Kraken sink struggling Oilers 5-2 with offensive outburst

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken exploded for four consecutive goals in the second period to come away with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

“It was nice. I thought the way we played it was good to get rewarded,” said Kraken defender Adam Larsson. “There was a lot of emphasis on what happened last game and that made us even more hungry today. From top to bottom every guy played a solid game.”

Matty Beniers, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann and Alex Wennberg also scored for the Kraken (20-12-4) who have won two in a row. Martin Jones made 30 saves in the Seattle net.

“In the second period, we got that one goal and it gave us some wings offensively and we were able to make more plays offensively, and I think we kept our game pretty simple,” Gourde said. “We weren’t trying too much, we weren’t trying to pass through guys, we were just putting it at the net and trying to work our way there and we got rewarded.”

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid responded with goals for the Oilers (20-17-2) who have lost two straight and five consecutive games on home ice.

“You go up 2-0 and the odds that you win that game are statistically pretty high, right?” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “But, unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep the lead and we had 11 minutes where we fell asleep in the second period (and allowed four goals) and suddenly you are playing catch-up.”

Edmonton’s lethal power play connected to start the scoring with 7:13 remaining in the opening period as a Leon Draisaitl shot attempt went through the crease to Nugent-Hopkins, who sniped home his 19th of the season from a tough angle past Jones.

Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner kept it a 1-0 game by making a breakaway stop on Daniel Sprong a few minutes later.

The Oilers went up by a pair just 48 seconds into the middle frame as McDavid got his league-leading 33rd goal of the season.

The Kraken tied the game with a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart, however.

Seattle got on the board 4:44 into the second period with a power-play goal as Beniers was able to bat a rebound out of mid-air and it trickled behind Skinner.

Then with another Oiler penalty on the way, Beniers made a perfect long pass to Schwartz at the back door, and he directed home his first goal in 12 games.

The Kraken kept coming against a shaken Oilers squad, as the Edmonton defense failed to clear a big rebound, allowing Gourde to score his first goal in nine outings through traffic with just over seven minutes to play in the second.

Seattle scored its fourth straight goal in the period with 4:12 remaining. The goal chased Skinner from the net after allowing four goals on 20 shots, with Jack Campbell coming in to replace him.

Edmonton thought it had clawed back to within a goal on an early third period power-play goal by Draisaitl, but it was erased on a coach’s challenge which determined Hyman was offside on the play.

NOTES

The teams previously met Friday, with Edmonton rolling to a relatively easy 7-2 victory, highlighted by a five-point performance from McDavid. … With eight of their next nine games on the road, the Kraken actually spend more time in Edmonton than in Seattle during that stretch as they will make a stop at home for one game following their seven-game road swing, only to return right back to Edmonton on Jan. 17. … Draisaitl, the league’s second leading scorer behind teammate McDavid, returned to the lineup after missing two games with an oblique strain.

UP NEXT

Kraken: At Toronto on Thursday night.

Oilers: Host Islanders on Thursday night.

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