On Saturday afternoon, the Oilers hit the road for a game, this time against the Seattle Kraken. It was one of their best performances of the season, as the Oilers shut out the Kraken 4-0 in what was a rather feisty affair. Let’s take a look at what went on in this one!Just over 11 minutes into the first period, the Oilers got on the board first. It was none other than the returning Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who was able to find twine, as Evan Bouchard found him down low and all alone to Joey Daccord’s right on the power play.

The next goal came 12 and a half minutes into the second period. Ty Emberson picked off a pass in the neutral zone and made a quick pass to Andrew Mangiapane to enter the zone. Mangiapane passed it to Leon Draisaitl, who ripped it past Daccord to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. It was a rare rush goal for the 2025-26 Oilers.

Late in the second period, the Oilers were on their second power play. It didn’t take long to extend their lead to three, as Draisaitl attempted a pass to the weak side where Connor McDavid was standing all alone. However, Zach Hyman was in the way, and he was able to deflect it into the back for his first of the season.

The Oilers captain eventually got that goal six and a half minutes into the third. It came on another rush chance, as Hyman passed it over to McDavid. At the faceoff dot, he noticed that Daccord was out of position, allowing him to beat the Kraken netminder blocker side on a tough angle.

Takeaways…

Even with Tuesday’s game against the Dallas Stars, it’s been a strong five-game period for the Oilers. It’s not a hot take to say that Saturday’s game was one of the most complete games they’ve played this season, doing so for a full 60 minutes as well. The Oilers may be starting to turn a corner.

They got a big boost from the return of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who opened the scoring after missing nine games. Interestingly, the Oilers were 2/15 on the power play in the nine games Nugent-Hopkins missed, and they went 2/2 on his return. It helps that Zach Hyman also scored his first of the season.

On the other side of things, the Oilers killed off all six penalties they took in this game, a significantly better performance than last game. Against the Stars, the Oilers allowed three goals on four penalty kills that contributed to an 8-3 loss.

Why were there so many penalties, particularly against the Oilers? Other than game management, Mason Marchment hit Darnell Nurse in a dangerous area in the first period, setting off a lot of chipness in this game. Marchment also received a penalty for goaltender interference, but Draisaitl elbowed him in the head in the second period, so I guess it evens out.

Mason Marchment lands a heavy hit on Darnell Nurse 😳

There’s a lot of smoke around Tristan Jarry at the moment, so who knows what happens with the Oilers’ crease in the near future. That said, Stuart Skinner had a great performance, stopping all 26 shots he faced, including a breakaway. A very encouraging sign moving forward.

Before the Oilers and Kraken meet up on Thursday, the Oilers will return home to host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Let’s hope their strong performances continue.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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