Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tallied his fourth career hat trick, scoring at even strength, on the power play, and short-handed, as the Edmonton Oilers held off the Seattle Kraken 5-4 on Saturday night.
Adam Henrique and Jeff Skinner also scored for Edmonton, while Mattias Ekholm and Darnell Nurse each added two assists. The Oilers improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games despite being without stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Goalie Stuart Skinner made 27 saves in the win.
Kaapo Kakko’s two-goal effort led Seattle, while Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovsky also scored. Jared McCann and Jani Nyman each contributed two assists, and Joey Daccord stopped 24 shots. The Kraken have now lost two straight.
The teams traded power-play goals late in the first period as Henrique and Kakko each scored to make it 1-1. In the second, Nugent-Hopkins and Kakko again exchanged goals before Jeff Skinner gave Edmonton a 3-2 lead. Nugent-Hopkins added a second goal on the power play to push the Oilers ahead 4-2 heading into the third.
Burakovsky brought Seattle within one early in the third, but Nugent-Hopkins completed his hat trick with a short-handed empty-net goal with 2:17 remaining. Schwartz scored a power-play goal 14 seconds later, but the Oilers held on.
Game Takeaways
Kraken: Kakko moved within one point of his career high of 40. Jani Nyman was promoted to the top line in just his sixth NHL game, and he notched his first two career assists.
Oilers: Saturday marked the first time in the McDavid era that both McDavid and Draisaitl were sidelined due to injury.
Key Moment
With Seattle trailing by one and pulling their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage, Nugent-Hopkins intercepted a pass and launched the puck the length of the ice into the empty net, completing his hat trick and giving the Oilers a 5-3 lead.
Key Stat
Edmonton has now won nine straight games against Seattle, outscoring the Kraken 38-21 during that stretch.
Looking Ahead
The Kraken travel to Calgary on Tuesday, while the Oilers will host the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
