It might not have been a high-scoring affair, but the Edmonton Oilers arguably put together their best performance of the season on Saturday night. That effort saw them secure a 3-1 win against the Seattle Kraken, which helped them improve to 2-0-1 on the season.
From a goaltending masterclass to power play concerns, here are my four biggest takeaways from Edmonton's win over Seattle.
Devon Levi clearly improved from whatever Thursday's performance was
We need to talk about that one third period save from goaltender Devon Levi.
With just over 12 minutes left in the final period of the game, Levi stopped a shot from Kraken forward Jordan Eberle after getting the puck from a pass that was sent straight through the Edmonton crease. To make the save even more stunning, Levi made the save with his left wrist, which was essentially positioned right above the goal line.
While a video review nearly bailed Eberle out, it ultimately found that the puck hit the outside of Levi's glove and not the mesh; therefore, it did not clear the goal line entirely.
Besides the save, Levi had a near-perfect game against Seattle after nearly single-handedly surrendering Edmonton's lead against Vancouver on Thursday. The former Buffalo Sabres netminder stopped all but one of the 20 shots faced on Saturday for a .950 save percentage; he also held the Kraken scoreless for almost half the game, stopping each of Seattle's first nine shots of the night.
It is worth noting that there are still factors that make the goaltending a major question mark. Specifically, the Oilers continued to concede minimal shots on goal. The Oilers has given up just 65 shots on goal through the first three games of the season. The resulting 21.67 shots against per game would have the Oilers on pace to concede just over 1,800 shots on goal during the 2026-27 campaign; even with the expanded regular-season in mind, that metric would have the Oilers firmly ahead of last year's Carolina Hurricanes team, who led the league in the shots on goal against metric with just 1,962 conceded during the 2025-26 season.
But even if the alarm bells are still ringing with regard to how the goaltending fared against Vancouver, Saturday's performance should easily represent a breath of fresh air. Even with the defense keeping his workload to a minimum, Levi was able to gain confidence early in the game by stringing a few stops together and avoiding a big mistake. That was something that cost him a strong performance against Vancouver, even with Edmonton's early dominance in mind, and it ultimately yielded a touchdown's worth of goals conceded through roughly 35 minutes of play.
Both Levi and Tristan Jarry might be sharing the goaltending duties to start the season, but Levi might have earned the first big chance to take the reins of the unit.
The Oilers can earn power plays. Converting them is another question
The Oilers earned three power play opportunities during the opening 20 minutes of play.
Can you guess how many they converted?
If you were one of the (probably) few people who guessed none, you would be right. You would also be right to suggest that the Oilers wouldn't be all that productive on their power play opportunities; they recorded just six combined shots on goal during those numerical advantages. Given that the Kraken scored on one of their two power play opportunities, the Oilers clearly were not the better team in terms of the special teams side of the game.
And that seems to be the case so far this season. Including the two games against the Vancouver Canucks, the Oilers have scored only three power play goals on 12 total opportunities. The Oilers' opponents may not have earned as many power-play opportunities, but they've converted an equal number of chances. Together, that means that the Oilers' opponents are 3/7 on the power play compared to the Oilers' 3/12.
Are the Oilers a worse team when it comes to the power play? Not necessarily.
But the efficiency needs plenty of work going forward.
Owen Michaels strikes again, but the bottom-six as a whole had their time to shine against Seattle
In a previous piece, I mentioned that this next stretch of time could be a decisive opportunity for Owen Michaels and his ability to remain a member of the Oilers' roster.
Even with three games played, he might very well be here to stay.
Michaels scored for the second consecutive game on Saturday; he scored the first goal of the game off a wrist shot from the right of Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer.
But Michaels wasn't the only forward that got the chance to control the spotlight.
Mathieu Joseph once again used his speed to help create scoring chances, with one of them directly causing a flurry of mid-to-late-third-period activity in Seattle's zone. Defensively, Joseph added a block, a hit, and a takeaway, all of which contributed to his +1 +/- rating for the contest.
On top of that, Alex Formenton added an assist on Michaels' goal; he now has two points through three games played this season.
The first few games of the season have seen the bottom-six forwards prove that they can match the scoring output of their superstar counterparts. If they can continue to do so, the Oilers might end up having the strongest offense in the league, and it won't even be close.
Division rivalry or domination?
The Oilers have now played the Kraken 20 times in regular season action since they entered the NHL prior to the 2021-22 campaign.
Through those 20 games, the Oilers have a 16-4-0 record.
That record essentially represents the Toronto Maple Leafs' dominance over the Ottawa Senators in terms of head-to-head playoff matchups. Or how Tom Brady has only lost three times to the Buffalo Bills.
That run not only included a nine-game winning streak that lasted for well over two years, but it now includes another multi-game run of form for the Oilers. With Saturday's win in mind, the Oilers have now won four head-to-head contests in a row against the Kraken.
What's next?
The Oilers will have three days off before they travel for a road contest against the Anaheim Ducks. The team will play each of their next three games in the state of California; the other two contests will see the Oilers take on the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings. Edmonton's next home game is on October 15, when they start a home-and-home series with the Utah Mammoth.
Puck drop in Anaheim is set for Wednesday, October 7, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google