EDMONTON, Alberta — Captain Connor McDavid returned from his three-game suspension for cross-checking Vancouver’s Conor Garland, and scored a goal in leading his Edmonton Oilers to a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night.
McDavid tied the score 2-2 at 1:57 of the second period with his 21st tally of the season, before Corey Perry scored to give Edmonton the lead for good en route to its third straight win.
“It was a good game. [Seattle] pushed, especially late in the game. They had their opportunities and they didn’t let up,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Tonight, we played just well enough to win.”
Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist, and Mattias Janmark also scored for the Oilers in the victory. Edmonton has now won 11 of 14, sweeping back into first place in the Pacific Division, one point ahead of the idle Vegas Golden Knights. Ekholm’s tally was an empty-netter with 58 seconds left, which secured the win.
“There was a lot of north. We were playing north, and playing with the puck,” Perry said, referring to the amount of offensive zone time Edmonton had in the win. “We had some shifts where we were cycling the puck and moving the puck well and getting shots. And that’s our game.”
Calvin Pickard had 26 saves for the Oilers, allowing goals to Eeli Tolvanen and Vince Dunn for the Kraken, who led 2-1 after one period. Joey Daccord stopped 27 shots for Seattle in the loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.