PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Kraken

The Edmonton Oilers aim to win their third straight game on Wednesday night against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place.

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PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Kraken

EDMONTON, AB – The Kris Knoblauch era in Oil Country is off to a strong start.

The Edmonton Oilers utilized committed team defending and strong special teams in the final period against the New York Islanders on Monday to give their new head coach his first victory behind the bench in a 4-1 win at Rogers Place that makes it back-to-back victories for the Blue & Orange.

Knoblauch had only one evening and a morning skate to begin getting to know his players and what makes them tick before stepping behind the bench for the first time as head coach on Monday night, with the Oilers responding strongly to some of that early feedback by putting in a connected effort after giving up the game’s first goal in the opening minute.

“I have a little bit of experience with coaching changes during the year and usually they try to keep it as light as possible,” Mattias Ekholm said. “Obviously they have their tweaks and their mindsets of how they want us to do things, but I'm sure there'll be more and more throughout the year. But for now, it's more tweaks and little details that they and we believe we can sharpen up. It was a good step yesterday.

“Obviously it wasn't a perfect game, but at least we got a win and that builds confidence and now we just got to keep working and string some games together. “

Leon Draisaitl led the way with four points, while Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman each had power-play goals in the final period. Evander Kane added an empty-netter, but the bigger takeaway came on the defensive side where the Oilers were able to clean up some of their small details – especially on the rush – in what they hope will be a strong indicator of future play under Knoblauch and Assistant Coach Paul Coffey.

The result is a continuation of some of the positives they saw in Seattle on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena after the Oilers were able to end a four-game losing streak on the back of Zach Hyman’s natural hat trick.

If the Oilers are to keep the positives coming, they’ll have to recreate those performances against the very same Kraken on Wednesday before the team heads out on the road for the next four games.

“I think there are a lot of small details to it… I think we've been a lot tighter,” defenceman Ekholm said. “I think we've worked on those details. We've talked about it. We know that the rush defence wasn't where we wanted it to be, but other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job defensively.”

“So the rush has been a point of emphasis in the last little bit, and it's nice to see us figure it out here in these last two games and hopefully, we keep it going.”

WE TALKIN’ ABOUT PRACTICE

Knoblauch helped his first full practice as head coach on Tuesday at the Downtown Community Arena as he and Coffey continued to communicate their message to the group and get to know their players on an individual level.

Through some new drills, there was an emphasis for the defencemen on the breakout and moving the puck quickly into the forwards’ hands, while the forwards focused on checking and keeping the puck along the perimeters.

At the end of the session, some battle drills and a little competition between the blue-jersey defencemen, the white top six and the light-blue bottom six provided the perfect ending to a fun and fast-paced session.

“I thought today was a great practice. I thought it was crisp,” Connor Brown said. “I thought that we worked in tandems. We did some things that were checking, skill-based, angling and keeping the puck out of the middle of the ice, and things that I think they'll help our group in time.”

Overall, speed appeared to be the theme of the skate.

“Today was a fast-paced fun practice. Competitive as well,” Warren Foegele said. “I thought we were skating lots today, and at the end there we were playing a fun competitive drill with a bunch of one-on-ones. But it's good to see guys competing hard and having fun out there."

“I thought it was a high-pace practice,” Ekholm added. “I think we got some defensive details done and at the end there, some offence to it as well. So I think It was a fun practice and again, it's tough to judge one practice, but for the first one I thought it was really good.”

After the blue defencemen were forced into skating a lap at the end following the one-on-ones, a recount around centre ice during the stretching circle led to Connor Brown taking a little accountability for his colour.

“There was some chatter that we had three goals, then we did the recount and apparently we only had two, and we made them skate,” Brown said. “So I figured I owed them a lap.”

“Yeah, a couple of cheating guys on light blue,” Evan Bouchard added. “We're not going to mention who, but someone was being accountable and skated the extra lap, so that was good.”

LINEUP NOTES

Forward Dylan Holloway wasn’t present at Tuesday’s practice after crashing into the boards in the second period of Monday’s win over the Islanders and is expected to miss extended time due to injury.

“I don't know specifically,” Knoblauch said. “I think it will be longer term, but how long, we're not sure.”

Winger Connor Brown is working his way back into the lineup as he continues to skate with the group after suffering a lower-body injury against the Dallas Stars earlier this month and could be ready to go if he’s ready to go on Wednesday and fill the hole in the lineup left by Holloway’s injury.

“I'm definitely close. I leave those decisions up to medical staff,” he said. “I feel very fortunate with the staff that we have here. They've helped me climb here and get back to feeling as good as I do. So if not tomorrow, I'm real close.”

Coach Knoblauch didn’t have the full update to provide on Brown during his post-practice media availability and would consult the team’s medical staff later Tuesday afternoon. The 29-year-old’s full participation in the last few practices is a good sign, according to the bench boss.

“We don't know for sure with Brownie,” he said. “I know before it was maybe 50/50, but today we wanted to see how he is on the ice and test it out. He's still out there, so that's probably a good sign. I guess after I talk to our medical staff, we'll find out if he's playing tomorrow or not.”

Later Tuesday afternoon, forward Raphael Lavoie was assigned to the Bakersfield Condors.

Lines at Tuesday’s full practice appeared as follows:

RNH – McDavid – Gagner
Kane – Draisaitl – Hyman
Foegele – McLeod - Ryan
Lavoie – Hamblin - Brown

Nurse – Ceci
Ekholm – Bouchard
Kulak – Desharnais

Skinner
Pickard

GAMEDAY ESSENTIALS

VIDEO

• Catelli Smart Play of the Week
• Coaching Change Press Conference
• Access Insurance Goal Of The Game
• OILERS TODAY | Post-Game at SEA
• HIGHLIGHTS | EDM 4, SEA 1
• POST-RAW | Stuart Skinner
• POST-RAW | Zach Hyman
• POST-RAW | Dylan Holloway

WRITTEN

• GENE'S BLOG: New Kid on the Knoblauch
• TALKING POINTS: Knoblauch introduced as Oilers head coach
• RELEASE: Oilers relieve Woodcroft & Manson, hire Knoblauch
• POST-GAME: Hyman having a hot start
• GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 1