Edmonton Oilers: Preseason Game Two Reaction After 6 to 0 Win
The first preseason game of the season took place last night in a fan filled Rogers Place and the Edmonton Oilers did not disappoint.
The Edmonton Oilers made the game look easy last night against the Seattle Kraken. The Oilers had their regular season top 6, where the Kraken’s first-line center was Riley Sheahan. The Oilers were heavy favorites going into the game once the lineups came out. The good news is the team won the game in a commanding fashion as they should have.
5:50 First Period Edmonton 1 – Seattle 0
Darnell Nurse– Unassisted
As a Seattle Kraken powerplay ended. Nurse picked up the puck in his own end and skated behind his net and skated up the ice. He skated through the neutral zone and into the Kraken zone. He took a shot from the center of the ice just above the circle and beats Chris Driedger on one that Driedger would most definitely want back.
12:12 First Period Edmonton 2 – Seattle 0
Jesse Puljujarvi-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid
When you let the top powerplay in the league have a 5 on 3, the Oilers are almost guaranteed to score. Less than 15 seconds into a 5 on 3 Jesse Puljujarvi get the goal at the end of a nice passing play where McDavid passed the puck from the faceoff dot down to the goal line to Nugent-Hopkins. Nugent-Hopkins then did a nice touch pass to an open Puljujarvi in front for a nice tap-in goal.
16:08 First Period Edmonton 3 – Seattle 0
Zach Hyman-Connor McDavid, Jesse Puljujarvi
Zach Hyman was the beneficiary of another good-looking passing play. I am not sure which pass on the play was better. The backhand pass from Puljujarvi to McDavid or the pass through the slot from McDavid to a wide-open Hyman for a tap-in.
15:43 Second Period Edmonton 4 – Seattle 0
Brendan Perlini-Devin Shore, Kyle Turris
After a nice play by Kyle Turris to poke the puck by the Kraken defender to set up a Perlini, Shore 2 on 1. Perlini fed the puck across to Shore, then Shore gave the puck back over to Perlini were he was able to beat the goalie with a nice one-timer from just below the faceoff dot.
18:24 Second Period Edmonton 5 – Seattle 0
Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman
Once again the Seattle Kraken learned that you can’t take penalties against the Oilers. Once again right around 10 seconds into the powerplay the Oilers pass the puck into the net. Nugent-Hopkins down to Hyman on the goal line. The puck then finds its way to Draisaitl in front who touches it over to McDavid who has an empty net tap in.
2:17 Third Period Edmonton 6 – Seattle 0
Brendan Perlini(2)- Kyle Turris, Darnell Nurse
Off a faceoff, the Oilers pass the puck around and Perlini is able to get an open one-timer from in-between the blue line and the circle. Turris set the puck up on a tee for Perlini, who made no mistake on this one.
Take-Aways
Although this was just a preseason game where the Oilers had most of their veterans in the lineup against a Seattle Kraken team where they didn’t play most of theirs, there is still some good things.
Splitting the game, Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen were able to both not let any goals in. There was only a couple of good scoring chances that the Kraken had, but they were up to the task in making all the 34 stops.
Zach Hyman looked to fit in well in the top line. When that line was on the ice they were dominant. I look forward to watching this line during the rest of the preseason into the regular season. He also was able to contribute on powerplay. I liked the look of him and Puljujarvi in the net-front role.
The Edmonton Oilers are back in action again tonight 6:00PM MST against the Winnipeg Jets. Seeing the lineup that played last night, I would assume that there will be a weaker team on the ice tonight in Winnipeg. This means there will be a good chance to watch the players battling for those bottom 6 spots. Since we haven’t seen Warren Foegele yet, tonight may be the first time to see him in an Oilers Jersey.