The Seattle Kraken hosted the Utah Hockey Club on Friday, March 14. Despite a close game in the first two periods, the Kraken broke the tie in the third with two goals to give the home team the 4-2 victory.
Game Recap
Not even a minute into the first period, the Kraken broke the ice first. Off a missed pass from Utah, Eeli Tolvanen possessed the puck. He passed it to Chandler Stephenson, who sent it right back to Tolvanen. From the faceoff circle, he took a high shot to send the puck past Karel Vejmelka.
With three minutes left in the first, the Hockey Club tied up the score. Kevin Stenlund skated the puck up to Utah’s offensive zone. As he got closer to the goal, he passed across the ice to Nick Schmaltz. Taking a shot into the empty space of the net, Schmaltz scored the first of the night for the visiting team.
Seven minutes into the second period, the visitors got the lead. Michael Carcone skated the puck up towards the net. He passed to John Marino, who was on the other side of the goal. He saw Philipp Gruabuer leaning out of the crease to stop him and made a quick pass to Stenlund. With a wide-open net in front of him, Stenlund gave Utah the lead.
With 1:06 left in the second, the Kraken tied up the game once more. Jordan Eberle had the puck by the boards and passed to Brandon Montour in front of the net. Montour didn’t even need to move; the puck bounced off his skate and into the back of the net to tie the game.
Nine minutes into the third period, Jaden Schwartz took a shot on the net to break the tie. It appeared to be a good goal, but after reviewing the play, it was found that the puck bounced off the crossbar. The score remained 2-2.
Two minutes after the false alarm, Seattle broke the tie for real. Mikhail Sergachev attempted to send the puck around the boards, but Kaapo Kakko picked up the loose puck near the net. He skated it around to the other side and with a wraparound shot, scored the third goal of the night for the Kraken.
With a minute and change left to go in the third, Tolvanen sent the puck into the empty net to solidify the win for the Kraken.
Next Up
The Kraken will be back in action on Sunday, March 16 when they host the Winnipeg Jets. This will also be the first time that Brandon Tanev returns to Seattle since being traded at the deadline. The Utah Hockey Club will also play again on Sunday, as they travel north to take on the Vancouver Canucks.
