GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Kraken 0

SEATTLE, WA – Stu-pendous.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped all 26 shots for the shutout, while forwards Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each recorded a goal and an assist for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins marked his return from a nine-game injury absence by opening the scoring on the power play 8:31 into the first period before setting up another on the man advantage in the middle frame for Zach Hyman, who recorded his first goal of the season after making it 3-0 for the Oilers.

"This is how you want to respond – no question about it," Nugent-Hopkins said. "But now we look forward to the next one on Tuesday. We'll take a day to get a little rest, and then back at it on Monday, but this is how you want to respond. It shows a lot of good things for our group."

Leon Draisaitl extended his point streak to eight games, totalling five goals and eight assists, by scoring his 15th goal of the campaign in the second period and picking up the primary helper on Hyman's tally.

McDavid picked up an assist on Nugent-Hopkins' marker before scoring Edmonton's lone goal in the third period.

Stuart Skinner was exceptional by making all 26 saves, including all 12 he faced on Edmonton's perfect 6-for-6 penalty kill and a vital stop on a breakaway for Kraken forward Berkly Catton in the final three minutes of the second period, locking down the ninth clean sheet of his NHL career in the victory.

"I thought it was good. I was able to play a solid game, but I thought you could see that from everybody," Skinner said. "I think this is one of the games where we were able to play a really solid 60-minute game."

The Oilers will begin a five-game homestand at Rogers Place on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild.

NUGE MARKS RETURN IN FIERY OPENING FRAME

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed the previous nine games before being activated off Injured Reserve ahead of Saturday's contest, and he needed just nine minutes to mark his return to the lineup in Seattle with a power-play goal that opened the scoring against the Kraken in a heated opening frame.

The longest-tenured Oiler showed why his team missed him over a team-high 10 shifts and 7:08 of ice time among forwards in the opening 20 minutes, making it 1-0 with the man advantage at 11:29 of the frame while playing a key role on Edmonton's 3-for-3 penalty kill in the first period that included a stop on a lengthy Kraken five-on-three opportunity.

The Oilers stopped the Kraken on their first power play that came to an end at the midway mark of the opening frame before Mason Marchment – who was steadily becoming their public enemy No. 1 – was called for goaltender interference only 14 seconds later to set up Edmonton's opening man advantage.

During the five-on-four, Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard opened up a lane for Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the left circle to take a return pass from Bouchard and fire it past Joey Daccord, who couldn't get across in time after being tangled up in the Kraken crease with Zach Hyman and Adam Larsson.

Nugent-Hopkins picked up his sixth goal and 17th point in his 17th game this season, marking the fourth time in his career that he's averaged at least a point per game through his first 17 games of a season.

"I think the way that we kind of worked to get pucks back there, that's what started it," Nugent-Hopkins said of the power play. "It's not always going to be clean and easy, but you get pucks back and then they're out of position a little bit, and the first one was a great play by Bouchy."

"I think it's going to start with our work, then we can make plays off that."

Bouchard and McDavid are each riding three-game point streaks after picking up helpers on Nuge's 80th career power-play tally, with Bouchard's 22 points (4G, 18A) in his last 20 games since Oct. 18 making him the second-highest point-producing defenceman behind Cale Makar (24) over that span.

The Oilers were short five-on-three a few minutes later when a high-sticking call on Brett Kulak and a bench minor for too many men came in quick succession to put them down two men for 1:45, but Stuart Skinner stood his ground with four saves to help Edmonton's PK earn the crucial stop.

"I think we were just really focused on our own details, not too much of what they were doing and just kind of being in the moment and reading off each other," Skinner said of the penalty kill. "We really trusted each other, and I think you could see that tonight."

"Staying within our system and trusting it," Nugent-Hopkins added. "Trying to keep things outside for sure, and you've got to rely on [your goalie] sometimes back there, and he did a great job. But I thought we were just trusting our system and working together."

Darnell Nurse took a heavy blindside check from Marchment in the Oilers' zone that popped his helmet off and changed the physical complexion of Saturday's game, with Adam Henrique trying to respond after the hit by going after the Kraken forward, who was guilty of causing the injury to Zach Hyman in the Western Conference Final this past May as a member of the Dallas Stars.

"It started with one hit that should have been called, and we're going to stand up for each other," Nugent-Hopkins said. "I didn't think anybody did anything to put us down and take us out a bit, but obviously, you're going to stand up for each other and make sure that they know when something like that happens, it's not just going to go away."

McDavid would be called for a tripping penalty before the intermission, but the Oilers were still focused on Marchment as the period expired, standing between the benches to deliver some choice words for him as the teams exited the ice in a show of togetherness and force toward the Kraken.

"It shows the brotherhood in this room, so that's really important to going all the way," Skinner said.

Edmonton had the 1-0 lead through 20 minutes and 1:39 of penalty-kill time remaining on McDavid's penalty to begin the second period.

THE KRAKS START TO SHOW IN SEATTLE

It was more of the same from the Blue & Orange in the second period.

Another pair of crucial penalty kills, a Leon Draisaitl delivery at even strength to extend his point streak, and a fortunate power-play goal for Zach Hyman (set up by Draisaitl) had the Oilers in the driver's seat through 40 minutes at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday afternoon.

After killing off the remainder of McDavid's carry-over penalty from the first period, Draisaitl took his team's retribution against Marchment a bit too far when he came into a tie-up between Marchment and Emberson and delivered an elbow up high on the Kraken forward to send the Oilers back to the penalty kill.

With another successful kill, the Oilers settled in and never looked back, with Draisaitl delivering his side into a 2-0 lead just over three minutes after he came out of the box by extending his point streak to eight games with his 15th goal of the campaign.

Off a failed zone entry from the Kraken, Ty Emberson poked it into the neutral zone for Andrew Mangiapane that started the odd-man rush that resulted in Draisaitl wiring a snap shot past Daccord far side from between the circles to increase Edmonton's advantage at 7:30 of the middle frame.

Emberson picked up an assist to give him helpers in at least back-to-back games for the fifth time in his career, and points in at least back-to-back games for the sixth time in his career – owning one career three-game point streak that came back in January 2024 as a member with the Sharks.

Stuart Skinner was on a mission on Saturday in the building where he recorded his first-career shutout back in the 2021-22 season, and the netminder kept the clean sheet intact with 2:27 left in the frame by stretching out the right pad to deny Berkly Catton on a breakaway.

With less than two minutes left in the period, the Oilers were on the power play and went up 3-0 on a lucky bounce that struck the skate of Zach Hyman, who inadvertently redirected Draisaitl's shot-pass attempt from the right circle through Daccord's five-hole for his first goal of the season.

Thanks to a goal and an assist in the second period, Draisaitl's eight-game point streak now reads five goals and eight assists, and the Oilers were comfortable ahead up 3-0 at Climate Pledge Arena through 40 minutes.

SEALING THE DEAL IN SEATTLE

A fighter's mentality – in more ways than one – was the reason the Oilers were able to do what they did on Saturday, rising from the adversity they've faced so far this season with a big performance from their netminder, their special teams, and their entire roster's refusal to back down in front of them.

"The special teams were outstanding tonight," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "We had a lot of kills, especially early in the game, and just a lot of good reads. I thought everyone was on their toes. Any loose pucks, they were attacking and there were some chances. Of course, there were going to be some chances, and Stu made some big saves."

After McDavid added another in the third period, the Oilers continued to answer the bell physically.

"I thought it was solid," Skinner said. "We were able to get in more of a rhythm in the third period, just with all the PKs that we had to face in the first and second, and the way that we defended those and the way that we just fought tonight. We had a fighting mentality tonight."

McDavid added to Edmonton's lead by going up top over Daccord from a tight angle at 6:25 of the third period, with Hyman and Ekholm recording the helpers as Edmonton looked to have put this one out of reach for the Kraken with his 11th goal of the campaign that made it 4-0 for the Oilers.

Connor Clattenburg continued his energetic start to life in the NHL with a hard hit on Ryker Evans with less than eight minutes left in regulation, prompting Frederick Gaudreau to come after him in retaliation and dropping the mitts before getting tossed aroudn by the the 20-year-old Oilers forward.

Three minutes later, it was Alec Regula's turn in a fight against Ryker Evans in a spirited scrap that sent both parties to the locker room early. Darnell Nurse and Mason Marchment would both get 10-minute misconducts with less than three minutes on the clock as Edmonton closed out its 4-0 victory.