The Seattle Kraken hosted the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, March 12. Despite a close game, the Kraken were able to take the victory 5-4 in overtime. After their win earlier this season against the Canadiens, the Kraken have now swept the season series.
Game Recap
At 4:54 in the first period, the Kraken got on the board first. Jakub Dobes caught the puck after Matty Beniers sent it around the boards. Dobes passed it to his left, where Jordan Eberle grabbed it before any other Canadiens player could touch the puck. He passed it down to Brandon Montour. In the faceoff circle, Montour took the shot to score the first goal of the night for the Kraken.
Four minutes into the second, the Kraken extended their lead. Chandler Stephenson sent the puck around the boards once he hit the blue line. Eberle picked it up and immediately passed to Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen took the shot from the faceoff dot and scored the second of the night for the home team.
At 6:14 in the second, Montour took a seat for tripping Jake Evans. Taking advantage of the power play, Lane Hutson had the puck on the blue line and dropped it back for Nick Suzuki. He skated it up and passed to Patrik Laine. With a one-timer, Laine scored the first goal for Montreal.
At 9:33 on the clock, each team took a penalty, resulting in 4-on-4 hockey. Arber Xhekaj and Tolvanen both took a seat for roughing. With seconds left on the 4-on-4, Laine skated the puck with Alex Newhook into the Canadiens’ offensive zone. Laine passed the puck to Newhook as he was gaining speed toward the goal. Throwing some snow and taking a shot, he tied the game for Montreal.
Three minutes later, Hutson passed the puck through the neutral zone, where it was caught by Cole Caufield. He passed to Juraj Slafkovsky, who skated the puck up to the net. While Joey Daccord was far out of the net, Slafkovsky took a shot which bounced off the crossbar and into the net. The second period came to a close with the Canadiens up by one.
Seven minutes into the third period, Suzuki picked up the puck after Caufield sent it around the boards. He passed to Jayden Struble at the blue line, who took a shot. Slafkovsky was in front of the net and tipped the puck into the back of the net. The goal was challenged for a high-stick, but it was determined a good goal, and the score stood at 4-2.
Halfway into the third, Xhekaj sat for hooking Jamie Oleksiak. On the power play, Eberle skated the puck up to the Kraken’s offensive zone. He sent it around the boards to Montour, who in turn sent it back to Eberle. He spotted Jani Nyman in front, who took a shot and scored his first NHL goal.
At 17:27 in the third, David Savard took a seat for tripping. With 1:42 left on the power play, Montour gained control of the puck near the blue line. He sent a pass to Vince Dunn, who was on his right. Dunn took the shot. The puck made its way through traffic and found Beniers in front. Beniers gained control of his stick and tipped the puck into the net to tie the game.
Right off the faceoff in overtime, Montour gained control of the puck. He skated up to the net, outpacing everyone else. He took a shot that bounced off the crossbar and into the net to end the game, just four seconds into overtime.
Next Up
The Kraken will stay at home and host the Utah Hockey Club on Friday, March 14. The Canadiens will head back home, where they will host the Florida Panthers on Saturday, March 15.
