My first recollection of the Kraken came in the 1980s movie Clash of the Titans. The Kraken was a giant sea monster with a six-pack, no less. The movie was very popular due to its stop-motion visual effects. That doesn’t sound overly exciting in 2026, but in the early 1980s, it was a big deal.

The overview of the film was, “An epic fantasy adventure inspired by Greek mythology, following Perseus, son of Zeus, on perilous quests to prove himself worthy of Princess Andromeda. Facing mythical creatures, divine challenges, and heroic trials, he must navigate a world of gods and monsters.”

One of those creatures was the Kraken, and as in most movies, the hero was victorious in his battle against the monster.

Here is the scene where Perseus battles the Kraken, with the help of his flying horse Pegasus, and the head of Medusa (a woman living with snakes in her head, who was deemed so hideous that anyone who looked at her directly turned to stone) as he saves Princess Andromeda, who was going to be sacrificed.

Greek mythology is awesome and Clash of the Titans was a great film, at the time. How often do you have over two minutes without talking in a movie? A classic 1980s movie.

While the Edmonton Oilers aren’t on a quest to save Andromeda, they are looking to salvage a pedestrian-like regular season as they gear up for the playoffs. In the victory over Anaheim on Saturday, the Oilers became the last team in the NHL with multiple three-game winning streaks, and tonight, they, along with the Philadelphia Flyers, have a chance to win four in a row for the first time this season.

The Flyers are vying for their fourth consecutive victory in Washington, and two hours later the puck will drop in Edmonton as the Oilers gun for their fourth win in a row. The Kraken are their ideal opponent, based on past history. Since Seattle joined the NHL during the 2021-22 season, no team has beaten them more than the Oilers. Edmonton has won 14 of their 18 meetings. Seattle has also really struggled against Dallas (13-1-1) and Vegas (12-3-2), but the Oilers have defeated them the most. The Oilers have outscored them 76-50 in their 18 games including a 9-4 drubbing the last time they met in Edmonton on December 4th.

The Oilers are 7-1 all time at home v. the Kraken and have won their last six games by combined scores of 31-17. The one concern for the Oilers, is their version of Medusa (as he kills the Kraken), Leon Draisaitl won’t play tonight. Draisaitl has 34 points in 15 career games v. the Kraken. However, Connor McDavid has 25 points in 16 games, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has 24 in 17 and Zach Hyman had 21 in 16. Draisaitl, McDavid and RNH rank first, second and third in all-time points versus the Kraken organization while Hyman is 6th. Nathan Mackinnon (23 in 13) and Kevin Fiala (22 in 17) are fourth and fifth.

Seattle is playing the final game of a six-game road trip. They lost in Nashville, Columbus and Florida (SOL), defeated Tampa Bay in overtime, then lost 3-2 in a shootout in Buffalo on Saturday. The skate into Edmonton desperate for a victory as they sit two points out of the final Wildcard spot.

The Oilers also have a lot to play for in the Pacific Division. Defeat Seattle in regulation tonight and that virtually eliminates another team from catching them as they’d be 10 points up on Seattle. The Oilers also got some help on the out-of-town scoreboard last night with Toronto defeating Anaheim 5-4 in overtime. The Ducks are four points up on the Oilers with eight games to play. Edmonton owns the tiebreaker (regulation wins) and if they can win two more games than the Ducks they could catch them, and even if they don’t catch Anaheim, they want to finish ahead of Vegas and secure second place in the Pacific.

SNAPSHOTS…

— The Oilers’ power play has dominated Seattle this season going 7-for-9 for a ridiculous 77.8%. The problem is Draisaitl isn’t playing and the Oilers’ PP is a meagre 1-for-14 (7.1%) in six games without him. I felt their puck movement against Anaheim was the best we’ve seen without Draisaitl, but they still didn’t score. Zach Hyman fanned from the slot when he was wide open after the Oilers created space, on a set play that saw them make four consecutive passes to find Hyman open. The play worked, the execution just didn’t happen on the final shot. The only real negative for the team since Draisaitl was injured has been the power play. They’d like to get it going tonight.

— Bobby McMann, the pride of Wainwright, has been very productive with the Kraken. Since being acquired from Toronto before the trade deadline, McMann has seven goals and 11 points in eight games. He and Kappo Kakko have found some chemistry as Kakko has 10 points in eight games. The Kraken have never really had a dangerous duo, but for the past few weeks McMann and Kakko have provided them with some consistent offence. The Oilers need to limit their chances tonight.

— In the first half of the season (41 games) the Kraken goaltending was very solid as Joey Daccord (26 starts), Philip Grubauer (11) and Matt Murray (4) had a combined .911Sv% and 2.57 GAA. However, in their last 31 games Daccord (17 starts) and Grubauer (14) have a combined .896Sv% and 3.00 GAA. In Grubauer’s last 10 starts he has -4.7 goals saved above expected, but in his previous 10 starts he carried a +10.2 goals saved above expected. That is a wild swing.

— Fun fact: I’ve seen many mention Quinn Hughes is averaging one assist per game with Minnesota. In 42 games Hughes has 45 assists. Very impressive, but during that time Evan Bouchard has also produced at an assist-per-game rate with 42 helpers in 42 games and Lane Hutson has scored 41 assists in 42 games. On the season Bouchard and Hughes are tied for the most assists with 66. Bouchard has played six more games, but like with the Art Ross trophy, games played aren’t a factor.

— Mattias Ekholm has played more minutes with Evan Bouchard than any other player. I asked him what improvements he’s seen from Bouchard since arriving from Nashville, “He is an unbelievable hockey player. He has taken steps every year. I don’t think anyone should disagree he is a top five defenseman in the NHL. He has a complete game. A lot of people see him as an offensive defenseman, dynamic guy with a great shot, but his breakout passes are amazing. Look in a game and see how many times he finds guys in stride with speed that creates offense for us. He plays on the penalty kill, he’s good defensively and he’s the complete package. He’s only going to keep growing.”

— The Kraken’s top three D-men, Vince Dunn, Brandon Montour and Adam Larsson have combined for 67 assists. They don’t have an offensive threat like Bouchard, but they also don’t have enough skilled forwards to finish some of their passes. The Kraken have one 20-goal scorer in Jordan Eberle (23 goals).

— Utah and Vegas have the most 20-goal scorers with six each and each team has a combined 147 goals from those six scorers. Carolina, Colorado, Tampa Bay and Edmonton each have five 20-goal men. Colorado has a combined 157 goals from their five scorers, while Edmonton has 148, Tampa Bay has 138 and Carolina has 125. If these four teams added their sixth leading scorer to their totals Colorado would have 175 (Parker Kelly, 18), Edmonton would have 166 (RNH, 18) Tampa Bay would have 155 (Brayden Point, 17) and Carolina would have 144 (Jordan Staal, 19). Montreal currently has four 20-goal scorers, but their top six shooters have a combined 151 goals.

— Top-end scoring matters more than depth scoring. The top five scoring teams in goals per game are Colorado (3.75), Tampa Bay (3.60), Montreal (3.51), Edmonton (3.49) and Carolina (3.47). Seattle is 23rd at 2.85 goals/game. Seattle has 10 players with 10+ goals while Edmonton has eight, but Edmonton’s eight all have 14+ goals, while Seattle has four skaters with 14+. Pittsburgh leads the NHL with eight players with 15+ goals. Matt Savoie needs one goal to give Edmonton eight 15-goal scorers.

LINEUPS…

Oilers…

Podkolzin – McDavid – Savoie
Hyman – RNH – Roslovic
Samanski – Dickinson – Kapanen
Jones – Henrique – Lazar

Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Murphy
Walman – Emberson

Ingram

No lineup changes for the Oilers. Trent Frederic could return Thursday against Chicago and I expect Tristan Jarry to start that game.

I spoke with Jason Dickinson about how he feels he is fitting in with the Oilers. He would like more sustained offensive zone time and feels his line hasn’t been able to generate as much as he’d like. He also was upset about his read on Anaheim’s second goal when Mattias Ekholm lost his stick. He felt he played it too passively and should have been more aggressive. He is very honest about his game. I asked him about the Lauzon hit. “I didn’t mind the hit at all. I knew I could get hit hard when I reached for the puck. I didn’t like how it felt and was upset, but I have no issue with the hit. If I was in his spot, I would make that hit,” he said. I really appreciate his direct approach, and you can see why his teammates like him. He’s honest, competitive and holds himself to a high standard. He was irate at himself on the bench after the Sennecke goal.

Kraken

Catton – Beniers – Eberle
McMann – Stephenson – Kakko
McCann – Fisker-Molgaard – Wright
Meyers – Gaudreau – Tolvanen

Dunn – Larsson
Evans – Montour
Oleksiak –Lindgren

Grubauer

Jaden Schwartz has missed the past 10 games with a shoulder injury and is expected to sit out tonight. The Kraken are desperate for a win, but they are 3-6-3 in games after having two days off. The Oilers are 6-5 after a two-day break.

TONIGHT…

GDB 75 Edmonton Oilers Evan Bouchard Connor McDavid Seattle Kraken Photoshop

Photoshop by Tom Kostiuk

GAME DAY PREDICTION: Oilers win four in a row for the first time this season with a 5-1 victory.

OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Matt Savoie scores for the fourth consecutive game.

NOT-SO-OBVIOUS GAME DAY PREDICTION: Connor McDavid produces four points. It is his 47th game with 4+ points which ties him for 10th most with Jari Kurri.