That was more like it. The Oilers tightened up defensively and got steadier goaltending Saturday, beating the visiting Seattle Kraken 3-1 after opening the season with a pair of high-scoring games against the Vancouver Canucks. That doesn’t mean there isn’t still room for improvement. Head coach Mike Babcock said Monday after practice that while his team has been getting off to good starts, its play in the second period needs to improve. Goalie Devon Levi bailed out his teammates more than once after second-period giveaways, helping hold the Kraken to what proved to be their only goal: a power-play marker by Bobby McMann. “We relax too much, we stop taking care of the puck, we forget what we’re doing – the second period hasn’t been kind to us,” Babcock told reporters at Rogers Place, adding that the puck doesn’t always bounce a team’s way. “They hemmed us in one shift last game (in which) our defencemen were stuck out there for three shifts.” Babcock stuck with Levi on Saturday after the 24-year-old first-year Oiler, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in July for a draft pick, gave up seven goals in Thursday’s 9-7 barn-burning win over the host Canucks. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said Saturday’s performance was “certainly how we want to play.” “(Thursday’s) game got away from us a little bit and it was not the easiest situation,” the forward said of allowing the Canucks to claw back after falling behind 8-3. “But you can certainly play better, and it was a solid, solid effort.” Dickinson practises Babcock said he hopes Jason Dickinson, who missed much of training camp and the start of the season with a foot injury, will return to the lineup during the Oilers’ upcoming road trip. The 31-year-old centre, who signed a five-year contract extension this summer, skated on the second line during Monday’s practice. Dickinson originally injured his foot while blocking a Connor Murphy shot with his skate late last season, forcing him to miss time in both the regular season and playoffs. “If I’m being totally honest, I never quite got to 100 (per cent healthy) over the summer,” Dickinson told reporters. “I was making jumps, but it felt like every jump I made, I plateaued for a couple of weeks.” Goal-getters As the Oilers work toward greater defensive consistency under Babcock, they haven’t lost their scoring touch. Captain Connor McDavid has nine points through three games, with two goals and seven assists. Five of those points came in Thursday’s win over Vancouver. Defenceman Evan Bouchard has eight points, split evenly between goals and assists, while Draisaitl has three goals and two assists for five points. Heading into Monday’s NHL action, McDavid and Bouchard ranked first and second in league scoring, while Draisaitl sat in a tie for fourth with eight others. Coasting into California The Oilers (2-0-1) begin a three-game California road trip Wednesday against the Ducks in Anaheim, the team that eliminated them in the first round of last spring’s playoffs. Edmonton will also face the San Jose Sharks on Saturday and the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 13 before returning home to host the Utah Mammoth on Oct. 15.
