The Edmonton Oilers were beaten 4-2 by the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday (Oct. 1) in NHL preseason action.
Darnell Nurse and Matthew Savoie scored for Edmonton. The Kraken got a pair of goals from Ryan Winterton and one each from Joshua Mahura and Eeli Tolvanen.
Oilers netminder Calvin Pickard allowed four goals on 17 shots, while Seattle goalie Joey Daccord made 32 saves in a winning effort.
Seattle jumped ahead 3-0 before the game was even 15 minutes old. The Oilers battled back, cutting the home team’s lead to 3-2 in the second period, but could get no closer.
Edmonton’s 2025 preseason record drops to 4-2-1, with both regulation losses coming at the hands of the Kraken.
Nurse Shines Again
Nurse was an absolute force on Wednesday, leading the Oilers in both blocked shots (five) and hits (five), while playing a game-high 25:18. He got Edmonton on the board when he scored late in the first period by firing a snapshot through Daccord during an Oilers power-play.
In just three preseason appearances, Nurse has racked up 11 shots on goal, 13 blocked shots, and eight hits. The veteran blueliner also has a goal in each of his preseason games, which is quite the feat for a player who scored a total of just five times in the entire 2024-25 season.
Nurse’s effort has never been questioned, but the way he’s attacked the preseason speaks volumes about how the 30-year-old is approaching this upcoming season, as the Oilers look to finally end their Stanley Cup drought.
Regula Continues to Impress
With consistently impressive performances throughout the preseason, defenceman Alec Regula has surprisingly played himself into contention for a spot on Edmonton’s opening night roster, and on Wednesday, the big blueliner from West Bloomfield, Michigan, might have taken a big step towards making the cut.
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Skating alongside Nurse on Edmonton’s top defensive pairing, Regula once again looked like he belongs in the NHL, showing no signs of the layoff from missing all of 2024-25 while recovering from knee surgery. The 6-foot-4 defenceman played mistake-free hockey, made a couple of fantastic plays to clear his zone, and registered two shots on goal as well as a pair of blocked shots in 19:23 against the Kraken.
It says something that Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch paired Regula with Nurse for Wednesday’s game. In his five preseason appearances, Regula has skated with four different defensive partners, and he’s shown an ability to play with all of them, which also says something.
“Regula’s a guy who hasn’t played very much hockey for the last year and a half, and for him to come to camp after that much time off, and play as well as he has, that’s a lot of respect for him,” Knoblauch said during his post-game media availability. “Because I saw all the training and the rehab he was doing throughout the summer and last year during the season, so now he has this opportunity, and I believe he’s making the most of it.”
Trio Returns From Bakersfield
With multiple players sidelined by illness, the Oilers needed to recall forwards Connor Clattenburg, James Hamblin, and Viljami Marjala from the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League (AHL) just to have a full lineup on Wednesday night. They played together on Edmonton’s fourth line, centered by Marjala.
Clattenburg, Hamblin, and Marjala had all been assigned to the AHL last week, and while none of those three forwards will be part of Edmonton’s season-opening roster, Wednesday provided them with another game to make an impression on Knoblauch and for the most part, they took advantage of it.
Clattenburg played with the same reckless abandon as Rookie Camp and the early part of the preseason that made him a fan favourite, earning two minor penalties for his efforts. Hamblin, meanwhile, drew a pair of penalties, fired two shots on goal and won both of his faceoffs. Marjala finished the game with a minus-2 rating, but did register three shots on net along with a missed shot.
“I thought they were great,” Knoblauch said. “That line spent a lot of time in the offensive zone and had some good scoring chances. I think those guys are the future of our team, at some point having some impact, but for them to be called up today, I thought they played well.”
It remains to be seen if any or all of Clattenburg, Hamblin and Marjala will stick around to play in Edmonton’s final preseason game, which comes Friday (Oct. 3) against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. There is now less than a week to go until the Oilers open their season, hosting the Calgary Flames on Oct. 8 at Rogers Place.
