The Edmonton Oilers end their preseason with a win over the Seattle Kraken

EDMONTON – Mattias Ekholm had a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Noah Philp, Vasily Podkolzin and Raphael Lavoie also scored for the Oilers, who improved to 2-3 in the NHL preseason.

Jacob Melanson, Eduard Sale, John Hayden and Ben Meyers responded for the Kraken, which fell to 1-3 in exhibition action.

A little over three minutes into the opening period, the Oilers started scoring when both defensemen tried to cover Connor McDavid on a two-on-one, but he made a nice backhand pass back to Nugent-Hopkins, who beat Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer in the top blocker defeated side.

Seattle tied the game nine minutes into the first after Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard made a few close-range saves before Melanson was able to push the ball in from the goal crease.

Pickard left the game shortly afterwards after his teammate Noah Philp ran into his own goalkeeper and hit him in the head. Pickard did not return to the game.

Olivier Rodrigue replaced Pickard in the Edmonton net and scored a power-play goal with six minutes left in the first game when Ryan Winterton delivered a deft pass over a defender to Sale for the goal.

Edmonton tied the game with 2:43 left in the first frame when Ekholm saw Philp hit the net and complete a long saucer pass through a couple of Kraken players so he could shoot the ball into the goal.

Seattle made it 3-2 at 5:32 of the second period after Rodrigue tried to deflect a puck away from the net, but it hit Hayden and fired into his net.

With two minutes left in the middle period, the Kraken extended their lead when Meyers decided to take advantage of a two-on-one opportunity and beat the Oilers goalie up top.

Edmonton got the goal back just 26 seconds later when Derek Ryan directed the ball to a trailing Ekholm and beat Grubauer to make it 4-3.

The Oilers tied the game on a shorthanded score six minutes into the third when Ryan made a great play to lure defenders his way before handing the ball off to Podkolzin, who easily inbounded it.

Edmonton avoided overtime with 2:53 left in the final frame when Lavoie fought hard to get the puck back before swinging forward and sending a shot through Grubauer’s legs for his second goal of the preseason.

NOTES

The Oilers still had 41 players in camp – four of them goaltenders, 13 defensemen and 24 forwards. … Seattle had just 37 players left in camp — 33 skaters and four goaltenders — after cutting eight players before Friday’s game against Vancouver. … Edmonton had both players in camp Saturday who are on PTOs, forward Mike Hoffman and defenseman Travis Dermott. … Grubauer made his first appearance since last Sunday’s 6-1 loss to Calgary, in which he allowed four goals on 19 shots.

NEXT

Kraken: Visit the Calgary Flames on Monday.

Oilers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2024.