Vasily Podkolzin and Jeff Skinner scored in the first 5 1/2 minutes and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Saturday night, for their third straight victory.
“Tonight, it was really good, especially in the first period where the pass completion was very high and when that happens you just have the puck and you’re generating a lot, and, ultimately, you don’t have to defend,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl also scored, with Draisaitl wrapping it up with an empty-netter with 1:58 left — just six seconds after the Kraken pulled goalie Philipp Grubauer for an extra attacker.
“I still think we can keep the pedal down a little bit more — the last two nights, Nugent-Hopkins said. “But teams are going to push and you gotta find ways to battle back, and we did that tonight.”
Calvin Pickard made 15 saves to help Edmonton improve to 24-12-3. Viktor Arvidsson had two assists.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz scored for Seattle. Grubauer made 28 saves.
Podkolzin needed just 57 seconds to put Edmonton on top, breaking down the right wing, taking a pass from Draisaitl and beating Grubauer from low in the slot.
Skinner made it 2-0 at 5:18, taking a long pass from Kasperi Kapanen and tucking it past Grubauer from the top of the crease for his seventh.
“We got off to a good start,” Skinner said. “Obviously playing the night before, it’s nice when you can sort of roll into the game and get off to a good start in the first period. I thought the penalty kill was good when we needed it. Picks made some good saves for us, especially when they came with the push, so it was a good solid win.”
Takeaways
Oilers: Draisaitl’s 30th assist of the season, coming on Podkolziin’s opening goal, extended his points streak to 14 games (12 goals, 15 assists). That ties the longest such streak of his career. His late goal gave him 29 for the season.
Kraken: Defenseman Vince Dunn played his 500th NHL game and picked up the assist on Schwartz’ goal. He is the third Seattle player to reach 500 career games this season. Chandler Stephenson got there on Oct. 17 and Brandon Tanev did on Nov. 13.
Key moment
Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers a 3-0 lead with 8:08 left the second period, sweeping in the rebound after Connor Brown’s shot was blocked.
Key stat
Draisaitl has 25 points (six goals, 19 assists) in 11 career games against Seattle — more than any other NHL player.
Up next
The Oilers are at Boston on Tuesday night. The Kraken host New Jersey on Monday night.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
