There weren’t many fireworks from the Kraken in this Saturday afternoon matinee other than those supplied behind the play by resident pest Mason Marchment in the home team’s latest defeat.
Facing an Edmonton Oilers squad giving up goals by the gallon of late, the Kraken failed to get anything past netminder Stuart Skinner despite six power plays and a clear-cut breakaway chance for Berkly Catton to score his first NHL goal. Instead, the Marchment subplots were the biggest thing going for the Kraken in a 4-0 loss than marks their third consecutive defeat and fourth straight game of scoring two goals or fewer in regulation.
Marchment’s high hit away from the play on defenseman Darnell Nurse late in the first period got the Oilers after him like bees from a hive that had just been smashed by a baseball bat. From that point on, he was a marked man, taking extra hits and the occasional elbow whenever he found himself anywhere near the puck.
Leon Draisaitl got one elbow too many in on Marchment during a second period scrum in the corner, leading to one of five power plays for the Kraken in the first 40 minutes alone. But the Kraken failed to score, just as they came away empty on a 5-on-3 chance for 1:45 in the opening frame.
The Oilers, meanwhile, took full advantage of their first two power play chances, getting goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the opening period and Zach Hyman late in the second, sandwiched around a Draisaitl marker off an odd-man rush. Connor McDavid added a third period goal to drop the Kraken to 11-7-6.
Things deteriorated in the final period with the Oilers comfortably ahead as Freddy Gaudreau fought Connor Clattenburg while Tye Kartye got some good shots in on Alec Regula in a spirited bout not long after. Nurse and Marchment tussled briefly in the final minutes, prompting a scrum with several players. Officials whistled Marchment and Nurse off the ice for good with misconducts to prevent things from escalating further.
Marchment had been somewhat responsible for the first Edmonton power play goal, though in reality he was as much a victim of the goaltender interference call levied against him as Oilers netminder Skinner. Replays showed Marchment clearly being barreled into from behind while standing outside the crease, which led to the Kraken forward being flung head-on into the goalie.
But the officiating crew somehow missed the entire sequence other than the goalie being upended, which led to the penalty call and an Edmonton lead they never relinquished.
Catton’s breakaway opportunity came in the waning minutes of the second period in what was still a 2-0 game at that point. Skinner did a good job of following Catton as he attempted a nifty deke move and the goalie thwarted the attempt by sticking his pad out at the last moment to knock the puck away.
Less than a minute later, Adam Larsson took a penalty for cross-checking and the Oilers scored just 26 seconds after that when Draisaitl sent a pass through the high slot that Hyman got his stick on to completely change the puck’s direction and send it to the back of the net in behind Joey Daccord.
For a while, it looked as if Marchment’s refusal to drop his gloves and fight when challenged by the Oilers in the wake of the Nurse hit was a move of genius by the Kraken forward. The Oilers from there seemed completely distracted with the need to seek retribution on Marchment and allowed the game to get away from them a bit.
Edmonton had outshot the Kraken 8-0 in the opening four minutes, but then managed just three more shots the rest of that frame and three more the first 15 minutes of the middle period before finding some offense late. All the Kraken power plays weren’t helping the Oilers ion attempting to generate momentum, but the Kraken failed to seize the opportunities presented them.