Kraken Recap
The Kraken jumped out to an early lead and as they say, never looked back, beating the Arizona Coyotes 5-0 at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday night. It’s Seattle’s 5th win in its last seven games, all of those victories coming against NHL bottom feeders.
The goaltenders were Karel Vejmelka for the visitors and Philipp Grubauer for Seattle, who picked up his 22nd career shut-out.
1st Period
134-seconds into the first period the Kraken had a two-nothing lead. At the 1:08 mark, prospect center Shane Wright tallied his fourth goal since being called up three games ago. That’s right, he’s averaging a goal-a-game since April 1st and this one’s not over yet. It was a softy from Vejmelka, who fumbled a pretty simple backhander and allowed it to slip through.
Andre Burakovsky added his 7th of the season just a minute and six seconds later, going top shelf, short side from the right circle after picking up a loose puck carom off a D-man’s leg. The goal came on the power play.
Late in the period Grubauer made his biggest save of a busy first period. The Seattle netminder stopped Matias Maccelli’s five-hole attempt with 2:10 remaining. The Coyotes finished the first 20-minutes with a 9-7 shot advantage.
2nd Period
It didn’t take long for Seattle to light the lamp again. This time at 4:29. On a perfectly executed 2-on-1, Oliver Bjorkstrand crossed the puck to defenseman Justin Schultz, who joined the rush on the right side and buried a shot top shelf, glove side.
It was Schultz’s 7th goal of the season, second point of the night, and it also gave center Matty Beniers two assists on the evening.
At the other end, Grubauer again saved his best for late in the period. Apparently dialed in, he stopped Liam O’Brien and Michael Kesselring with back-to-back chances at the 16:15 mark.
3rd Period
The fun continued in the 3rd period as everyone got into the act. Brandon Tanev became the 3rd Kraken player on the evening to reach his 7th goal of the season at 6:38. After one Coyote turned the puck over and another lost his stick, Tanev cashed in off a series of short passes in the offensive zone. Vejmelka had no chance.
D-man Will Borgen notched his 3rd goal of the season at 9:35 when his wrist shot from the right point deflected off an Arizona blocker and through the legs (5-hole) of Vejmelka once again. It was a tough night for the 27-year-old Czech netminder.
Shots on goal finished 39-25 in favor of the Coyotes. Power plays: Arizona 0-for-1, Seattle 1-for-3.
Kraken 3 Stars:
1) Philipp Grubauer – His 2nd shut-out of the season and the 22nd of his career with 39 saves.
2) Justin Schultz – Goal, assist, and led the entire team with 5 shots-on-goal
3) Oliver Bjorkstrand – Two assists, a shot and a hit.
Recent Kraken:
— Kraken’s Disappointing Season Over With 7 Games To Play
— Kraken’s Ryker Evans A Step In The Right Direction
