<p>The Edmonton Oilers <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2025/01/27/gdb-50-0-why-the-oilers-mixed-up-their-lines-as-mcdavid-returns-against-kraken-730-pm-mt-snw/">squared off against the Kraken</a> at Rogers Place on Tuesday for the second of four meetings on the season. The Oilers won the opener at Climate Pledge Arena by a 4-2 final back on January 4th, and the boys must have loved that score so much that they decided to replicate it last night for a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/instant-reaction-oilers-overcome-slow-start-and-beat-kraken-for-third-consecutive-win">ninth consecutive win</a> over the Kraken.</p>
<h2><strong>WELCOME BACK, CONNOR McDAVID</strong></h2>
<p>It goes without saying that it&#8217;s good news when the best player on earth gets back in <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">the lineup</a>, but that doesn&#8217;t mean we weren&#8217;t all excited to have him back anyway. Connor McDavid is an X-factor that no one else in the NHL has, and I wanted him to take out that excess energy on a Kraken team that has historically had few answers for stopping him. So, when he was flying on the ice right from his first shift, I thought we might be in line for a vintage McDavid point-night. Hell, I even bet on it. As it turns out, this wouldn&#8217;t be the first time I overhyped myself.</p>
<p>While a big production night didn&#8217;t happen, it didn&#8217;t take long for No. 97 to make a mark on the game. Connor flew into the Seattle zone with the puck on his stick and picked up his own rebound for a tap-in goal to tie the game at two apiece. At a moment when the Oilers needed someone to step up, McDavid got the job done and erased the second hold the boys put themselves in. Even with Edmonton winning two of the three games he missed during his suspension, there&#8217;s no replacing Connor McDavid, and we&#8217;re blessed that it&#8217;s not at all surprising he made a mark in his first game back at a moment when we needed it most.</p>
<h2><strong>WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT COREY PERRY</strong></h2>
<p>If Corey Perry is going to keep making noise on the ice, then I&#8217;m going to keep talking about him on the website. Outside of being his usual annoying self, Perry is pitching in with goals and points at a rate I didn&#8217;t expect from him in his 20th NHL season. Putting the hilarious breakaway he scored on against the Kraken to the side for a moment, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/stats">Perry&#8217;s nine goals</a> put him on pace for a 15-goal season. You take that kind of bottom-six scoring any time you can get it, and</p>
<p>Getting back to the goal he scored to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead, the first thing I need to start with is giving Darnell Nurse a shout out for that bomb of a pass that put Perry in all alone. Darryl fired a bullet up broad when he saw the Worm standing all alone at the far blue line, and I am struggling to understand how the future Hall of Famer found himself that wide open in the first place. Regardless of how we got there, Perry buried his shot through Daccord&#8217;s five-hole. That goal ended up as the game-winner, which happened to be the 76th of Perry&#8217;s career.</p>
<h2><strong>MATTIAS JANMARK SCORES ON A GOALIE</strong></h2>
<p>The last time Mattias Janmark scored on a goalie was in Game 7 against Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game at one apiece. I was (un)lucky enough to be in Florida for that game, and when Janmark pumped that shot past Bob, plenty of blue and orange jerseys in the building started going bananas. Unfortunately, we all know how the story goes from there, but the point of the story is that Janmark&#8217;s last goal that beat an NHL goaltender came in June of 2024. It&#8217;s been a minute.</p>
<p>I love a lot of things that Janmark does on the ice — he has wheels, he&#8217;s responsible defensively, kills penalties, and pucks don&#8217;t tend to go into our net when he&#8217;s on the ice — but he does not have a lot of touch right now. The lone goal he scored before this one was an empty-netter back on November 3rd against Calgary, so you know it had to feel good to get back on the scoresheet, even if it was a lucky bounce off his chest that made it happen. Sometimes, a greasy goal is precisely what the doctor ordered, and I&#8217;m hopeful that can be the case for Janmark. Dare to dream.</p>
<h1>OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING</h1>
<div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Recapping Seattle Kraken vs. Edmonton Oilers | Oilersnation After Dark -  January 27th, 2025" width="1424" height="801" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xT9VG4DWi7o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Make it eight straight wins over the Seattle Kraken. You love to see it. With the win, the Oilers jumped over the Golden Knights by a point for first place in the Pacific Division. She&#8217;s gonna be a tight one down the stretch, folks.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> How about the game that Calvin Pickard played for the Oilers? Say what you will about the two goals he let in — I think he had little chance on either of them — but he locked things down for the last 42 minutes with big saves, key stoppages, and an all-around effort you have to love from your backup. Pickard stopped 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage, and there were more than a few of those stops that were anything but easy.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> I&#8217;m starting to get pretty annoyed by the Oilers having slow starts against teams that won&#8217;t be making the playoffs this year, and last night&#8217;s game against Seattle was another example of a problem the team just can&#8217;t seem to shake. Even if you could argue that both of Seattle&#8217;s first period goals were lucky for one reason or another, being blind to both of them still doesn&#8217;t excuse only have three shots on goal and a hole to climb out of midway through the first period. I&#8217;d prefer that the boys ditch the &#8220;come from behind to win&#8221; strategy they&#8217;ve been deploying lately, but no one is asking for my opinion.</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> It was a tough night for Evan Bouchard, wasn&#8217;t it? It looks like he&#8217;s battling confidence issues a little bit, and that tends to lead to hanging onto the puck too long after waiting too long to make a decision. Those compounding problems end up in turnovers, which exactly what we saw last night against the Kraken. The usually sure-sticked Bouchard was shaky with the puck on his blade, and Dad lucky that Seattle didn&#8217;t capitalize on two or three of them.</p>
<p><strong>5.</strong> The empty-net goal gave Mattias Ekholm his second point of the night to punctuate what was a monster game for our resident Viking king. How else would you describe Ekholm on a night when he registered six shots on net, had two blocks, one, hit, and a +1 rating all while playing a team-high 24:42 in TOI?</p>
<p><strong>6.</strong> With the assist on Janmark&#8217;s goal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins extended his point streak to three games where he has three goals and two assist for five points.</p>
<p><strong>7.</strong> I love LOVED the way the Oilers&#8217; penalty kill was able to handle all four of the shorthanded situations they faced, including an extended 5-on-3 chance that lasted over a minute. Not only did they prevent the Kraken from scoring a goal, but they prevented them from even registering a shot. Not. One. Shot. Look no further than that for the wildest stat of the night.</p>
<p><strong>8.</strong> You&#8217;re going to want to flush that game if you&#8217;re Connor Brown. His misfortunate started with a giveaway that led to Seattle&#8217;s first goal of the night, and things just devolved from there. Penalties, missed shots, and a general vibe that this wasn&#8217;t his night. Even with the assist on Janmark&#8217;s first period goal, I&#8217;m pretty sure even Brown himself will look forward to the next one.</p>
<p><strong>9.</strong> I&#8217;m not going to call shenanigans or anything, but how is it possible that the Kraken got four power play opportunities and the Oilers got only one? Surely, there was at least a stick infraction or two mixed in there, no? Buncha angels over there.</p>
<p><strong>10.</strong> How would you ever carry on with your day without knowing that the Oilers won 51.1% of the faceoffs? You couldn&#8217;t, could you?</p>
<h2><strong>PRESENTED BY ODD COMPANY</strong></h2>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-161882 aligncenter" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/website-banner-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/website-banner-727x404-1.png 727w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/website-banner-727x404-1-300x167.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></p>
<p>We’re beyond excited to announce our latest partnership with Odd Company Brewing to bring you <a href="https://www.oddcompany.ca/new-blog/2024/10/8/nationbeer-everyday-lager" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the all-new Nation Beer</a> Everyday Lager! Whether you&#8217;re watching the big game, chilling with friends, or just kicking back after a long day, this crisp, refreshing lager is the perfect choice. It’s the brew you can count on anytime, anywhere. So, why not make it your next game-day tradition? Nation Beer Everyday Lager is available now at Odd Company Brewing and through Liquor Connect. Don’t miss out—grab yours today and take your beer game to the next level! Cheers, Nation Citizens!</p>


The Edmonton Oilers <a href="https://publish.oilersnation.com/2025/01/27/gdb-50-0-why-the-oilers-mixed-up-their-lines-as-mcdavid-returns-against-kraken-730-pm-mt-snw/">squared off against the Kraken</a> at Rogers Place on Tuesday for the second of four meetings on the season. The Oilers won the opener at Climate Pledge Arena by a 4-2 final back on January 4th, and the boys must have loved that score so much that they decided to replicate it last night for a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/instant-reaction-oilers-overcome-slow-start-and-beat-kraken-for-third-consecutive-win">ninth consecutive win</a> over the Kraken.
<h2><strong>WELCOME BACK, CONNOR McDAVID</strong></h2>
It goes without saying that it's good news when the best player on earth gets back in <a href="https://oilersnation.com/combinations">the lineup</a>, but that doesn't mean we weren't all excited to have him back anyway. Connor McDavid is an X-factor that no one else in the NHL has, and I wanted him to take out that excess energy on a Kraken team that has historically had few answers for stopping him. So, when he was flying on the ice right from his first shift, I thought we might be in line for a vintage McDavid point-night. Hell, I even bet on it. As it turns out, this wouldn't be the first time I overhyped myself.

While a big production night didn't happen, it didn't take long for No. 97 to make a mark on the game. Connor flew into the Seattle zone with the puck on his stick and picked up his own rebound for a tap-in goal to tie the game at two apiece. At a moment when the Oilers needed someone to step up, McDavid got the job done and erased the second hold the boys put themselves in. Even with Edmonton winning two of the three games he missed during his suspension, there's no replacing Connor McDavid, and we're blessed that it's not at all surprising he made a mark in his first game back at a moment when we needed it most.
<h2><strong>WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT COREY PERRY</strong></h2>
If Corey Perry is going to keep making noise on the ice, then I'm going to keep talking about him on the website. Outside of being his usual annoying self, Perry is pitching in with goals and points at a rate I didn't expect from him in his 20th NHL season. Putting the hilarious breakaway he scored on against the Kraken to the side for a moment, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/stats">Perry's nine goals</a> put him on pace for a 15-goal season. You take that kind of bottom-six scoring any time you can get it, and

Getting back to the goal he scored to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead, the first thing I need to start with is giving Darnell Nurse a shout out for that bomb of a pass that put Perry in all alone. Darryl fired a bullet up broad when he saw the Worm standing all alone at the far blue line, and I am struggling to understand how the future Hall of Famer found himself that wide open in the first place. Regardless of how we got there, Perry buried his shot through Daccord's five-hole. That goal ended up as the game-winner, which happened to be the 76th of Perry's career.
<h2><strong>MATTIAS JANMARK SCORES ON A GOALIE</strong></h2>
The last time Mattias Janmark scored on a goalie was in Game 7 against Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game at one apiece. I was (un)lucky enough to be in Florida for that game, and when Janmark pumped that shot past Bob, plenty of blue and orange jerseys in the building started going bananas. Unfortunately, we all know how the story goes from there, but the point of the story is that Janmark's last goal that beat an NHL goaltender came in June of 2024. It's been a minute.

I love a lot of things that Janmark does on the ice — he has wheels, he's responsible defensively, kills penalties, and pucks don't tend to go into our net when he's on the ice — but he does not have a lot of touch right now. The lone goal he scored before this one was an empty-netter back on November 3rd against Calgary, so you know it had to feel good to get back on the scoresheet, even if it was a lucky bounce off his chest that made it happen. Sometimes, a greasy goal is precisely what the doctor ordered, and I'm hopeful that can be the case for Janmark. Dare to dream.
<h1>OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING</h1>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT9VG4DWi7o

<strong>1.</strong> Make it eight straight wins over the Seattle Kraken. You love to see it. With the win, the Oilers jumped over the Golden Knights by a point for first place in the Pacific Division. She's gonna be a tight one down the stretch, folks.

<strong>2.</strong> How about the game that Calvin Pickard played for the Oilers? Say what you will about the two goals he let in — I think he had little chance on either of them — but he locked things down for the last 42 minutes with big saves, key stoppages, and an all-around effort you have to love from your backup. Pickard stopped 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage, and there were more than a few of those stops that were anything but easy.

<strong>3.</strong> I'm starting to get pretty annoyed by the Oilers having slow starts against teams that won't be making the playoffs this year, and last night's game against Seattle was another example of a problem the team just can't seem to shake. Even if you could argue that both of Seattle's first period goals were lucky for one reason or another, being blind to both of them still doesn't excuse only have three shots on goal and a hole to climb out of midway through the first period. I'd prefer that the boys ditch the "come from behind to win" strategy they've been deploying lately, but no one is asking for my opinion.

<strong>4.</strong> It was a tough night for Evan Bouchard, wasn't it? It looks like he's battling confidence issues a little bit, and that tends to lead to hanging onto the puck too long after waiting too long to make a decision. Those compounding problems end up in turnovers, which exactly what we saw last night against the Kraken. The usually sure-sticked Bouchard was shaky with the puck on his blade, and Dad lucky that Seattle didn't capitalize on two or three of them.

<strong>5.</strong> The empty-net goal gave Mattias Ekholm his second point of the night to punctuate what was a monster game for our resident Viking king. How else would you describe Ekholm on a night when he registered six shots on net, had two blocks, one, hit, and a +1 rating all while playing a team-high 24:42 in TOI?

<strong>6.</strong> With the assist on Janmark's goal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins extended his point streak to three games where he has three goals and two assist for five points.

<strong>7.</strong> I love LOVED the way the Oilers' penalty kill was able to handle all four of the shorthanded situations they faced, including an extended 5-on-3 chance that lasted over a minute. Not only did they prevent the Kraken from scoring a goal, but they prevented them from even registering a shot. Not. One. Shot. Look no further than that for the wildest stat of the night.

<strong>8.</strong> You're going to want to flush that game if you're Connor Brown. His misfortunate started with a giveaway that led to Seattle's first goal of the night, and things just devolved from there. Penalties, missed shots, and a general vibe that this wasn't his night. Even with the assist on Janmark's first period goal, I'm pretty sure even Brown himself will look forward to the next one.

<strong>9.</strong> I'm not going to call shenanigans or anything, but how is it possible that the Kraken got four power play opportunities and the Oilers got only one? Surely, there was at least a stick infraction or two mixed in there, no? Buncha angels over there.

<strong>10.</strong> How would you ever carry on with your day without knowing that the Oilers won 51.1% of the faceoffs? You couldn't, could you?
<h2><strong>PRESENTED BY ODD COMPANY</strong></h2>
<img class="size-full wp-image-161882 aligncenter" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2099/02/website-banner-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" />

We’re beyond excited to announce our latest partnership with Odd Company Brewing to bring you <a href="https://www.oddcompany.ca/new-blog/2024/10/8/nationbeer-everyday-lager" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the all-new Nation Beer</a> Everyday Lager! Whether you're watching the big game, chilling with friends, or just kicking back after a long day, this crisp, refreshing lager is the perfect choice. It’s the brew you can count on anytime, anywhere. So, why not make it your next game-day tradition? Nation Beer Everyday Lager is available now at Odd Company Brewing and through Liquor Connect. Don’t miss out—grab yours today and take your beer game to the next level! Cheers, Nation Citizens!

Connor McDavid gets a goal in return, Corey Perry nets Oilers’ game winner, and Mattias Janmark scored on a goalie

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