The final game in the 2022 portion of the Kraken’s regular season went wrong early. Time to turn the page, the month and the year. Out with the old, bring in the new as in the New York Islanders on New Year’s Day
Edmonton scored two goals in 32 seconds, then added a third 39 seconds later to make it 3-0 before the four-minute mark. The Oilers added one more goal in the first period and it could have more except for some stellar saves by Martin Jones, who subbed for Philipp Grubauer after the third Edmonton goal.
The early scoring proved too much in a 7-2 win for the Oilers, who moved into third place in the Pacific Division behind Vegas, and Los Angeles. The most relevant positive news of two straight divisional losses to the Flames and Oilers is Seattle still has three games in hand to make ground on the Alberta franchises.
Hakstol on Competitiveness
Coach Dave Hakstol, of course, was unhappy with the 3-0 deficit after four minutes. But though he voiced the opinion Philipp Grubauer needed to make a save on what turned out to be the third goal and missed assignments lead to the second goal, he wanted to talk about the whole game when asked about the opening minutes.
“It’s not just the opening minutes,” said Hakstol in measured words but clear about his message. “Our willingness to check tonight and to be above [between Oilers player and the Kraken net] and to work without the puck was not close [to how the Kraken have been winning division games but fell to 7-4-2 in those matchups over this homestand].”
“You get to this time of year, especially against good teams, you can’t go out and score your way to a victory in it. That’s what it looked like to me. We wanted to go out and create offense. Our group is effective when we check [forecheck, backcheck] to create offense.”
Hakstol didn’t think most of his players measured up in competitiveness against a division foe that arrived with 40 points in the Pacific standings, tied with the Kraken. He praised Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev, then stopped there.
“I look at a couple of guys that go out there and just work their asses off tonight – 37 and 13 they just go work and compete,” said Hakstol. “Were they perfect tonight? No, but the competitiveness and that element of the willingness to check and push through hard situations is really important. We weren’t very good there tonight [as a team]. That’s where we have to take a close, hard look at ourselves, all of us. We’re all in this thing together.”
Second-Period Energy
Seattle showed some life with two goals in the first half of the second period, with Daniel Sprong shooting first rather than passing back to linemate Morgan Geekie, who threaded a beauty of a pass to Sprong for the wing’s 11th goal of the year. Ryan Donato, back with that pair with coach Dave Hakstol shaking up the lines after the first intermission, got the play started for the secondary assist.
Video: EDM@SEA: Sprong nets 11th goal of season in 2nd
Worth noting: Sprong’s choice to shoot rather than make another pass is exactly what coach Dave Hakstol emphasized after Wednesday’s tough-to-accept 3-2 loss to Calgary. “You don’t turn down shots this time of year,” said Hakstol about the need to put pucks on net and get players to the net for tips or rebounds. In this case, Sprong’s hard shot leaked past Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, but Geekie was right there crease-front if the puck didn’t quite get over the goal line.
Larsson Sets Career-High Assist Streak
Seven-and-a-half minutes into the second period, Adam Larsson fired a shot on EDM goalie Stuart Skinner. The rookie made the first save but a tenacious Brandon Tanev whacked at the puck and scored on a second try. Tanev’s linemates were clearly happy for the hard-working Tanev, who has not converted a strong handful of scoring chances lately (including two breakaways in Wednesday’s loss to Calgary).
Video: EDM@SEA: Tanev scores in 2nd period
For his part, former Oiler and Kraken defensive stalwart Adam Larsson is flashing some serious playmaking moves lately. The Kraken alternate captain notched an assist for the fifth straight game, setting a career-high.
Problem is, Edmonton scored twice more between the Seattle goals. Second-line forward Klim Kostin scored his second goal of the game (third and fourth of the season), then one minute later Zach Hyman scored his second power-play goal of the game with a fourth primary assist on the night for Oilers star Connor McDavid, who took the close-in shot deflected by Hyman. In all that scoring, both McDavid and EDM forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had racked up four assists apiece to boost the score to 6-1 before Tanev’s goal.
Good News, Bad News, McDavid News
Edmonton superstar center McDavid didn’t score a goal in the first period here at Climate Pledge Arena Friday night. That’s the good news. The not-so-good news? He earned the primary assists on three scores by teammates to notch 70 points on the season (31 goals, 39 assists) by the first intermission. He added his aforementioned fourth primary assist in the middle period.
McDavid’s playmaking fueled a 4-0 start for the visitors in a divisional battle (rematch next Tuesday in Alberta) and prompted Dave Hakstol to hand the net over to Martin Jones before the four-minute mark of the game. Starter Philipp Grubauer gave up three goals on five shots, not all his fault. But Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse beating Grubauer longer-range might be one the Kraken goaltender would like back.
McDavid did score a goal in the third period, his 32nd of the year. He has 72 points to lead all NHL scorers, 15 points ahead of teammate Leon Draisaitl. McDavid now has a nine-game road point streak, tying his career-high for away-game scoring.
Draisaitl Scratched with Undisclosed Injury
Edmonton has another star center on the roster. But Leon Draisaitl missed the Friday night matchup after not suiting up for practice the last two days. Draisaitl has 21 goals and 36 assists on the year for 57 points in 36 games. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moved into the German-born Draisaitl’s second-line center position and notched four assists.