Zach Hyman first period hat trick fuels Oilers in 4-1 Kraken loss
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 11: Jamie Oleksiak #24 of the Seattle Kraken and Zach Hyman #18 of the Edmonton Oilers match up during the second period of a game at Climate Pledge Arena on November 11, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Christoph
SEATTLE - Apparently, the cure for early season woes for Alberta-based NHL teams is to play the Seattle Kraken.
Zach Hyman completed a natural hat trick in the first period and the Edmonton Oilers snapped a four-game losing streak with a blowout 4-1 win over the Kraken on Saturday night.
Philipp Grubauer was pulled at the end of the first period after allowing four goals on 17 shots. Meanwhile, the Kraken managed just 18 shots on net for the entire game.
Jaden Schwartz scored the only goal of the night for Seattle to extend his career-best point streak to nine games.
"We weren't desperate enough," Schwartz said. "We knew that they're hungry for wins and we came out flat. We've done it a few times at home now. You know, unacceptable. We've got to be way more aggressive, way more assertive and get to our game right away. Too much standing around and watching and just all around wasn't good enough. Desperation wasn't high enough because we knew they were going to come in and be ready to go."
Hyman's goals came in a 10-minute span that completely broke the game open for Edmonton. Justin Schultz got caught pinching down in the offensive zone as Hyman and Evander Kane sprung free for a 2-on-1 chance that saw Hyman backhand the puck past Grubauer for a 1-0 lead.
Hyman's next two goals both came cleaning up loose pucks in front of the Seattle net. With Schwartz in the penalty box for tripping, Hyman hammered home a rebound of an Evan Bouchard shot by Grubauer to make it a 2-0 game. Just over four minutes later, Hyman managed to get his stick to a loose puck amid a sea of legs and swat it by Grubauer for the second hat trick of his career.
"It's disappointing that we got down so quick," defenseman Vince Dunn said. "It's an elite team that we're playing against no matter what their struggles were, and it's hard to come back when you find yourself in a hole like that."
Hyman also had three goals in a 6-3 win over the Nashville Predators last season. Hyman's first period natural hat trick is just the second in Oilers' franchise history, per ESPN Stats & Information. The other instance was by Wayne Gretzky on Dec. 17, 1986 vs Quebec Nordiques.
"The first ten (minutes) we were OK," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "You know, but soon as we give up the first one, a power play goal, you know, there's three goals scored at net front right there. We've got to take that upon ourselves defensively, competitively, that that can't happen."
The deficit could have been even worse. Jamie Oleksiak had to pull a puck off the goal line as it was leaking toward the net behind backup goaltender Joey Daccord in the second period. Then Daccord gave the puck away to Leon Draisaitl and had to make two consecutive saves to keep the puck out of the net after his error.
Schwartz's goal came on the power play early in the third period off a great pass from Eeli Tolvanen. However, the goal was too little, far too late for the Kraken to get back into the contest.
"We had no speed getting into the zone," Hakstol said. So we didn't get on to many pucks. We weren't hunting pucks in that way. Coming through the neutral zone, it starts there. We had no speed coming through the middle whatsoever. That comes from puck play. That comes from execution getting through the zone. It's pretty tough to get onto pucks in the offensive zone unless you can enter with some sort of speed."
The Oilers have been flailing wildly to begin their season. Despite entering the year with expectations of contending for a Stanley Cup, Edmonton entered Saturday night's game with just two wins on the year and a 2-9-1 record. They lost on Thursday night to the San Jose Sharks, who hadn't won a single game until beating the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Just a week ago, the Calgary Flames came into Seattle with just a 2-7-1 record. They, too, managed to get themselves righted with a 6-3 victory over the Kraken.
Edmonton remains an extremely talented roster despite their slow start to the season. They have the capability to put together prolonged winning streaks to get back into the playoff race in short order. The Kraken had the chance to keep the Oilers wallowing in a prolonged losing streak with a win on Saturday night. Instead, the Kraken allowed Edmonton to leave town feeling good for the first time in a while.