GAME RECAP: Kraken 4, Oilers 2 (Preseason)

SEATTLE, WA – Just one more before the real thing.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse and forward Matt Savoie found the scoresheet, but the Edmonton Oilers were unable to win the special teams battle in the first period on Wednesday night, falling to a 4-2 pre-season defeat to the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

"I think the overall difference in the game was the special teams," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "They had two power play goals and the one shorthanded, and we just had the one. But overall, I thought it was a pretty good effort from our guys."

The Kraken scored twice on the power play and again shorthanded during the opening frame before Darnell Nurse was able to get Edmonton on the board with their own man advantage before the intermission to trail Seattle 3-1 after 20 minutes of exhibition play on the West Coast.

Matt Savoie scored his first goal of the preseason off a redirection from the shot-pass delivered by Adam Henrique early in the second period, but Seattle found insurance during the final frame when forward Ryan Winterton notched his second tally of the contest to wrap up Seattle's 4-2 victory.

"Lots of special teams," Savoie said. "Lots of work on the PK and work on the power play. It's just kind of about getting ice in the preseason and some systems down, but it would've been nice to play a little more five-one-five tonight to get into the flow of things a bit."

Goaltender Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 17 shots after shutting out his opposition over his previous four-and-a-half periods of pre-season hockey.

The Oilers will head out west again on Friday to conclude their pre-season schedule with a meeting against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena.

SEATTLE'S SPECIAL TEAMS CRACK IT OPEN

The Oilers & Kraken split eight power plays evenly during the first period, but it was the hosts who gained the advantage in both areas of special teams to build a three-goal lead before Darnell Nurse pulled one back for his side before the intermission to make it a 3-1 after 20 minutes.

Nurse was in the penalty box for tripping at 13:13 of the opening frame when St. Albert product Josh Mahura opened the scoring by letting go of a shot through traffic that beat a screened Calvin Pickard into the left side of his net to draw first blood for the Kraken.

The Oilers were back on the penalty kill just under two minutes later when Connor Clattenburg, who was recalled from the AHL's Bakersfield Condors this morning along with Viljami Marjala and James Hamblin, was called for slashing Cale Fleury in the neutral zone, but it was Edmonton who came closest to scoring on a broken two-on-one opportunity where Kasperi Kapanen tried to slide a backhand pass to Curtis Lazar at the back post instead of shooting.

Hamblin had an impact for the Oilers in the opening period by drawing two penalties, including his earned tripping call against forward Berkly Catton that led to a few dangerous looks for his side in close on the ensuing two-man advantage against netminder Joey Daccord.

However, the Kraken were the ones who tacked onto their lead during Edmonton's man advantage, scoring shorthanded after being given a gift behind the net by Pickard when he couldn't rim the puck around the boards fast enough before Ryan Winterton picked it off and wrapped it into the empty net.

Penalty trouble continued for the Oilers 13 minutes into the period when Kapanen and Mangiapane took infractions one minute apart to set up a five-on-three for Seattle, where forward Eeli Tolvanen would tee up a one-timer from between the circles that went bar down on Pickard to make it 3-0.

Before the first period on Wednesday night, Pickard had been perfect for the Oilers over four-and-a-half frames of pre-season action by stopping 29 total shots and earning a shutout over the full 60 minutes of last Friday's 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place.

At the other end, Joey Daccord was making the Oilers work for it by stopping a handful of their in-tight opportunities, including defenceman Alec Regula's open chance in front of the Kraken crease during four-on-four that saw the netminder make an impactful save to preserve the three-goal lead.

It became Edmonton's turn with the two-man advantage not long after, with Catton and Oleksiak in the box for Seattle and Daccord being unable to do anything to stop Darnell Nurse's point shot finding its way through traffic after Seattle got a man back to play five-on-four with 2:25 left in the frame.

The Oilers were 1-for-4 on the penalty kill and power play, trailing 3-1 after an opening period that saw them outshoot the Kraken 13-8.

SAVOIE SHOWING HIS POISE

The more Matt Savoie has played this preseason, the more he's shown that he's ready to break out at the NHL level.

"I think that's my goal, just continuing to improve every single game," Savoie said. "By the end of the year, I want to be a really big contributor here, and even at the start of the year. Game by game, I'm just working to get better and better and show that I belong."

"I think my game's in a really good spot right now," he added. "I've been working all summer, been working all camp to get to this spot, so I feel like I can be a contributor now and work towards that."

The St. Albert product continued his impressive showing this preseason by notching his first goal of the exhibition campaign with the tidy redirection off Adam Henrique's shot-pass just 28 seconds into the frame, scraping it over the right pad of Daccord in tight to cut Edmonton's deficit to 3-2 early in the second period.

Savoie played big minutes for the Oilers in all situations against the Kraken, leading all of their forwards in total ice time on Wednesday with 19:50 while playing alongside two experienced players on the top line in Adam Henrique and Andrew Mangiapane at even strength.

"I've played with Rico a few times in the preseason, so it's been really good to build a little chemistry with him," Savoie said. "I thought we were snapping it around a little bit and had some good O-zone shifts, some good touches, and hopefully we can build on that."

The 21-year-old received plenty of exposure to the power play on Edmonton's top unit on Wednesday, garnering 4:36 of his total ice time with the man advantage and even taking reps on the penalty kill, playing 1:52 while shorthanded. Savoie showed his wheels during a second-period penalty kill by jumping into a potential two-on-one with Curtis Lazar that nearly ended in a goal midway through the middle frame.

Beyond his offensive ability, Coach Knoblauch has appreciated Savoie's attention to detail defensively and thinks he's on the verge of being an NHL regular.

"He's made a strong impression right from day one since captain's skates opened up before Training Camp," Knoblauch said. "I think he's been working hard. His details have been good. So not only was he labelled as an offensive player when he was drafted and throughout junior and even in the American League, but he's worked on the details. He's very responsible defensively, so he looks like he's ready."

WINTER(TON)'S COMING

Seattle's early prowess on the power play wound up proving to be the difference on Wednesday night after forward Ryan Winterton notched his second goal of the game less than three minutes into the final frame to confirm the hosts a 4-2 victory.

Off a quick counter-attack from inside Seattle's zone, forward Tye Kartye found newcomer Frederick Gaudreau through the middle of the ice before he delivered a backhand pass on the partial two-on-one to Winterton, who breezed around defenceman Troy Stecher and quickly fired it glove side on Pickard.

The Oilers outshot the Kraken 34-17 in the defeat, including an 11-2 shot advantage in the final frame, but they couldn't find another way past first star Joey Daccord the rest of the way as they fell to the Kraken in their penultimate pre-season contest.