Lots of Standouts in Kraken Road Win

EDMONTON – One night after the Kraken didn’t bring energy and pace right from puck drop in a 4-1 loss in Calgary, Wednesday night’s split-squad group relentlessly disrupted an Edmonton lineup that marked the return of super-scorers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The result was a 4-1 victory that pleased head coach Lane Lambert and the large contingent of Kraken hockey operations brass and staff making the out-and-back round trip.

“What we're trying to build is our checking game and managing that through the middle of the ice,” said head coach Lane Lambert. “You’ve got a couple of guys in Draisaitl and McDavid coming back pretty hard. I thought we bottled it up pretty decently and made it difficult for them to execute through that area for the most part. You're not going to keep them off the score sheet all the time, but certainly we limited their chances.”

Matty Beniers seconded his coach’s opinion: “Those are some of the best players in the league, so you’ve got to put a focus on them when they're on the ice. It’s a lot of what Lane has been talking about, just a commitment to playing defense and getting pucks out of our zone so we can play fast and play offense. I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

Taking a Stand on Standouts

If you are looking for standouts, you can start with Matty Beniers flashing an array of pro details ranging from drawing a key penalty, setting up the game’s first goal and staying deep in the Kraken zone as needed when the star Oilers were on the ice. The Shane Wright line, with veterans Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz, was hunting pucks and second- and third-efforting any EDM rushes. Schwartz gets extra credit for assisting on the third goal to get Seattle back to a two-goal lead with eight minutes left.

“Jaden has been good all training camp and in both games he's played,” said Lambert, “just a veteran guy who understands how to play, makes good plays, makes smart decisions. You don't realize how good a guy is until you have him. “I thought Matty was extremely responsible. He's in good position and he's working. I thought our whole team worked. We had a good rebound game from what I considered wasn't a very good performance last night.”

Joey Daccord faced a relatively low 16 shots in two periods but came up with big saves to keep it 1-0 after the first 20 minutes and 2-0 at the second intermission. Plus, Daccord looked in mid-season form with his stick play, setting up the Kraken’s first goal with the sort of “third” assist we see regularly from the hockey-smart and aforementioned Schwartz. One more positive: The first-D pair of Jamie Oleksiak and Josh Mahura was solid all game, with Oleksiak breaking up a good half-dozen threatening plays in the Kraken zone before any shot developed. Young D-man Tyson Jugnauth broke up a couple of odd-man rushes with McDavid and Draisaitl on the attack, heady stuff for last season’s Western Hockey League player of the year.

“I was thinking about how the ‘D’ that played well, said Daccord. “All six were excellent, especially the young kids getting out there against McDavid and Draisaitl. It's a tall task. For all six, I can think of numerous big blocks, breaking up plays, especially Rig and Muz [Muhara] having to play against those two guys most of the night – they were just outstanding.”

And let’s not overlook the No. 1 Star of the Game, Kraken forward Logan Morrison, as announced to the Edmonton crowd. Morrison is competing with any number of NHL and AHL forward vying for opening night roster spots and/or being on the list of players to be called up as the NHL season unfolds. Morrison assisted on the Kraken’s first goal and scored the game-winner on what he called a “great pass” from Ben Meyers.

“I think every day is kind of a competition for spots here,” said Morrison. “I am treating practice like games, and every chance an opportunity to show yourself, you’ve got to give your all during this time of year. I'm just trying to do that and see what happens.”

Holding On and Pulling Ahead

The third period loomed as maybe the time to kick things into productive gear for the Oilers. They started on the power play with Daccord done for the night, subbed with 2024-25 AHL All-Rookie Team goalie Nikke Kokko in net. But over the first five minutes, Kokko held serve with three solid in-close saves and poised positioning to freeze pucks during a couple of net-front scrums.

Nine minutes into the period, Edmonton finally dented the Kraken goal on a second-effort rebound goal by veteran Andrew Mangiapane, who stepped on Jamie Oleksiak. But Seattle quickly regained the two-goal advantage with a slick behind-the-net pass from Schwartz to the stick of NHL-tested Ben Meyers for the third goal. Kokko finished with eight saves to secure the victory.

The game was sealed when Jani Nyman fired a puck from his own end into the empty Edmonton net to mark his third tally of the preseason. It marks Nyman’s third goal in two games and Lambert pointed out the empty-net scored was because the young Finn gave up his body to block a shot before sending the puck up ice.

Beniers Works for Power Play, Then Delivers Assist

After an uneventful power play early in this preseason road game, Matty Beniers drew an interference penalty late first period by hustling in pursuit of a loose puck in the Edmonton zone. It’s one of those small details new coach Lane Lambert has been emphasizing all camp: “Be good without the puck.” In this case, Beniers wasn’t allowing an easy exit for the Oilers, and it paid off with two minutes of man-advantage.

Seattle didn’t need the full power play time. On the ensuing power play, Daccord skated out past his left faceoff circle to send the cleared puck up ice to Beniers, poised to enter the Oilers. Funny enough, it was almost the exact place of the interference call. Beniers held the puck that extra beat or two for his teammates to flood the offensive zone. The 22-year-old captain fed a pass to 2022 second-rounder (35^th) Jagger Firkus, who quickly slipped the puck to frequent AHL Firebirds linemate Logan Morrison.

Morrison quick-released a shot that veteran goalie Stuart Skinner stopped, but without controlling the rebound. By then, Firkus, not the biggest player, stood his ground net-front and slapped in the first goal of the game on what was just the third Kraken shot on goal in the opening frame. The second, of course, was Morrison’s last-minute-of-the-period shot. Firkus, it should be noted, looked significantly more in flow compared to last Sunday’s preseason opener and was handling the physically of NHL-level play.

Beniers started the game with Nyman and Kaapo Kakko on his wings for the second straight appearance, but Kakko left the game with an upper-body injury less than seven minutes into the game and did not return.