Oilers suffer first pre-season regulation loss to Kraken: Recap, Highlights, and Reaction

Another defensive breakdown led to the Kraken’s second goal of the game. With five minutes left in the second period, Logan Morrison was found all alone behind the Oilers’ defenders and had all the time in the world to beat Skinner.

The Oilers got on the board midway through the third period, as Evan Bouchard made a strong move around the net and centred it to Andrew Mangiapane. Although his initial shot was saved, he tapped in the rebound to cut the Kraken’s lead in half.

Just over three minutes later, the Kraken restored their two-goal lead. Ben Meyers was all alone in front of the net, quickly firing it past Skinner, despite the Oilers’ netminder getting a piece of it. The Kraken added an empty net goal with 37 seconds left to take this game 4-1.

Takeaways…

Starting with the bad, Stuart Skinner stopped 15 of 18 shots. It’s hard to pin the blame on him for any of the three goals because the Oilers’ defence allowed those high-quality scoring chances. That said, at a certain point, the Oilers need a save. That was pretty much the story of the 2024-25 season.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl played together, and it didn’t go well. While they created chances throughout the game, they were on the ice for three goals, finishing with a -3. Trent Frederic played on their line, and he was unnoticeable.

Mattias Ekholm was -2 in this game, but he looks to be skating like he was before last season’s injury. It’s nice to see him jump up into the offensive zone, as he had a few quality chances in this game, even looking off McDavid on a two-on-one in the first period.

Atro Leppänen is making a case to make the Oilers out of the pre-season. He was solid once again, joining rushes and showing poise in his own zone for a breakout. Making the roster would open up a whole can of worms given the Oilers have more left-handed shot defenceman, but his play is hard to deny.

Another player whose play has been noticeable throughout training camp is Connor Clattenburg. He played the third-fewest minutes for any Oilers forward, but was skating around causing havoc like he’s done throughout the pre-season. He nearly had a breakaway, but it was deemed offside. My bold prediction of the season is that Clattenburg will play NHL games this season, and there’s a strong chance he’ll be one of the final cuts before the season begins.

Andrew Mangiapane scored his first goal as an Oiler, the lone goal they’d score in this game. Mangiapane played alongside David Tomášek and Roby Järventie. It’ll be exciting to see where he lines up in the season opener.

Next up for the Oilers is a game against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday at 7:00 PM MT at Rogers Place.