EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Jaden Schwartz scored a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken led four straight second-half goals to a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
“It was nice. I thought the way we played was good for the rewards,” said Kraken defender Adam Larsson. “There was a lot of focus on what happened in the last game and that made us hungrier today. From top to bottom, every player played a solid game.”
Matty Benners, Yanni Gord, Jared McCann, and Alex Weinberg also scored for the Kraken (20-12-4) who won two in a row. Martin Jones made 30 saves against Seattle.
“In the second half we scored one goal and it gave us some wingers offensively and we were able to put in more attacking plays and I think we kept our game very simple,” said Gord. “We weren’t trying too much, we weren’t trying to get through the guys, we were just putting it in the net and trying to work our way there and get rewards.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid responded with goals for the Oilers (20-17-2) who lost two straight and five straight games on home ice.
“You lead 2-0 and your odds of winning that match are statistically high, right?” said Oilers forward Zach Hyman. “But unfortunately we couldn’t hold the lead and we had 11 minutes where we fell asleep in the second half (and allowed four goals) and suddenly you’re playing catch-up.”
Edmonton’s killer game tied the scoring with 7:13 left in the opening period as Leon Dricetel’s shot attempt passed to Nugent Hopkins, who hit a home run on his 19th of the season from a tough angle past Jones.
Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner kept the game 1-0 by stopping on Daniel Sprung a few minutes later.
The Oilers went up with just 48 seconds in the middle frame as McDavid scored his league-leading 33rd goal of the season.
The Kraken tied the game with a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart.
Seattle got on the board 4:44 in the second half with a power play goal as Benyers managed to hit a rebound from the air and fell behind Skinner.
Then with another penalty on the way, Benyers made a perfect long pass to Schwartz at the back door, scoring his first goal in 12 games.
The Kraken continued to contend with a shaky Oilers team, as Edmonton’s defense failed to pull off a significant rebound, allowing Gourde to score his first goal in nine games through traffic with just over seven minutes to play in the second.
Seattle scored their fourth straight goal in the period with 4:12 remaining. The goal chased Skinner out of the net after he allowed four goals on 20 shots, and Jack Campbell came on to replace him.
Edmonton thought it was back within a goal early on a power play goal in the third period by Draisaitl, but it was erased by a challenge from the coach who determined Hyman was offside on the play.
Notes
The two teams met previously on Friday, with Edmonton pulling off a relatively easy 7-2 win, highlighted by a five-point performance from McDavid. … With eight out of their nine games on the road, the Kraken spend more time in Edmonton than they do in Seattle during that stretch as they’ll stop at home for one game after swinging the road seven games, only to return right back to Edmonton in the 17th. January… Draisaitl, the league’s second-leading scorer behind teammate McDavid, is back in the lineup after missing two games with a tilt strain.
Next
Kraken: In Toronto Thursday night.
Oilers: Host Islanders Thursday night.
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