Four-point games from McDavid and Draisaitl power Oilers to victory

Edmonton Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (93), Zach Hyman (18), Connor McDavid (97), Leon Draisaitl (29) and Evan Bouchard (2) celebrate a goal against the Seattle Kraken during an NHL game in Edmonton on Dec. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson (JASON FRANSON)

EDMONTON — It was the kind of offensive explosion that can shake a team out of its stupor.

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The Edmonton Oilers have struggled to find their footing to start this season but in Thursday’s 9-4 victory over the Seattle Kraken they looked more like the team that made a second straight Stanley Cup final appearance last spring.

Connor McDavid had three goals and an assist and Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists for the Oilers (12-11-5), who have won two of their last three.

“It feels good to get a couple as a group and hopefully guys are feeling good about themselves and can build on it,” McDavid said. “I feel like we’re playing better.

“It’s been a little bit of a grind here finding wins. It’s nice to put a good one together.”

It was McDavid’s 13th career hat trick, tying him with Mark Messier for fourth in franchise history.

Draisaitl, meanwhile, passed Messier to move into fourth in team history with 28 four-point games. McDavid and Draisaitl are also now fifth in league history for goals factored in together as teammates with 503, moving ahead of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

After berating himself for not shooting enough in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild, McDavid fired seven shots on net against Seattle.

“I thought I passed a couple away the other night and it ultimately cost us, losing a 1-0 game. Who knows if I score on one of those?” he said. “I definitely thought about shooting a little bit more.”

Matthew Savoie had a pair of goals and Vasily Podkolzin, Zach Hyman and Mattias Janmark also scored for the Oilers.

“I think the last few games we have played really good defensive games and pretty good full efforts,” Savoie said. “We’re just looking to string it all together and go on a little bit of a run here and put some wins together.”

Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each recorded three assists.

“After last game, not putting up any, it’s good for the confidence that we can get nine. It’s a good feeling,” Bouchard said. “Minus that one game (an 8-3 loss to Dallas) it feels like we’re coming, we’re getting there.

“I think we’re all on the same page. We’re playing a lot faster. Things are clicking, guys are coming together.”

It was only the second time in the last 14 years that the Oilers have scored nine goals.

“We’re getting there. This isn’t quite our team yet, we still have things to work on,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Seattle wasn’t at their best, they had a long break (between games) and we took advantage of that.

“But I’m starting to see a lot more things I like and it starts with our compete (level) and attention to detail in the defensive zone.”

The top four opposition scorers against the Kraken since the team entered the NHL in 2021-22 all come from the Oilers.

Draisaitl has 34 points in 15 career games against Seattle and is the only active player to average more than two points per game versus a single opponent, entering the game at 2.14.

He’s followed by McDavid with 25 points, Nugent-Hopkins with 24 and Hyman with 21. Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Fiala is fifth with 18 points.

The Oilers remain at home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.