GAME RECAP: Oilers 9, Kraken 4

EDMONTON, AB – Shipwrecked Seattle.

Connor McDavid recorded his 13th career hat-trick, recording a four-point night alongside Leon Draisaitl, while both Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard recorded three assists for the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night in a commanding 9-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Place.

"I feel like we haven't really had that all year, so it feels good to get a couple as a group," McDavid said. "Hopefully, guys are feeling good about themselves and can build on it."

Rookie Matt Savoie scored twice – one while shorthanded and another on the power play – to record his first-career multi-goal game, while Adam Henrique and Mattias Ekholm both contributed a pair of assists as two of the 11 different players on Edmonton's roster who found the scoresheet against Seattle.

"I think the more touches you get going into the season, you get more comfortable out there, and the game just starts to flow a little bit more easily," Savoie said. "I think that's where our group's at, so we're excited to build off tonight."

The Oilers went 4-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, including Savoie's shorthanded marker, to improve to 6-for-7 with the man advantage and 9-for-9 on the penalty kill over their last two games against Seattle, outscoring the Kraken 13-3 over that span.

Forward Mattias Janmark scored his first goal of the season during the final frame after Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman recorded the other tallies for the Oilers in their nine-goal output that was Edmonton's first game scoring nine times dating back to Apr. 25, 2024 against the San Jose Sharks.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard stopped 28 of 32 shots in the victory that moves Edmonton's overall record to 12-11-5 as they look forward to continuing their five-game homestand on Saturday night when they host the Winnipeg Jets at Rogers Place.

RIDING THE WAVES AGAINST SEATTLE

The first 15 minutes of the first period were precisely how the Oilers wanted to start on Thursday, but the early storm from Edmonton gave way to the Kraken's wrath before the intermission to turn a three-goal lead for the hosts into only a slim 3-2 lead over Seattle after the opening frame.

"Right from the start, I thought we were ready to play," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. "I thought there was a lot of jump, and all lines were contributing. We get off to a good start with three goals, then unfortunately, we take a penalty and they score. It didn't look so good after that.

"They almost tied up at the end of the first, but were able to get the next goal and get some momentum. Offensively, we felt really good, and we've been talking a lot about how we can drive a little more offence and how we can score the last few days."

Andrew Mangiapane's wild double-doink on a heavy shot that struck both posts at 14:38 of the first period looked to have opened the scoring for the Oilers when the referee motioned to the net for a goal, but upon review, the puck never actually crossed the line to take the goal back and keep it 0-0 early on.

But just 1:05 later, McDavid made sure that he & his teammates wouldn't have to wait long for another chance to celebrate – this time for a good goal – after the Oilers captain ripped Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' feed top shelf on Seattle netminder Joey Daccord from the left circle for his 12th goal of the season.

McDavid would record another assist before the intermission and two more goals to give himself a hat-trick & a multi-point night for 25 points (12G, 13A) over 16 career games against Seattle, having more multi-point games against the Kraken (6) than games where he hasn't recorded a single point (3).

The re-assembled top line of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid and Hyman then gave way to the second unit of Vasily Podkolzin, Leon Draisaitl and Matt Savoie, who needed only 17 seconds to increase the lead to 2-0 on a short-angle one-timer from the Russian forward in what's usually the German's favourite spot.

Draisaitl side-stepped Chandler Stephenson towards the slot from the top of the Seattle zone before throwing a pass across his body to Podkolzin, who was waiting at the bottom of the right circle to take a swing at a one-timer from a tight angle.

Podkolzin's effort was squeezed tight by Daccord, but the puck trickled through his legs and just crossed the line before Ryker Evans could get there in time to stop it from going in, allowing Podkolzin to sneak home his fifth goal of the season and give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.

"Pods keeps on doing that. That might not be Leon's spot anymore," Knoblauch joked. "I know that's something he's practiced, taking those shots, and we love Pods. One fault that I would have about his game last year was that he didn't have a shot mentality. He has a good shot, but he was just hesitant to fire it away.

"Coming to camp this year, he definitely wanted to score goals, and I don't know what his shot stats are, but I feel like he's always in a position that he wants to fire that puck at the net, and now he's starting to get to the net and get available so he can get those those tip-in goals, those rebounds and stuff like what Hyman's been doing so often."

After picking up an assist on Podkolzin's goal, Draisaitl would find himself back in his domain on the power play almost four minutes later to make quick work of Ryker Evans' delay of game penalty, scoring just seven seconds into the man advantage to make it 3-0 for the Oilers at 8:33 of the middle frame.

McDavid won the offensive-zone draw to Evan Bouchard before it was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who got the puck back to the captain down low to fire a dart across the crease for Draisaitl to quickly one-time past Daccord on Edmonton's first look with the man advantage against Seattle.

During their previous meeting in Seattle on Nov. 29, the Oilers converted both of their power plays and went 6-for-6 on the penalty kill, and a successful stop on their first penalty to Mangiapane kept their special teams' success going before the Kraken scored milliseconds after it went back to even strength.

"It's nice to see the guys being rewarded with some offence, because in the last couple of weeks they've been playing hard, and the defensive game has been getting a lot better."

The Oilers were outshooting the Kraken 10-3 when they made it 3-0 on Draisaitl's 16th goal of the campaign, but the visitors would record seven of the next eight shots that included Eeli Tolvanen's fortunate break when Brandon Montour's broken stick offered him an opening to get Seattle on the board.

After Montour's stick exploded while attempting a one-timer from the middle of the blue line, the puck hit off Podkolzin before redirecting into the path of Tolvanen for a one-timer that beat Calvin Pickard short side right to cut the lead to 3-1 just as Mangiapane returned to the ice to make it five-on-five.

Daccord stopped Savoie on a wide-open breakaway with 53 seconds left in the period, and the Kraken were able to reduce the deficit to 3-2 before the intermission just over 30 seconds later, when Frederick Gaudreau picked the puck off Draisaitl before backhanding it past Pickard for an unassisted marker.

A SECOND HELPING OF GOALS

The goals kept flowing during the middle frame at Rogers Place on Thursday after Matt Savoie's shorthanded tally 2:28 into the stanza set off a stretch of three goals in a 6:25 span for the Oilers that rebuilt the sizeable lead they let slip away during the first period.

The Oilers won the faceoff in their own zone after Connor Clattenburg was given a cross-checking penalty before Savoie took off up ice and was found wide open in the neutral zone by a tape-to-tape pass from Evan Bouchard before using some advice delivered by Stuart Skinner during the intermission.

Having tried his luck five-hole on his breakaway attempt in the second period, Daccord might've expected the same move from the rookie forward, but instead he was deked out by the rookie's backhand that he lifted under the bar.

"I had a lot of time in intermission to think about it, so I had some ideas," Savoie said. "But it was actually Stu who mentioned going backhand. It was just something he saw, so credit to Stu."

"I think it was only my third or fourth breakaway of the season, so to get two in the same game, you gotta capitalize on your chances."

Savoie would score his fourth and fifth goals of the season on Thursday, giving him four points (3G, 1A) in his last five games, with his nine points in 28 games this campaign leaving him one shy of becoming the 74th Oiler to score 10-plus points in their rookie season. Doing so would give him more points in his rookie season than his teammate and linemate Leon Draisaitl, who had two goals and even assists in 37 games back in 2014-15.

"I think confidence is huge," Savoie said. "I went through it when I was 15 in the WHL, being snake-bitten. I didn't score at all that year. I played 24 games and didn't get on the sheet, and then the next year, I got one, then two, and you build off that. It starts to flow into a kind of waterfall effect, so I'm hoping that's the case here."

"I think as the season's progressed, I've just got more confident and more comfortable with the puck on my stick in all situations. So I definitely feel good out there right now, and I'm just looking to build off that."

With the assist on Savoie’s goal, Bouchard has officially recorded his second-fastest season to 20 assists, as he now holds the three fastest seasons to 20 assists among active Oilers, and even made a decisive block to prevent a goal on a five-on-three for Seattle that lasted 37 seconds after Savoie scored.

"The last time Picks was in that five-on-three. I gave up a tap, and I told him I wouldn't do it again," Bouchard said.

McDavid was making it look routine out there after scoring his second of the night just under four minutes later on the power play, ultimately ending Daccord's night with four goals allowed on 10 shots after staying on his feet as No. 97 flat-footed him from the left circle with an easy finish five-hole.

"Things are clicking for us right now," Bouchard said. "Special teams are a big part of the game, so whenever we get a power play, you gotta contribute or at least get momentum for the group."

With two goals and an assist after 40 minutes, it marked McDavid's second-career game with three-plus points against the Kraken.

Netminder Philipp Grubauer took over between the pipes for Seattle, but he wouldn't fare much better as Hyman streaked in 2:39 after McDavid's second tally to make it 6-2 for the Oilers and give himself goals in back-to-back games against the Kraken.

No. 18 scored his first goal of the season back on Nov. 29 in Edmonton's 4-0 shutout in Seattle and added another in Thursday's rematch by picking up Mattias Ekholm's clearance with speed in the neutral zone near the benches and skating in and burying a backhand under the crossbar.

Jared McCann scored 37 seconds later for the Kraken to make it 6-3, but that was the last time the Kraken would find the scoresheet in a dominant showing from the Oilers on Thursday night on home ice that only became more one-sided in the final frame.

SEATTLE SILENCED

Perhaps the only regret was that the Oilers couldn't make it double digits.

"Definitely huge contributions from everyone," Bouchard said. "Savy had a couple, Janny got his first, and it's a good feeling."

The Oilers continued to pound their West Coast rivals during the third period, continuing 2:02 into the final frame with Mattias Janmark putting away his first goal of the season on a rebound off the attempted pass from Mangiapane, following a Kraken turnover in their own zone.

Mangiapane picked up a deserved point for his disallowed goal in the first period after Jani Nyman turned it over up the boards from behind the Kraken net to Janmark, who tried to funnel a pass over to Mangiapane before it bounced to him in front to convert off the rebound to make it 7-3 early in the final frame.

However, the hero for the Oilers on a goal-filled evening on Tuesday was Connor McDavid, who capped off his hat-trick on the power play at 13:01 of the third period with a routine finish similar to his tally during the middle frame.

After Ryan Nugent-Hopkins missed wide on a one-timer off the feed from Leon Draisaitl, McDavid corralled the bounce off the boards before turning and firing a quick shot into an empty Seattle net that his former teammate Adam Larsson and Grubauer didn't expect him to control so perfectly off the wall.

"You guys might think I'm crazy, but the only one that I can remember like that would have been my first hat-trick goal in Dallas," McDavid said. "Jesse [Puljujarvi] shot it, and I remember that stuff, but it was similar and definitely a unique one. Nuge should have scored on the first one."

McDavid's 12th, 13th and 14th goals of the campaign on Thursday marked his 13th career regular-season hat-trick and his first since Oct. 27, 2022 against the Chicago Blackhawks, giving the Oilers a commanding 8-3 lead in this one. The captain recorded seven shots on goal Thursday after takign the blame himself for some over-passing in Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to the Minnesota Wild.

"Yeah, for sure," he added. "As I said before, I thought I passed a couple away the other night, and it ultimately cost us losing a 1-0 game. Who knows if I score one of those, so I definitely thought about shooting a little bit more."

Savoie also had a milestone night after recording his first-career multi-goal game by scoring 1:58 later during an extended power play for the Oilers after Connor Clattenburg took a dangerous high-stick from Brandon Montour to draw a double minor before exiting to the dressing room for repairs.

"He's doing pretty well," Knoblauch said. "I know he was getting checked. He had some stitches above his eye, but I think everything's good."

Ekholm's shot from between the circles was knocked down in front by Adam Henrique, who moved it over to Savoie at the left of Seattle's crease for an easy finish that made it 9-3 for the Oilers on his fifth goal of the season. Henrique and Ekholm both pocketed their second assist of the night on the play.

Savoie's conversion meant there were still two minutes left on Montour's infraction, and a tripping call on Tolvanen meant it'd be a long five-on-three for the Oilers that they didn't manage to convert to finish the night 4-for-5 with the man advantage.

Over their past two meetings, the Oilers are 6-for-7 on the power play against Seattle.

Nyman made it 9-4 with 4.5 seconds left in regulation, but the Oilers were already comfortable winners on Thursday to assemble their third solid performance in a row – and fifth in six games – following Tuesday's 1-0 shutout defeat to the Minnesota Wild and a 4-0 win over Seattle on Saturday.

"I think the last few games we played really well defensively and with pretty good full efforts, so just looking to string it all together and go on a little bit of a run here and put some wins together," Savoie said.

"I feel like we're playing better, obviously, and it's nice to score some goals and feel good about ourselves," McDavid added. "It's been a little bit of a grind here finding wins, so it's nice to put a good one together."