Oilers devoured by Kraken

The Edmonton Oilers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid gave Edmonton a 2-0 lead, but four consecutive Seattle goals sunk them. r

Skinner saw his night end in the second period.

This is how things went off the rails...

First Period:

The Oilers had a pretty decent start to this one. Similar to the last game these team’s played, Edmonton had a few early shifts in the offensive zone. The difference was they weren’t getting goals quite as easily.

They would eventually break through on the game’s first powerplay. A broken play left Martin Jones way out of position as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins jumped on a loose puck and easily put it into an open net. 1-0 Edmonton.

Seattle’s best chance of the period came off the stick of Daniel Sprong, who was stoned by Stuart Skinner on a breakaway.

Edmonton stumbled for moments but had an overall impressive opening period.

They take a 1-0 lead into the second.

Second Period:

Connor McDavid made sure the Oilers had some insurance early on in this period.

Less than a minute in, he stormed in past a Seattle defender and zipped his 33rd past Jones. A beauty to give Edmonton a 2-0 lead.

Matty Beniers got Seattle within striking distance. He batted in a rebound before Nurse knocked him into Skinner. A PP goal makes it 2-1.

Don’t blink, the very next shift Beniers found Jaden Schwartz on the backdoor who tied this one up. A multi-goal lead evaporates in less than a minute. 2-2 with 14 minutes left in the second.

This, predictably, gave the momentum over to the Kraken. Jay Woodcroft did take a timeout to try to calm the troops, but some sloppiness ensued. Ryan Donato nearly got Seattle the lead, luckily it missed the mark.

That luck would run out, as the Oilers failed to clear the puck from the slot and Yanni Gourde slapped it past Skinner. 3-2 Seattle. Edmonton was in full meltdown mode.

Jared McCann hen capitalized on another defensive breakdown. 4-2 Seattle and that would be it for Stuart Skinner. Jack Campbell comes on in relief.

A good first period, a god-awful second. Seattle leads 4-2 going into the final frame.

Third Period:

Leon Draisaitl scored on an early powerplay, but it was called back on an offside. This one actually made a bit of sense. The score remained 4-2 for Seattle.

The Oilers were making an effort to play against themselves. Dylan Holloway got nabbed on a double-minor for high-sticking sending the Kraken to a lengthy powerplay.

Alex Wennberg iced it with an empty netter.

5-2 Seattle is your final.

Takeaways:

• Can’t defend? You’ll lose. It’s happened enough this season that you’d think they’d get it by now. Alas, here we are.
• Skinner got mercy-pulled tonight. Sure, you’d like him to have maybe one or two of those, but you can only bail your team out so often. A pathetic performance in front of him.
• Campbell was fine in relief.
• Darnell Nurse desperately needs to not be the team’s top defender. He can’t handle the role. Remember that contract whenever it’s said that the Oilers don’t have the cap to improve their team. Get him some help.
• I’m a huge Bouchard fan, I’ll go to bat for him a lot. He didn’t have a great game tonight. Same with Broberg.
• McDavid, as usual, was fantastic. He’s not the issue here.
• The season slipping away very slowly for the Oilers and Ken Holland needs to do something. Pretty insane that a team with McDavid pacing for 150 points is barely in the playoffs. Mediocrity is not an option.
• Back at it again on Thursday as they host the New York Islanders.