Oilers win | Pro Hockey News

In Seattle, Zach Hyman made sure the Edmonton Oilers did not lose their fifth straight on Saturday night.

Hyman hot for a natural hat trick in the first period as the Oilers downed the Kraken, 4-1, to end a four-game losing skid.

“If you look at any analytics numbers, they’ll tell you where most of the goals are scored,” Hyman said. “I don’t know if it’s like 50 percent or something like that where it’s within a 5-meter radius of the net. So [I was] taught at a young age, if you want to score, go to the net.”

Stuart Skinner made 17 saves in the win.

“I have nothing but huge respect for Zach Hyman and the game that he brings to the table every night,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said. “He was bound and determined to make sure we were coming out with a lead in that first period, and I think all of his goals were within about a 4- or 5-foot radius [of the net].”

The Oilers moved to 3-9-1 after going 1-7-1 over the their previous nine.

“From a team perspective, I think just getting ahead, scoring first and being able to build a lead, and when things aren’t going well, you want to have a cushion,” Hyman said. “It makes everybody feel a little bit more comfortable.”

Jaden Schwartz was the lone striker for the Kraken, his third period goal at 2:25 broke up the shutout bid for a 4-1 final score.

“We’ve got to be way more aggressive, way more assertive, and get to our game right away,” Schwartz said. “[There was] too much standing around and watching, and just all around, it wasn’t good enough.”

The Kraken dropped to 5-7-3.

Dylan Holloway scored with 18 seconds left in the first to make it 4-0 headed to the middle frame.

“It’s definitely a good feeling,” Holloway said. “I was wanting a goal bad there. I’m just happy the team got the win. That’s huge for us, huge for the group. We’re just going to try to keep it going for the rest of the week.”