The Seattle Kraken have a seven game win streak and have won four overtime games in a row.
It was the tale of two hockey games rolled into one between the Washington Capitals and the Seattle Kraken. The first period and the first half of the second period was a grind-fest. Tough sledding. The Kraken finished the first period with six shots-on-goal and nary a Grade-A scoring chance, at least not one that made it past a shot blocker.
The second period opened up, especially after Seattle scored a power play goal at 13:28 and woke up the Climate Pledge Arena crowd. They woke themselves up as well. They had one shot through the first half of the period; they’d add seven more with some great chances in the latter stages of the 2nd.
The Capitals held a 2-1 lead after two periods, Washington had scored two goals in the first period, one of them on the power play.
Just for the record, “The Great 8” Alexander Ovechkin had an assist on both of them.
It would come down to tempo and execution in the third.
Nitty Gritty Time
The Kraken gained momentum as the 3rd period moved on, the challenge once again was getting shots through the Washington shot blockers clogging the middle of the ice.
There were sustained offensive zone shifts for Seattle as they cycled the puck successfully along the endboards.
The sustained pressure paid off with 2:27 remaining in regulation when Seattle tied it. The Kraken were relentless.
Kraken Goal Scorers
2nd Period – 2-1 Kraken trailing – Power Play – Jaden Schwartz (8) from Vince Dunn and Andre Burakovsky, 13:28
3rd Period – 2-2 – Even Strength – Yanni Gourde (3) from Daniel Sprong and Dunn, 17:33
Overtime – 3-2 – Even Strength (3-on-3) – Matty Beniers (10) from Andre Burakovsky, :07
Kraken 3 Stars: (Went with the picks in the building rather than the usual Simmer picks – I would have factored in Burakovsky)
1) Matty Beniers – Game winning goal in OT.
2) Philipp Grubauer – Follows up his win in Vegas with a solid home victory.
3) Yanni Gourde – A pretty epic fight and the game tying goal.
