2) Best defensive game of the season
For how much the Oilers dominated the first period, there was a moment early on where the game could have gone the way of so many others this season. The crucial moment came inside four minutes, when Stuart Skinner made a strong save off a Yanni Gourde redirect.
If the Kraken had taken the lead at that stage, it could have easily set off a different sequence of events. Yes, this is how mentally fragile the Oilers have been thus far in 2023-24.
Instead, the save seemed to galvanise the team, as they went on to score the aforementioned four goals to put the game all but out of reach after 20 minutes. However, the defensive effort of the players was a big part of the reason too, with their best game of the season to date.
This was especially so in the final 20 minutes, when the Oilers were outshot 9-0 by the Kraken. It was just the sixth time in franchise history they failed to record a shot on target in a period, and only the second time they subsequently won the game.
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Even though Skinner only faced 18 shots on the night, he did what he was meant to do. In his defence, he had no chance on the one time the Kraken did get the puck past him, as it came via a deflected shot.
That goal came just 2:25 into the third period, and was soon followed by the goalie’s second crucial save of the night. If Adam Larsson had managed to score on a rebound to make it 4-2 with still around 15 minutes remaining, who knows what could have happened?
Instead, the Oilers held on to comfortably cross the finish line with an important 4-1 win. Asked postgame by the media about the defensive leadership displayed on the night, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said:
"“I thought (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) was a force defensively; he made some good plays with the puck. And then you look on the back end, that secondary leadership group. (Darnell) Nurse played a heck of a game, (Mattias) Ekholm played a heck of a game, so when those guys are helping lead the group, I think that’s very, very important.”"