Draisaitl has 2 goals, 2 assists as Oilers beat Kraken 5-2
Nov 1, 2021, 9:29 AM | Updated: 11:01 pm
The Edmonton Oilers celebrate a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Seattle Kraken, in Edmonton, Alberta, Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
(Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl had two goals and two assists, and the Edmonton Oilers extended their strong start to the season with a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night.
Duncan Keith, Kyle Turris and Kailer Yamamoto also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 7-1-0. Mikko Koskinen stopped 27 shots.
“I don’t think it was our best game overall, but good teams find a way to win and we did that tonight,” said Keith, who got his first goal with Edmonton in his 1,200th NHL game.
Jaden Schwartz and Carson Soucy each had a goal for the expansion Kraken (3-6-1), who lost for the second night in a row. They were beaten at home by the New York Rangers 3-1 on Sunday.
Joey Daccord made 18 saves for Seattle.
“It’s frustrating,” Schwartz said. “The last game was right there for us and so was tonight. They were opportunistic to start, we had a lot of good chances, a lot of good looks and we just have to find ways to put them in the back of the net, get hungrier around the net, and our power play has to start executing better for us and getting us on the board and getting us more momentum.”
Edmonton scored on its first shot of the game two minutes in when Tyson Barrie’s drive deflected off Draisaitl’s skate and past Daccord.
Seattle responded a couple of minutes later as Schwartz scored his first goal of the season, battling to split the defense and then sending a backhand through Koskinen’s legs.
Two minutes after that, the Oilers regained the lead on their dangerous power play. Zach Hyman sent a pass across for Draisaitl, who scored his seventh of the season into a wide-open net. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins picked up his league-leading 11th assist on the play.
The Oilers went up 3-1 early in the second period when Keith crept up to deposit the rebound of Draisaitl’s shot.
“It speaks to the depth of our group that we can win in different ways,” Draisaitl said. “We can win on the power play and special teams in general, our goalie can steal one, our defensemen are chipping in, our third line has won us games. There are types of different ways that we can win a game and that is a pretty great asset to have on a team.”
Seattle clawed back within one with 1:20 left in the second as Soucy joined the rush and picked the top corner.
Edmonton made it 4-2 three minutes into the third as Devin Shore made a nice feed to Turris at the side of the net for the tap-in.
Draisaitl got his fourth point with 7 1/2 minutes to play as he sent Yamamoto in and he made a nice move to score his first goal in 20 games and just his second in his last 36.
“They were just telling me to get to the net and keep shooting and eventually it would come and tonight it finally came,” Yamamoto said.
NOTES: The Kraken were without leading scorer Jared McCann, who remained sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols. Also absent from the Seattle lineup were Chris Driedger (undisclosed), Marcus Johansson (undisclosed), Colin Blackwell (lower body) and Mason Appleton (lower body). … The lone player injured for the Oilers is goalie Mike Smith, who did participate in the morning practice. … Edmonton came in with the top-ranked power play in the NHL, clicking at an astounding 47.8% clip. The Kraken’s power play was 30th at 10.3%.
UP NEXT
Kraken: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Oilers: Host the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night.
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