Despite an assist, this isn’t how Seattle Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn wanted to remember his 500th NHL game. The high-flying Edmonton Oilers Saturday bullied Seattle early in a 4-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena. It wasn’t that close, made so only by the excellent netminding of Philipp Grubauer.
The Oilers opened a 2-0 lead before the contest was six minutes old, and that included Connor McDavid failing to score on a breakaway. Hockey Night In Canada’s Jack Michaels called it “Utter domination.”
Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson prevented a shutout by scoring in his second straight game, and Jaden Schwartz added a 3rd period marker to create late drama.
Domination also describes Edmonton’s last six trips to Seattle, all victories. Overall, the Oilers have bested the Kraken in their last seven meetings. The Kraken will get three more chances to break that streak this season, beginning Jan. 27 in Edmonton.
The Kraken began the game without Yanni Gourde, a late scratch with what the team described as a lower body injury. They finished the game without Adam Larsson, who missed the 3rd period with an undisclosed ailment.
1st Period
Recent Coachella Valley callup Ben Meyers draws into the Kraken lineup in place of Gourde.
Eleven seconds after puck drop, a bank of lights temporarily switched off. Unfortunately for the home side, they came back on. Vasily Podkolzin breaks the ice for Edmonton at 57 seconds.
Leon Draisaitl’s 30th assist extends his points streak to 14 games. Draisaitl also leads the league with 28 goals – and he’s not even the best player on his team.
Three minutes later, that better player, Connor McDavid, gets loose on a breakaway. How do you lose track of that guy? Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer bails out his mates with a sparkling left pad save on McDavid’s backhand deke.
Very sloppy (but fun!) sequence from both teams, as they feed each other's transition.
Great save by Grubauer on the McDavid breakaway. pic.twitter.com/QSYD3yccJ2
— Emerald City Hockey (@EmeraldCityHky) January 5, 2025
It’s only a temporary reprieve. At 5:18, Jeff Skinner is the latest allowed passage behind the Kraken defense. He makes Grubauer commit first, then lifts the 2-0 goal over the sprawling netminder.
Either the Oilers took their collective feet off the gas or the Kraken gathered their bearings, because the remainder of the period was relatively quiet. Shots in the 1st: Edmonton 10, Seattle 3.
2nd Period
Edmonton’s McDavid and Evan Bouchard both take hooking penalties in the first six minutes of the period. The first Seattle power play results in zero shots on goal. Brandon Montour glances a shot off the left post on the second power play, but officially the PP again ends without a SOG.
Vince “Mr. 500” Dunn breaks up a potential Edmonton 2-on-1 with good hand-eye coordination to prevent a pass reaching Adam Henrique.
Brandon Tanev hits trailer Matty Beniers, but his long laser bidding for a fourth straight game with a goal is saved by Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard.
At about the midpoint of the period, it began to feel like Oilers were getting serious about scoring again. At 11:52, they do. Several minutes of tilting the ice culminates in two Oilers crowding Grubauer’s crease. Connor Brown, back to the net, putts a pretty pass on the stick of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who doesn’t miss.
As a penalty to Seattle’s Tye Kartye is ending, Chandler Stephenson speeds down ice on a 2-on-1. He beats Pickard for his 5th of the year, unassisted, at 15:56. Stephenson has scored in consecutive games.
Edmonton had a 14-6 2nd period edge in shots, 24-9 through 40. The nine Kraken SOG after two periods is a season low.
3rd Period
That Edmonton is playing stifling defense isn’t a surprise – not this year. While the Oilers are in their customary top 10 position in league offense, they’re also 11th in the NHL in goals-against per game. Against the 22nd-ranked Seattle offense, the Oilers “D” is having its way.
Seattle catches a break to climb within 3-2 at 7:27. Jaden Schwartz, again feasting on sharp-angle shots, powers the puck from below the left wing circle for his 13th of the season, fifth in his last six games. The lucky part: Dunn earns an assist even though he broke his stick and was headed back to the bench for a new twig when Schwartz scored.
The Kraken, being doubled in shots 30-15 with 5:41 left, are within a goal in a game it feels like they’re getting blown out. Can late lightning strike for Seattle for the third time in the last four games?
No. Just as Grubauer reaches the bench for a sixth Kraken attacker, Draisaitl converts into an empty net for his league-leading 29th. Edmonton wins.
Up Next
One game remains on Seattle’s four game homestand. The Kraken will entertain a slumping New Jersey Devils team on Monday which has already lost in Anaheim and San Jose. The Kraken begin a five game road trip Thursday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.
Don’t forget the Sunday matinee at CPA, when pro women’s teams from Boston and Montreal clash in the PWHL “Takeover Tour” at 1 pm.