PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Kraken

The Edmonton Oilers face the Seattle Kraken for the second time in six days on Thursday to continue their five-game homestand at Rogers Place.

You can watch the game on Sportsnet at 7:00 pm MT or listen live on the Oilers Radio Network, including 880 CHED.

Subscribe to Oilers+ to unlock exclusive live and behind-the-scenes content from inside the locker room.

PREVIEW: Oilers vs. Kraken

EDMONTON, AB – Another crack at the Kraken.

After allowing just one goal over their last two games – a shutout victory in Seattle on Saturday before being blanked by Minnesota earlier this week – the Edmonton Oilers will look to build on their strong defensive play on Thursday when they continue their five-game homestand with a rematch against the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place.

The Oilers shut out the Kraken 4–0 on Nov. 29 with one of their strongest games of the season and will look for another strong performance just six days later against those same Pacific Division opponents, who sit just one point ahead of the Oilers for fifth place in the divisional standings.

Thursday's matchup is their third of four meetings this season, having split the results so far with Seattle winning 3–2 on Oct. 25 at Climate Pledge Arena before Edmonton responded with their shutout victory last week. Historically, the Oilers have held the advantage, winning 10 of their previous 13 meetings.

Saturday's victory in Seattle saw all four of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman register a goal and an assist, while Stuart Skinner stopped all 26 shots for the shutout, including 12 saves on Edmonton's 6-for-6 penalty kill. Nugent-Hopkins marked his return from a nine-game injury absence by having a big impact on special teams, scoring a power-play goal and playing a key role as one of the Oilers' top penalty-killers.

The Oilers also answered the demands physically, standing up for one another on the bench by standing up to forward Mason Marchment after he delivered a blindside check on Darnell Nurse near the end of the first period, which brought out their togetherness that showed over the remaining 40 minutes.

Marchment, who's averaging just over 17 minutes per game and has produced 13 points (2G, 11A) through 23 games this season, won't be making the trip to Edmonton after sustaining an undisclosed injury that will keep him from participating in Thursday's rematch.

Edmonton carried forward Saturday's defensive display into a 1-0 defeat to the Wild on Tuesday, where they ran into a hot goaltender in Jesper Wallstedt while Stuart Skinner had another strong showing between the pipes with 23 stops and allowing only one goal on a blast from defenceman Jonas Brodin.

"I thought it was a hard-fought game on both sides," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I thought we played well. We just couldn't find a way to break them down, but we put a lot on them. If anything, we may have just needed more guys going to the net, but they did a pretty good job in front of their net. So unfortunately, we played like that and didn't come out with the win, but a lot of things to like and build off of and go into tomorrow."

Skinner’s recent run of results has been the anchor of Edmonton’s renewed defensive structure. With his shutout against Seattle and the loss to Minnesota, he’s posted an exceptional .979 save percentage and a 0.52 goals-against average over his last two games, saving 49 of the 50 shots he faced.

After Wednesday's practice at the Downtown Community Arena, Skinner praised his team's commitment to defending in front of him, saying their structure is the reason he's been able to have the recent success he's had.

"I think it kind of goes with everything, but just sticking to our structure and trusting each other within that structure," Skinner said. "Blocked shots are huge, keeping things to the outside when there is a breakdown, and having the trust that I got my guy and they got theirs."

Wednesday's practice saw Head Coach Kris Knoblauch reunite the line of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid and Hyman – historically one of the NHL's best lines over the past three seasons by outscoring opponents 65-42, including lots of recent success against Seattle. McDavid has points in 12 of his last 15 against the Kraken (9G, 12A), while Nugent-Hopkins has points in 14 of 16 meetings (6G, 15A) and Hyman has points in three straight (2G, 2A).

With Jack Roslovic and Kasperi Kapanen out for extended periods with injuries, coupled with Nugent-Hopkins' strong play since returning from injury, Coach Knoblauch felt that the urge to elevate No. 93 into a top-six role instead of having him play as the third-line centre was too tempting in this situation.

"Leon can move from left wing with Connor to center [on the second line]," he said. "Whether it's two centres or three, it's nice having those three guys play down the middle. Nuge's last two games have been really good. He played extremely well last night on the face-offs and won a lot of key draws for us.

"He was a little more in the shutdown defensive responsibility, but I think right now with the missing some winger depth, it's just a little more tempting to move up Nuge to play in that situation."

The Oilers also feel they've benefited from the extra practice time this week, which comes as part of their five-game homestand after playing only 10 of their first 27 games on home ice.

"I think practice definitely helps," Nugent-Hopkins said. "You can go over what you want on video, but to actually be able to see it on video, then work on it, helps a lot. We haven't had a whole lot, just with our schedule being pretty crazy, but it helps getting out here and just getting the energy back too. When you have a good practice, guys are talking and chatting, and it definitely helps too."

Last season, the Oilers were 25-13-3 at home and 28-9-4 at Rogers Place the previous year, so there's a belief that they need to make the most of the strong home schedule they have until the NHL breaks in February for the Olympics.

“Obviously, we didn't get the win last night, but we played well," Nugent-Hopkins said. "So we got to keep rolling here and make this place a tough place to come into every night. I think we've established that over the past few years, so it's a good chance for us here now."