EDMONTON, AB – The Edmonton Oilers came from behind to defeat the Seattle Kraken 5-4 in pre-season action on Saturday night, receiving a goal and two assists from defenceman Mattias Ekholm and multi-point performances from Derek Ryan, Ben Gleason, Evan Bouchard and Mike Hoffman in the exhibition victory at Rogers Place.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Noah Philp, Vasily Podkolzin, and Raphael Lavoie each scored goals in Edmonton’s comeback victory, which was the club’s second win of the preseason and improved its overall exhibition record to 2-2-0.

Nugent-Hopkins and Philp found the scoresheet during an opening period that ended 2-2 before Seattle worked themselves into a two-goal lead during the middle frame that was halved by Ekholm just 27 seconds after the visitors took a 4-2 lead late in the frame. In the third period, Derek Ryan set up Vasily Podkolzin shorthanded for his second assist of the night, tying the score with over 15 minutes left before Raphael Lavoie notched the game-winner with 2:53 remaining in regulation.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard left the match in the first period following a collision in the crease, leading to Olivier Rodrigue taking over between the pipes and backstopping the Oilers to the victory with 19 saves on 22 shots over the final 47:54 of the contest.

The Oilers continue their exhibition schedule with their final home game of the preseason on Monday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks.

FIRST PERIOD

The Oilers’ pace of play is starting to look more like regular-season hockey as the team’s veterans get back into the lineup and up to NHL speed while other hopefuls engulfed in roster competition heat up with only a few games left on the exhibition schedule.

Edmonton’s top line of Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid and Hyman all suited up for their second contest of the preseason on Saturday night and filled the scoresheet on their opening goal that arrived 3:08 into the first period, creating a rush up ice that produced a finish similar to a few of the 28 even-strength goals they scored as a line in nearly 435 minutes of ice time together at five-on-five during the ’24-25 NHL campaign.

Hyman whacked the puck ahead to McDavid in the neutral zone, avoiding the reaching stick of a Kraken defender before the Oilers captain came up the right side and offloaded a backhand pass into the slot for Nugent-Hopkins, who snapped a quick shot blocker side on netminder Philipp Grubauer for the 1-0 lead.

The club’s longest-tenured player, who’s entering his 14th season in a Blue & Orange uniform in ’24-25, spoke on Friday about the need for him & his teammates to really start ramping up their preparations for Oct. 9’s season opener against the Winnipeg Jets, and his first goal of the pre-season is a positive step towards that.

Kraken forward Tye Kartye struck the post during the next minute before goaltender Calvin Pickard made a glove save on his follow-up opportunity, signalling there was still plenty of hockey left for the Kraken to forge their way back from an early one-goal deficit.

As the clock passed the nine-minute mark in the opening 20 minutes, the Kraken tied it up on a chaotic sequence around the Oilers’ crease where the puck pinballed off a few bodies and found its way through Pickard’s five-hole. Forward Jacob Melanson got the last touch on it for Seattle before the visitors took the lead almost five minutes later on the power play.

With Zach Hyman in the penalty box, forward Ryan Winterton sauced a pass over the laid-out Josh Brown and onto the tape of Eduard Sale on the opposite side for a one-timer that beat goaltender Olivier Rodrigue, who came in to replace Pickard in between the Oilers’ pipes after he was withdrawn due to concussion protocol after coming in contact with his own teammate Noah Philp a few minutes earlier.

However, Philp would make sure the Oilers were even at two apiece entering the first intermission by getting behind Seattle’s defence to accept a nice pass from Mattias Ekholm near the Kraken bench with 2:43 to go in the period. The 26-year-old received the pass from the Swede and quickly let go of his ensuing shot to evade the out-stretched stick of Grubauer, nestling his shot into the bottom corner to tie it up at 2-2.

SECOND PERIOD

Inevitably, there are still some details to clean up during the preseason, but it’s also a chance to begin finding ways to bounce back.

The Kraken got a fortunate bounce just over five-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame when Rodrigue tried to push aside a centred pass from Brandon Tanev that was cleared into the chest of forward John Hayden before it found its way across the goal line for an easy go-ahead goal for the visitors.

The Oilers received a holding call assessed to Gustav Olofsson midway through the period for their second power play where professional tryout Mike Hoffman was given PP1 reps in place of Leon Draisaitl, who was out of the lineup on Saturday night along with the rest of his expected linemates Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner.

Edmonton went 0-for-2 with the man advantage through 40 minutes and found themselves down by two before the intermission, but Ekholm would have an answer for his transgression which resulted in the Kraken’s fourth tally of the night with 2:11 left in the second period.

Ekholm missed his pinch at the Kraken blueline in an attempt to stop the coming breakout, leading to a two-on-one for the visitors where forward Ben Meyers made him pay by going bar down on Rodrigue for the 4-2 advantage, but the Swede made up for it 27 seconds later by getting right back with the finish that came off Derek Ryan’s feed from the right side to pick out the streaking defenceman as he entered the offensive zone on the rush.

With seconds left on the clock, the Oilers failed to take the lead on an odd-man rush for Hyman and McDavid where the Oilers captain couldn’t complete the back-door feed to his trusted winger at the far post.

THIRD PERIOD

Don’t look now, but Derek Ryan is dishing.

After picking out Ekholm for the equalizer before the intermission, Ryan showed his penalty-killing prowess and passing touch on a short-handed equalizer where the 37-year-old helped break up a Kraken attack in Edmonton’s zone before he cut inside on the ensuing rush and connected with Podkolzin, who was waiting in front to easily tap in the veteran’s stellar pass into the empty cage beyond Grubauer.

With the contest tied at four with almost 14 minutes left for the Oilers to find the winner, it was forward Raphael Lavoie who marked his return on Saturday from a minor lower-body injury by netting the game-winning goal with a powering move through the left circle to open up space to send a shot along the ice that snuck through Grubauer’s five-hole with 2:53 remaining in regulation.

PTO forward Mike Hoffman made the initial pass to the Chambly, QC product, while defenceman Ben Gleason picked up the secondary helper on Edmonton’s decisive tally that put a wrap on their 5-4 come-from-behind victory in the preseason.