McDavid’s hat trick leads Oilers to 9-4 win over Kraken – Hockey Writer – Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers (12-11-5) host the Seattle Kraken (11-8-6) on Thursday night (Dec. 4). This is their third meeting of the season, with Seattle defeating Edmonton 3-2 on October 25 and the Oilers winning 4-0 on November 29, both games being played in Seattle. In this game, the Oilers won 9-4. This is your game review.
game review
The Oilers opened the scoring 7:17 into the first quarter on Connor McDavid’s 12th point of the season. Edmonton forced a turnover in the offensive zone when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins found McDavid, who walked upstairs and fired a shot past goaltender Joey Daccord. Just 17 seconds later, the home team made it 2-0. Leon Draisaitl found Vasily Podkolzin near the right faceoff circle, and his one-time shot sailed past Daccord and barely crossed the goal line.
The Oilers then made it 3-0 with a power play from Draisaitl at 11:27 of the period. Nugent-Hopkins fired a low pass to McDavid, and the Oilers captain used a crossover pass to find Dracette, who buried the one-time scorer.
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Seattle fought back and took the lead with 16 minutes and 7 seconds to play. Brandon Montour’s shot was blocked, but the puck bounced to Elie Tolvanen, who put the shot past goaltender Calvin Pickard. Then, Frederick Gaudreau stole the puck from Draisaitl and with 27 seconds left, he backhanded it for the first time this season to pull within one point. A wild first quarter ended with five goals, giving the Kraken a slim 11-10 shooting advantage.
The Oilers made it 4-2 shorthanded with 2:28 left in the second quarter. Evan Bouchard caught a breakaway pass from Matt Savoie and beat Seattle’s netminder with a backhand. The Oilers then extended their lead with another power-play goal. McDavid’s shot fooled Daccord at the five, leading to a goalie change. The Oilers weren’t done, as they made it 6-2 on Zach Hyman’s second of the season. The Oilers forward fired a powerful shot that beat new goalie Philipp Grubauer with his backhand.
The visiting team extended their lead to 6-3 at halftime. Marty Beniers’ shot was deflected by Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann grabbed the rebound. Another high period ended with the home team leading by three points.
The Oilers’ dominance continued as they led 7-3 with 2:03 left in the final frame. The Kraken turned the puck over and Matthias Janmark took advantage of the mistake and knocked the puck home. Then, on a double power play, Nugent-Hopkins’ shot missed the net, but the puck passed along the backboard to McDavid, who knocked the puck into the open cage for his hat trick. The Oilers continued to attack, and Savoie rewritten the score to 9-3 on the power play. Matias Ekholm’s shot was blocked but Adam Henrique found Savoie for a goal.
The Kraken added another goal with five seconds remaining, courtesy of Jani Nyman in a tight game. Pickard stopped 28 of 32 shots in the win for a save percentage (SV%) of 0.875. Meanwhile, Daccord shot 9-for-14 from the field in the loss and Grubauer shot 14-for-18 from the field.
The Kraken return home on Saturday (December 6) to begin a three-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, the Oilers continue a five-game homestand against the Winnipeg Jets on the same day. The two teams will conclude their four-game season series on March 31 in Edmonton. Continue to follow hockey writer All NHL content throughout the season.
