Oilers strike late to knock off determined Kraken

EDMONTON — The dress rehearsals are over, and you can count Connor McDavid among those raring to get going for real.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists as the Edmonton Oilers closed out NHL pre-season play Friday with a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

“I liked that we won, I think that’s always a good thing,” said McDavid, who had a goal and an assist. “We found a way to win a couple of games in the pre-season when we didn’t have our best.

"I thought Soup (goalie Jack Campbell) played a great game and I thought we did enough to win, which is not going to be good enough when the real bullets fly. We have a couple of days to regroup and I’m looking forward to getting it going for real.

“We feel good about our group, we have lots of different pieces. We’re excited to get it going, everybody is excited to get the regular season underway and we’re not any different.”

Jesse Puljujarvi, Tyson Barrie, and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers, who ended up with a 5-3 record in exhibition action.

“I thought it was a competitive back and forth game,” said Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. “Both teams had good moments, I thought they started well and we got better as the first period wore on.

"Both teams scored a power-play goal and it came down to the last few minutes of the game and some of our top players made big plays. It’s nice to put the pre-season to bed.”

Daniel Sprong, Matty Beniers and Jared McCann responded for the Kraken, who dropped to 4-2.

“The game didn’t get away from us, we gave the puck away. That is one thing you can’t do against this hockey team,” said Seattle head coach David Hakstol.

“Even on the first goal against tonight, a power-play goal for them, we had been playing a hell of a period on