After coming from behind to beat the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, the Edmonton Oilers continue their six-game home stand on Monday against the Seattle Kraken. It is the second of the four meetings between the two Pacific Division teams and the first at Rogers Place. Here’s everything you need to know heading into the contest.
1. Obviously the major headline today is that Connor McDavid returns to Edmonton’s lineup after serving his three-game suspension for cross-checking Conor Garland of the Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers went 2-1-0 without McDavid, which included a big divisional win against the Canucks. They outscored their opponents 11 to 7 with Leon Draisaitl leading the way with five points over that span. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman contributed with five goals combined.
2. The secondary story around McDavid tonight is his point streak. The captain is on a four-game point streak with seven points over that time with four of them goals. His longest point streak of the season is 12 games so he’s still a ways off beating that.
Against the Kraken, McDavid has 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in 12 games. Only six of those points have come at even strength. Draisaitl has actually had the most offensive success versus Seattle with 25 points in 11 games. Hyman has 8 goals in 11 games.
3. If the Oilers continue their goalie rotation, which they likely will, then Stuart Skinner gets his second start in a row. Skinner was fantastic for Edmonton against Buffalo, stopping 39 of 41 shots in a 3-2 win. Skinner has strong numbers throughout January over his career with a 0.919 save percentage and 2.39 goals against average. He’s on pace for another good start to the calendar year with a 0.917SV% and a 2.31 GAA in eight games in January. He’s won five of those games and had one shutout (two if you include his start against the Boston Bruins).
4. Edmonton has dominated Seattle since they joined the NHL in 2021, winning 10 of the 12 meetings. They’ve outscored them 51 to 31 while averaging 4.25 goals per game. Seattle has only won at Rogers Place once back on January 3rd, 2023. The Oilers held a 2-0 lead early in the second period but five unanswered goals from Seattle gave them a 5-2 win.
5. The Kraken are on the outside looking in on the playoff picture after 50 games. They’re seven points behind the Calgary Flames, who’ve only played 48 games, for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. They’re 5-5-0 in their last ten games but are coming into Rogers Place off the back of a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The biggest reason for Seattle’s inconsistency is goaltending. Joey Daccord has been one of the best net minders in the NHL with a 0.917SV%, a 2.43 GAA and 17 wins from his 32 starts. However, Philipp Grubauer has struggled mightily with a 0.870SV%, a 3.76 GAA, and only five wins in his 20 starts.
6. Seattle is without two key forwards Jordan Eberle, former Oiler, and Yanni Gourde, who is 3rd on Frank Seravalli’s trade targets list. Eberle remains sidelined with a pelvis injury he suffered in mid-November but recently resumed his workouts. Gourde has been out since the start of the month with no timeline set for his return.
The power play is where the Oilers can exploit the Kraken tonight. Over the last ten games, dating back to the Bruins matchup, Edmonton is 29.2% on the power play which is 9th in the NHL. Meanwhile, Seattle has leaked goals on the penalty kill at 66.7% for 29th in the league.
