PREVIEW: Oilers at Kraken
SEATTLE, WA – What a wild ride Thursday night was at Rogers Place.
Now, we’re back on the road for back-to-back games on the West Coast.
The Edmonton Oilers, fresh off their crazy 6-5 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in a one-off homestand, will travel to Seattle and Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday for the first of two games in 48 hours against Pacific Division opposition in the Kraken and Canucks.
The Kraken have started the season strong with a 4-2-2 record, having just shut out the powerhouse Winnipeg Jets 3-0 to hand them their first loss in six games in the final game of a long six-game road trip. Goaltender Joey Daccord made 32 saves for the shutout, while forward Jaden Schwartz had two goals and three assists and leads Seattle in points this season with eight points (4G, 4A) in eight games.
On Thursday, Vasily Podkolzin scored with a terrific backhand finish top shelf on goaltender Sam Montembault with 1:09 remaining in regulation, finishing off a streak of three straight goals from the Oilers in the final 10 minutes of the third period after the Canadiens erased a 3-1 lead with three straight goals of their own in the middle frame.
The Oilers scored twice on the power play from Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 58 seconds apart for their fifth goals of the season, tying things up before Podkolzin capped off the huge win and a multi-point performance with his first goal since the tragic passing of his father earlier this month.
After Podkolzin’s winner and David Tomasek’s first NHL goal during the first period, the Oilers have had five players score their first goals of the campaign in their last two games, which have both been victories (Podkolzin, Tomasek, McDavid, Howard and Walman).
