GAME THREAD: Edmonton Oilers @ Seattle Kraken

Who

Edmonton Oilers (17-11-0, 4th Pacific)

-vs-

Seattle Kraken (10-16-3, 8th Pacific)

Where & When

Saturday December 18, 2021

Climate Pledge Arena

Seattle, WA, USA

8:00 PM MST

Watch & Listen

TV - Sportsnet West

Stream - Sportsnet Now

Radio - 630 CHED

SBN Counterpart: Davy Jones Locker Room

The Edmonton Oilers (17-11-0), fresh off their comfortable win over the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier in the week, are in Seattle tonight to take on the Kraken (10-16-3). Edmonton lost 4-3 last time out, and that loss spawned a six-game losing streak that only just came to an end on Thursday night. Edmonton will be without a few more regulars tonight after Duncan Keith and Jesse Puljujarvi were added to the COVID-19 list, joining Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Devin Shore, and Dave Tippett on the sidelines. Zach Hyman remains out with a shoulder problem, and nobody really knows if Mike Smith will ever play again. Seattle will be without Yanni Gourde, former Oiler Riley Sheahan, and Colin Blackwell.

Stuart Skinner (3-5-0, 0.922) will reprise his role as the Oilers’ starter tonight, with Chris Dreidger (3-2-0, 0.895) in goal for the Kraken.

Get Well Soon, Your Majesty

As mentioned above, the Bison King himself, Jesse Puljujarvi was added to the COVID-19 list earlier today. Edmonton will now be down their three of their top-five forwards tonight. Here’s hoping JP won’t be stuck in a Seattle hotel by himself for Christmas.

Clean Slater

Mr. Koekkoek was activated off of injured reserve earlier today after missing about a month following a pretty gnarly fall against Winnipeg on Nov. 18:

Here’s hoping he’s up to speed once again — or, at least up to Duncan Keith’s speed — and he can help the Oilers stay afloat tonight in what will surely be a challenging game for the visitors.

Aurora Borealis? At This Time of Year, at This Time of Day, in This Part of the Country, Localized Entirely Within Your Kitchen?!

Armin Tamzarian is back between the pipes tonight after a strong outing against the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Skinner might just be the best goaltender on the team but we can’t be sure just yet because he’s only played a handful of NHL games. Still, for a guy who had Ilya Konovalov ahead of him as recently as this fall’s T25U25, it’s really nice to see Skinner take the opportunity afforded to him by Mike Smith’s injury and really grab it by the jowls.