde – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Tye Kartye – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Kailer Yamamoto
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Jamie Oleksiak – Will Borgen
Brian Dumoulin – Justin Schultz
Joey Daccord picked up the start in net for Seattle against Stuart Skinner.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the first period with the Kraken out-shooting the Oilers 13-11. Tanev, who tallied a goal in his first game back from injury, had more than one Grade-A chance to put Seattle on the board.
The Kraken had the only power play of the period but failed to click in the final five minutes after Edmonton D-man Brett Kulak went to the penalty box for delay-of-game.
2nd Period
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Leon Draisaitl to Connor McDavid … Edmonton scores!
McDavid ended up with a breakaway off a three-on-two, electing to hold the puck while beating Daccord on a deke. The problem is, the opportunity should have never happened. For some reason Larsson followed Draisaitl and the puck as they crossed the blueline and left McDavid all alone to take an easy pass and score.
Dunn already had Draisaitl in his lane and lined up; there was no reason for Larsson to chase the puck.
McDavid had a chance to shoot while in alone, but went to the backhand around Daccord to put the Oilers on the board first at 5:21.
Almost exactly two minutes later, the Kraken answered as Seattle’s 2nd leading goal scorer McCann had the puck go in off his shin pad as he went hard to the net for a Jordan Eberle shot that rebounded.
Seattle rode the momentum and a ferocious forecheck and took a 2-1 lead two minutes later. Bellemare managed to tip in a point shot from Dunn through traffic to give his club the lead.
At the 17:21 mark, Alex Wennberg made it 3-1 by whirling around and firing a shot from the slot through a screen created by the Oilers.
The Oilers were starting to look like their old selves, as in, a mess in their own zone, and the Kraken took advantage.
3rd Period
Flow was tough to establish early in the 3rd period with steady traffic to the penalty box. After off-setting minors, each team had a chance to work with an abbreviated power play. Neither clicked.
For the Kraken it just meant more time off the game clock while holding a lead.
Seattle tried to cling to it. However, with 6:32 remaining and the Oilers out-shooting the Kraken 8-2 in the period, Evander Kane tipped home an Evan Bouchard shot and Edmonton was within a goal.
The crowd woke up as the Oilers tried to take advantage of the momentum. It came down to whether or not Seattle could survive the final half dozen minutes.
They couldn’t.
With Skinner on the bench and the extra attacker on the ice, Kane lifted home a rebound after the Oilers won an offensive zone draw. The goal came with just 45-seconds remaining.
Seattle had blown another two-goal lead.
Overtime
Kane finished off a natural hat trick with the game winner off a 3-on-2 rush at the 2:57 mark of OT.
The Kraken outshot the Oilers 36-32. Power plays: Seattle 0-for-5, Edmonton 0-for-3
Kraken 3 Stars:
1) Eeli Tolvanen – An assist and a team high 8 shots on goal. The Finn was all around the offensive zone.
2) Joey Daccord – A solid performance under pressure from one of the most explosive teams in the NHL.
3) Yanni Gourde – No points, but drew a penalty and had 5 hits and 2 shots on goal.
ICYMI:
— Kraken On The Brink Of A Slippery Slope
