Written by Marcus Sledge

1/4/2025

SEATTLE — Leon Draisaitl continued his red-hot form, recording a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 14 games as the Edmonton Oilers secured a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena.

Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz scored for the Kraken (17-20-3), who dropped their second straight game (0-1-1). Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 28 shots in the loss.

Edmonton wasted no time taking control, with Podkolzin opening the scoring just 57 seconds into the game. Draisaitl set him up with a perfect pass on a rush, and Podkolzin one-timed it into an open net from the right circle. The assist extended Draisaitl’s point streak, matching his career-best 14-game run from the 2018-19 season.

Skinner doubled the lead to 2-0 at 5:18 of the first period. Kasperi Kapanen delivered a precise saucer pass to Skinner, who deked left and lifted the puck over Grubauer’s blocker.

Nugent-Hopkins added to the Oilers’ advantage at 11:52 of the second period, capitalizing on a quick feed from Connor Brown in the slot to one-time a shot past Grubauer’s glove, making it 3-0.

Seattle began to rally late in the second. Stephenson cut the deficit to 3-1 at 15:56, just as an Oilers power play expired. He held off Brandon Tanev on a 2-on-1 rush before firing a shot over Pickard’s right pad.

The Kraken pulled within one in the third period when Schwartz buried a Vince Dunn rebound into an open net at 7:27, trimming the Oilers’ lead to 3-2.

However, Draisaitl sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:02, securing the 4-2 final score and extending Edmonton’s strong recent form.

The Kraken drop to 17-20-3.

Next up: Monday at Climate Pledge, Puck drop is 7pm vs the New Jersey Devils 24-15-3

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