GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Kraken 0

EDMONTON, AB – Nothing like a clean sheet and two huge points earned on your cake day.

Connor Ingram made all 27 saves on his 29th birthday to record the shutout in a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken, giving the Edmonton Oilers their first four-game win streak of the season and two more important points in the Pacific Division playoff race at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

"The more you play, the easier it's gonna get," Ingram said. "I thought everybody in front of me did a great job today. I didn't really have to do much back there.  Maybe that bad bounce on the PK that kicks out to the slot, but other than that, I thought everybody in front of me made my job really easy."

Tallies from Max Jones and Kasperi Kapanen in the first period provided Ingram with all the offensive support he needed to pick up his ninth career shutout, with Edmonton's penalty kill stopping all three Seattle power plays to improve to 9-for-9 over their four straight victories.

"Everybody expects at this point in the season to know where you're at and know what you need to be doing on the ice, so I feel like you can see it out there," Jones said. "Guys are playing the way that they know that they should be, and we're playing great, and it's fun to be a part of outside of the ice and just being in the locker room."

Connor McDavid added an empty-netter to extend his point streak to five games (6G, 4A), while Jake Walman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman all added helpers in the victory that reduced the gap between them and the Anaheim Ducks to two points in the race for the Pacific Division title.

The Oilers will continue their homestand on Thursday when they attempt to push their win streak to five games against Connor Bedard & the Chicago Blackhawks.

FIRST PERIOD

'Heading' in the right direction for two more important Pacific Division points.

Entertaining a divisional opponent for the second straight game, the Oilers took the lead 5:28 into the opening frame thanks to a header from Max Jones, who had Jake Walman's long shot from the point go in off his helmet in front and past Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer for the 1-0 lead.

"I think it hit my elbow and then my face. I don't know," Jones said. "They don't ask how. I think it was literally my face."

Playing in his 300th NHL game, Jones' fortunate redirection off his helmet marked his third goal and fifth point of the season, with the 28-year-old having points in back-to-back games after posting an assist in Saturday's win over Anaheim.

"I feel like ever since we had the conversation about just everyone stepping up a bit, it seems like everyone's kind of just doing a little bit extra out there," Jones said. "The start of the game was pretty evident. You saw how fast it was and how fast we were playing, and just playing simple. That carried throughout the whole game."

Edmonton doubled up Seattle 12-6 in shots during the period and doubled their advantage over seven minutes later when Kasperi Kapanen intercepted a D-to-D pass in the defensive zone to create the counter-attack that the Finn took all the way himself.

After forcing the turnover, Kapanen poked it into the neutral zone and took off alone before picking his spot perfectly off the far post from inside the right circle, notching his eighth goal of the season with an unassisted marker with 7:17 left in the opening frame.

Kapanen now sits just two goals shy of hitting 100 in his career after giving the Oilers a 2-0 lead on the Kraken through 20 minutes, providing some more depth scoring that's been a leading factor over this stretch of wins without Leon Draisaitl due to injury.

"Eventually, we're going to have Leo back, so we're going to have Connor and Leo, and those guys are going to carry the offensive side of this team, which is their role," Kapanen said. "As third and fourth line guys, we just try to do as much as we can and generate energy, and then kind of keep it a 0-0 game, and then hopefully, the power play will score a couple."

SECOND PERIOD

When it came time for the Kraken to mount their push, the Oilers' strong commitment to defending that has shone through in recent games was once again on display.

"I thought it was close to pretty perfect first period, and it's hard to follow up a period like that," Kapanen said. "But I thought throughout the game we played solid. Teams are going to have their pushes, and they're going to have their chances, but when you have a goalie like Ingo, who's playing extremely well right now, that's what it looks like."

The Kraken tried to formulate a response with two power plays and a 13-9 shot lead in the middle stanza, but Edmonton's penalty kill and Ingram held off the visitors' push with some stellar stops between the pipes to keep their team's 2-0 lead intact.

"I try to stay in my own little paint down there, but I think a lot of pucks don't even get to me anymore," Ingram said. "And then when they do, I think there are bodies and guys around helping out."

"I think it's just the little things.  We put an emphasis on it coming back, and now it's just doing it.  So I'm not an X's and O's guy.  That will give you a good answer for that, but for me, it seems like it's going well."

Ingram was looking locked in through 40 minutes on Tuesday, and that provided extra confidence to an Oilers' bench that was already feeling good about its defensive play.

"I think the biggest part of that was Ingram making some really great saves.  Like, he was.  He was really good tonight.  And you could tell.  I mean, we felt it on the bench, and we knew that we needed to step up in certain areas, and, you know, the puck turned over.  We knew that, you know, Ingo was going to have it tonight.  He was on his game, and it was.

THIRD PERIOD

Have your birthday cookie, Connor. You've earned it.

"I'm not much of a cupcake guy.  I'm not an icing guy," Ingram said. "Sarah brought home a cookie, and that's what I've been eyeing up all day. A little mini egg cookie, so I'm gonna get into it."

A soft hooking call against Zach Hyman with over seven and a half minutes left in regulation wasn't going to spoil the shutout for Ingram on his birthday, making a fast trio of stops before Connor McDavid's empty-netter ultimately sealed the deal.

After Matty Beniers went down easy when Hyman got his stick into his hands to put Seattle on the power play, the Kraken centre was denied twice in quick succession by Ingram following another fast save on Eeli Tolvanen off the face-off in Edmonton's zone.

"Tolvi and I played together in Nashville and Milwaukee for a long time, so I've seen that shot several times before," Ingram said. "I didn't know where it was going, but I've seen that guy shoot a puck a lot, so I think that was a big advantage for me. Then I was able to take a huge step out because I knew help was coming.  And at that point, it's just one-on-one. You gotta win that."

Needing two goals, the Kraken pulled Grubauer for the extra attacker with over two minutes left, but McDavid was able to extend his point streak to five games late with an empty-netter that ended Seattle's chances of a late comeback.

Ingram secured the 10th shutout of his career, helping the Oilers win four straight games for the first time this season and add two points to their tally, leaving them two back of the Ducks for first place in the Pacific with seven games remaining.