Coach Dave Hakstol was without defenseman Jamie Oleksiak for this game, who was in COVID-19 protocol. Chris Driedger was given the start over Philipp Grubauer, who left Wednesday’s game with an injury but was available to play. Edmonton was without some of their top contributors in Zach Hyman, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Kyle Turris.

DONATO STAYS HOT!
pic.twitter.com/3CildJipJN

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 19, 2021

The Kraken came out with some energy in the first period, scoring goals by Red Hot Ryan Donato and Jared McCann in the first half of the period, but Edmonton finally wiped the sleep from their eyes and game battling back to tie the game on a goal by Evan Bouchard and a power play goal by Warren Foegele before the teams could hit the intermission. Unfortunately for the Kraken, the Oilers led in shots 20–7 but Driedger weathered the storm enough to keep the score tied.

The game settled down a bit in the second period, with Edmonton leading in shots once again, but only by a 9–7 margin. The teams traded goals by Edmonton’s Colton Sceviour and Seattle’s Carson Soucy, which set up a 3–3 game heading into the third period. The Kraken had to be feeling fortunate that they were still in the game despite the 29–14 shot disparity.

After two periods where they fought and clawed (mostly by their goaltender) their way to stay in the game, things just fell apart in the third period. The Kraken managed only three shots on goal, while the Oilers threw 12 shots on the Seattle net. Foegele scored his second of the game 8:54 into the third on a disputed goaltender interference call and Connor McDavid (remember that guy?) put the cherry on top with an empty net goal in the final minutes of play.

In the end, the Kraken were probably lucky to even be in the game as late as they were, so they might be able to dress this loss up as a moral victory. Driedger certainly should.

Anchor points

  Driedger might want that Bouchard goal back, but overall, he played a solid game and put the team in a position to win. When your team cannot manage 20 shots on goal and they give up 41, you should not be within one goal in the third period.

“Not up in here!” -Chris Driedger, probably.

Check out tonight’s @WAFDbank‘s Signature Save of the Game. pic.twitter.com/kR720t1UN2

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 19, 2021

  The Kraken only had one power play of their own and were not able to convert. On the other hand, Edmonton converted on one of their two power plays.

  The game was not a total loss. Seattle had several close calls at the Edmonton end of the ice, as they appeared to go for quality over quantity. There were posts hit and a couple of big saves by Edmonton starter Stuart Skinner.

  Edmonton crushed the Kraken in every relevant possession metric, which predictably figured in the final score:

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 70% – 30%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 67% – 33%
5-on-5 High Danger Chances For 65% – 35%
5-on-5 Expected Goals For 66% – 34%
Faceoff Percentage 58% – 42%

  The Kraken were supposed to face the Toronto Maple Leafs later tonight, but the game was postponed due to Covid-19 concerns (along with Thursday’s game in Calgary). As a result, their next contest will be Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Arizona Coyotes. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT (allegedly).

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It has become commonplace for the Kraken to either score or give one up fairly early on in their games. This game was no different. The score was 2–1 in favor of the Oilers just over six minutes after puck drop. Both Edmonton goals were at the hands of Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl, while Kraken veteran forward Jaden Schwartz scored an exciting end-to-end goal of his own sandwiched between Draisaitl’s markers.

Jaden “end-to-end” Schwartz. #NHLOnSN pic.twitter.com/rsZxyo57Gs

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 2, 2021

That said, Seattle only gave up four shots on goaltender Joey Daccord in the first period, while sending six shots at Koskinen. It almost seemed like Head Coach Dave Hakstol knew he could not slow down the Oilers stars, so he sacrificed Daccord at the altar of Draisaitl.

It was much of the same in the second period, with Seattle outshooting Edmonton 14–8. Longtime Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith scored his first goal as an Oiler, while Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy scored his second of the year late in the period. As the horn for the second intermission sounded, the Kraken were leading in shots 20–12 but down 3–2 on the scoreboard.

Carson Soucy with all the heat on that rip. pic.twitter.com/6Ha3KGWTwh

— NHL (@NHL) November 2, 2021

The Kraken were still in the game, though, at the intermission.

Unfortunately, the wheels fell off the cart in the third period. Daccord gave up two more Oilers goals, which put the game out of reach with over seven minutes still to play. Edmonton forwards Kyle Turris and Kailer Yamamoto seemed to eat Daccord up in close, which was a theme on the night.

Anchor points

The Kraken power play has continued to fail them again and again. They had two second period opportunities to tie the game and failed. Edmonton went one for three on their opportunities, which is actually less than their ridiculous season average of 46.2%. As good as the Kraken penalty kill is, Edmonton’s world-class power play is going to score at least one. If Seattle could just match that, the game could have had a different outcome.

Not that Daccord had a chance, but the Kraken needed better goaltending when the game was still early. Three goals on 12 Oilers shots is simply not adequate.

For the second game in a row, the Kraken led their opponent in most relevant possession numbers. They led 57%–43% in Corsi (shot attempts) and 60%–40% in Fenwick (unblocked shots). They also had more high danger chances (14–11) and had an expected goals percentage of 56%. The numbers were there, but they could not get a save.

Defenseman Adam Larsson had an awful night against his former team, with a team-low 33% 5-on-5 Corsi.

The Kraken are back home on Thursday to face the Buffalo Sabres. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken cannot stop well-oiled Edmonton machine, lose 5–2 appeared first on The Rink.

Overall, the game did not have a high goal count, but there were plenty of shots and action around goalies Joey Daccord (SEA), Philipp Grubauer (SEA) and Stuart Skinner (EDM). They all saw their fill of shots, saving a combined 64 of 67 (.955 save percentage), with Skinner giving up two goals, Grubauer giving up one and Daccord going a perfect 8 for 8.

Seattle tied the game with under a minute remaining in regulation and the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. Jaden Schwartz was the momentary hero for the Kraken after the Brendan Perlini swan song continued, with his third goal vs. Seattle this preseason early in the second period.

Center Jared McCann continued his hot play, with the Kraken game-winner with under a minute remaining in the overtime period. The “home” team outshot Edmonton 41–26 in the contest.

Anchor points

On Thursday, the Kraken announced that (D) Ryker Evans, (F) Brent Gates, (F) Tye Kartye, (F) Ryan Lohin, (F) Cole Mackay, (G) Francis Marotte, (F) Jacob Melanson, and (C) Ryan Winterton had all been released from camp or re-assigned to their junior club.

Postgame, they announced that (G) Antoine Bibeau, (D) Connor Carrick, (D) Cale Fleury and (F) Gustav Olofsson had been waived. This means they are probably headed to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL.  Forward Luke Henman was sent to Charlotte outright.

Antoine Bibeau (SEA), Connor Carrick (SEA), Cale Fleury (SEA), Gustav Olofsson (SEA), Tanner Kaspick (STL), Matthew Peca (STL), Nolan Stevens (STL), Maxime Lagace (TB), Otto Somppi (TB), Daniel Walcott (TB), Shane Gersich (WSH), Lucas Johansen (WSH) and Dylan McIlrath (WSH).

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) October 2, 2021

The Kraken face the Flames again, in Kent, Washington, tonight. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.

The post RECAP: Kraken get revenge, beat Oilers 2–1 in overtime appeared first on The Rink.

Starting this game in goal for the Kraken was Chris Driedger, who gave up one goal on eight shots Sunday against Vancouver.

The Oilers opened the scoring at the 14:10 mark of the first period, with defenseman Darnell Nurse beating Driedger from just inside the blue line. Driedger was partially screened by two of his own players and Nurse surprised the Kraken goalie to give the Oilers a lead they never relinquished.

Seven minutes later, the Kraken got themselves into some penalty trouble, with infractions by Carsen Twarynski and Will Borgen. That opened the door for the most dangerous power play in the NHL, and it did not take long to capitalize. The Oilers picked right up where they left off last season, methodically playing tic-tac-toe and finishing with Jesse Puljujarvi snapping a quick shot past Driedger for a 2–0 Oilers lead.

Just two minutes later, the Oilers took a 3–0 lead with newcomer Zach Hyman getting his first goal as an Oiler in highlight fashion. Connor McDavid circled the Kraken zone twice while wowing the crowd with his smooth moves and, eventually, fed Hyman for a tap-in back-door goal after mesmerizing the Kraken defense.

After 20 minutes, the Oilers led in goals 3–0 and shots 13–10, which ended up being all they would need.

The home team put two more goals on the board in the second period, as former Blackhawks and Coyotes forward Brendan Perlini scored the first of his two goals, and McDavid got his third point of the night with a power play goal. The Oilers’ captain looked to be in mid-season form, setting up his teammates and making the visitors look inferior.

Despite the lopsided score, the Kraken were able to muster up several quality chances, due to sloppy defensive play in the Edmonton zone and some strange bounces. Alas, none resulted in goals on the scoreboard, as Mike Smith made a few desperation saves and Mikko Koskinen playing solid in the final half of the game.

The only scoring in the third was a rocket from Perlini, again, making a case to make the Oilers’ regular season roster with his second of the game. The lone positive of the night was that Seattle outshot Edmonton in the final two periods 23–20.

Anchor points

You simply cannot get out-dueled by one of the worst (and potentially oldest) goalie tandems in the league in Smith and Koskinen. Joey Daccord was brought in for mop-up duty in the third period, but the damage was long done and Edmonton was not pressuring much. That said, Dreidger was not given much help. Other than the first goal, he was left hung out to dry on at least two of the four goals he surrendered.

Ryan Donato continued to show that he was a wise, under-the-radar pickup, leading the visitors with four shots on net.

This might be a taste of what could happen more often this season. If the Kraken cannot play well in their own end, opponents will start to expose the talent gap. They just do not have the top-end talent to run with the other top-tier players, yet.

The Kraken went 0–4 on the power play while the Oilers went 2–5. Special teams simply just need to be better on both ends.

That said, Seattle scratched most of their skilled players, including three of their top centers, three top wings and two of their top defensemen. Dennis Cholowski, Joonas Donskoi, Jordan Eberle, Haydn Fleury, Mark Giordano, Yanni Gourde (injured), Philipp Grubauer, Adam Larsson, Jared McCann, Gustav Olofsson, Jaden Schwartz, Carson Soucy and Alexander Wennberg all had the night off.

The Kraken are back at it tonight in Calgary against the Flames. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. PDT.

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