Evander Kane breaks out in important win for Edmonton Oilers - Edmonton Sun

After missing the equivalent of half a season injured, Kane had one of his best games of the season, netting a hat-trick in a massive 6-4 win, on the road, against the Seattle Kraken

Evander Kane #91 of the Edmonton Oilers celebrates his goal during the second period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on March 18, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. Photo by Steph Chambers /Getty Images

Getting Evander Kane going might be the final piece of a championship-contending puzzle for the Edmonton Oilers.

After missing the equivalent of half a season with injuries, Kane had one of his best games of the campaign, netting a hat trick in an massive 6-4 win, on the road, against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Oilers extended their lead to three points on the Kraken for third place in the Pacific Division standings.

“It’s nice to help contribute to an important win; big points with the division so tight,” Kane told Oilers TV after the game. “I’ve been in and out of the lineup with injuries all year, so I’m just trying to get some rhythm heading into the playoffs and today definitely helps that.”

Kane had one goal in four games since returning from an undisclosed injury before breaking out in Seattle. Kane missed nine games with the injury, suspected to be an upper-body issue, adding to the 31 games he missed when his wrist was sliced open in Tampa Bay, inadvertently stepped on by Lightning forward Patrick Maroon.

Kane scored on the Oilers’ first shot on net, snapping the puck through the pads of Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer 1:35 into the contest.

Kane took a cross-ice pass from Zach Hyman on the play and beat Grubauer from the bottom of the left face-off circle. Hyman was back in the lineup after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury.

“I’m happy for him; he’s a warrior, he plays through injuries,” Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said of Kane. “He’s just getting up and running again, because of his injuries and whatnot; it’s kind of been a stop-and-start season for him. But he’s been all around the puck in every game that he’s played, and for three to go in for him today, I was happy.

Jaden Schwartz tied the game five minutes later, as a shot from Vince Dunn hit him on the way past Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner, who finished with 33 saves. The puck bounced out to Dunn in front after Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm and forward Nick Bjugstad had issues clearing it.

Kailer Yamamoto restored the lead for the Oilers with three-and-a-half minutes left in the period, tipping in a centring pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

“It was a good forecheck and I think Leo (Leon Draisaitl) gave it to Nuge (Nugent-Hopkins),” Yamamoto told Oilers TV. “I thought Nuge was actually going to shoot it, but it was a great pass and I was able to slide it five-hole. It was nice, especially with my parents in the stands, it felt good.”

Hailing from Spokane, Wash., Yamamoto usually had a number of friends and family in the stands in Seattle.

Kane scored his second of the game 43 seconds into the second period, one-timing a pass from Connor McDavid after the puck bounced to him at right face-off circle.

Jordan Eberle cut the lead to 3-2 just under four minutes later, on a shot through Skinner. Eberle spun away from a check from Evan Bouchard and was fortunate to find the puck in his skates. He took an open lane to the net and beat Skinner from the slot.

Just after the goal, Grubauer skated to the bench in some distress, and had to be replaced by Martin Jones. Grubauer may have pulled something stretching out to try and contend with Kane’s one-timer minutes earlier.

Jones came in and gave up the first shot he faced, as Hyman scored from the slot on a puck knocked back to him by McDavid. The goal was Hyman’s 30th of the season, a career high for the free-agent signing two years ago.

“He just had some lingering stuff that was bugging him,” Woodcroft said of Hyman. “He’s had good numbers versus Seattle throughout the year, and he came up to me yesterday and said, ‘I’m in.’

“I was pleased, but sometimes when you play as hard as he does, when you’re a warrior like that, you accrue some bumps and bruises during the long grind of an 82-game schedule. And in the end, he played today and was a big factor in our win.”

Oliver Bjorkstrand cut the lead to 4-3 with 5:42 left in the period. He was left unattended in the slot, took a pass from Yanni Gourde and snapped a shot past Skinner.

Kane completed his hat trick at 10:20 of the third period, keeping the puck on an odd-man rush and snapping a shot past Jones. The sixth hat trick of Kane’s career put the Oilers up 5-3. He had one earlier this season with the Oilers in a win against the Nashville Predators in November.

“Part of my job is to be productive for this group,” Kane said. “We have two of the best players in the world, but they can’t carry a team and win a championship by themselves; you need everybody pulling their weight. We’ve had some really good depth scoring in the bottom half of our lineup and that’s been huge in some of our wins lately, and you need everybody going down the stretch here.”

McDavid sealed it with his 58th goal of the season, sifting a shot through Jones on the power play with just under four minutes to play.

Eeli Tolvanen scored with 47.5 seconds left in the game for the 6-4 final.

The Oilers return to Edmonton and host the San Jose Sharks on Monday in the first of a three-game homestand. They will host the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday and Vegas Golden Knights Saturday.

“I like the way we started periods; we did some good things special-teams wise,” Woodcroft said. “It’s a tough building, they’re a good team. They have four lines that can all score and, in the end, we found a way to get the two points in a tough building. We’ll take them and move on.”

Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest

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2023-03-18 23:02:11Z
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