A flu and injury riddled Edmonton Oilers bunch travelled to Seattle Wednesday and promptly dug a 3-0 first-period hole.
It was a hard game to watch early. Eight power plays in the first frame alone. And it was not the zebra’s fault, almost all of those were legit infractions.
The Oilers battled back to bring it to 3-2 after two, while Calvin Pickard battled to give his club a puncher’s chance.
But a Seattle goal in the third sealed it, despite Edmonton quite properly outshooting their hosts 34-17.
Here’s the tale of the tape…
Again, no Player Grades until the Regular Season. In their place, a hybrid of The Cult of Hockey’s Two Good Things, Two Bad Things, Two Numbers:
Good Things:
-Matt Savoie, Adam Henrique & Ike Howard. When these three were together good things happened. By far and away the best pre-season showing by all of them. Savoie had a goal on a dandy deflection on a perfect Henrique pass and six shots to lead the squad. Ike Howard had two assists, an especially good look on the 3-2. Same for Henrique who was also 70% on the dot. The chemistry between this trio was obvious just about every shift. Savoie led the forwards in TOI at 19:50 (played in all three disciplines, as did Henrique).
-Alec Regula. The kid teamed up with Darnell Nurse on the top pairing with good effect. A splendid exit from deep in his own zone under pressure in both the first and the second frames. A physical neutral zone play along the wall to strip a Kraken player of the disk in the third. Watching him, you would never know he missed an entire year due to injury. High Dangers 4-1 5v5, 2 blocks in 19:23. Making a strong bid to make this team.
Bad Things:
-The 2-0. Calvin Pickard coughed up the puck behind his own net and while his mates were on the power play, no less. You hope that is his “gimme” for the year on those sequences. At least it happened in exhibition.
-The 4-2. Mis-reads by veteran players, first a bad pinch by Brett Kulak at the attacking blueline then back-side support Trent Frederic could not track down his man who scored the goal.
Numbers:
-Once the Oilers got into a 5v5 game they excelled. In fact, in the third period, they outshot the Seattle Kraken 11-2 and clearly outplayed them.
-The puck headed in a good direction with Arto Leppanen on the ice, a 5v5 CF of 15-5 (75%). He and Troy Stecher were solid together.
Odds & Ends:
-James Hamblin. Recalled from Bakersfield just prior to the game. Drew two calls by keeping that engine running. Busted his ass back to break up a developing two-on-one in the second. A spirited effort from him.
-Josh Samanski. The kid just keeps showing well as he has for most of the pre-season. His best shift (of many good ones) was a third period rush through the neutral zone and a hit. Two shots, two hits.
-Curtis Lazar. To my eye he has done nothing to hurt his chances. Strong PK work tonight, which may be key to his future. Smart little plays along the wall in his own zone to get pucks to safety.
-Darnell Nurse’s fine pre-season continues. A goal, four blocks, five hits in 25:18. High Dangers 5v5 5-1.
-Yes, Pickard handed Seattle the second goal. But he had little chance on the other three.
The Oilers are back in action Friday in Vancouver. The NHL Regular Season is a week away.
This article is not AI generated.
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Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025.
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