Kraken defeat Oilers for third straight home win

SEATTLE --Four players scored for the Seattle Kraken in a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Climate Pledge Arena on Friday, their third straight win at home.

Yanni Gourde, Adam Larsson, Colin Blackwell, and Alex Wennberg scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 29 saves for the Kraken (9-13-2).
"I think we did a better job tonight in the neutral zone than we did against [the] Detroit [Red Wings, a 4-3 shootout loss Wednesday]," Gourde said. "They are a fast team, they're very skilled, but you got to respect that at the same time. You have to play fast, you have to play like you aren't standing still against that team because they're going to pick you apart."
Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid each had a goal and an assist, and Stuart Skinner made 30 saves for the Oilers (16-6-0).
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two assists to give him 500 points with the Oilers, the 10th player in their history to reach the milestone.
Gourde scored 49 seconds into the first period for a 1-0 lead on a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Ryan Donato.
"It's good to get the first one on the first shift," Gourde said. "Nice play by Ryan to get it off the stick, but I think we played a much better game overall. We managed the puck much better."

Draisaitl tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 6:41, set up by McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins. It was Draisaitl's NHL-leading 11th power-play goal and 80th in 500 games with Edmonton.
Larsson, who played with the Oilers from 2016-21, put the Kraken ahead 2-1 at 10:38 when he bypassed Zack Kassian and snapped a quick shot past Skinner.
"They've established an identity of a hard-working team," Edmonton defenseman Tyson Barrie said. "They're not going to take many chances are going to try and play a tight game. That's what they did. And they capitalized on the chances."

Bouchard tied the game at 2-2 at 8:12 of the second period with a slap shot from just inside the blue line that made it through a screen in front of Grubauer.
The Kraken went ahead 3-2 on a backhand from a streaking Blackwell at 13:06. He got a pass from Kole Lind and found room down the middle of the ice before going up-and-over Skinner. The assist was Lind's first NHL point in 10 combined games with the Kraken and Vancouver Canucks.
Wennberg extended the lead to 4-2 at 15:53 when his pass attempt went off the inside of Skinner's pad.
"We were competitive all night," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "There were some momentum changes and momentum pushes through that game. When we manage the puck, which was most of the night, we put ourselves in pretty good spots.
"They had a [heck] of a push in the third period, that's going to happen. When you have those two guys (Draisaitl and McDavid) on the ice as often as they were, you're going to have a push from them, but our guys handled it well and we're able to close out the game."

After five shots on goal in the second period, the Oilers had 14 in the third period. McDavid cut the lead to 4-3 by tipping a pass between Grubauer's pads at 11:44. Edmonton was 1-for-4 on the power play, including a chance in the last two minutes; it was a 6-on-4 man-advantage after Skinner was pulled.
"It's frustrating," Barrie said. "I don't think we want to put ourselves in a position where we have to come back, this was just a bit of a disappointing one. I think we didn't play our best tonight and you'd like to just be better in a lot of areas."
NOTES: Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak had an assist on Wennberg's goal to extend his assist streak to an NHL career-best four games. … The Kraken have points in four straight games (3-0-1). … Oilers forwards Derek Ryan and Kailer Yamamoto, each from Spokane, became the first Washington-born players to play an NHL game in their home state, excluding exhibition games. … Nugent-Hopkins has 187 goals and 313 assists in 678 games in 11 seasons with the Oilers.