McCann, Tanev lead Kraken

 

 

If success has many fathers, then an exciting victory can have many stars. In the Seattle Kraken’s 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights last night at Climate Pledge Arena, Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev and Joey Daccord were selected the three stars of the game.

Those choices made sense as McCann scored the overtime game winner; Tanev jumped started the offense with two goals and Daccord turned in another sterling performance as he stopped 21 shots, some of the quality variety, including a sprawling stop on Vegas’ Pavel Dorofeyev with 4:43 remaining.

But what about Oliver Bjorkstrand, who scored what looked like a possible game winning goal at 2:58 of the third period after intercepting a clearing pass and driving to the net? Then there was Tye Kartye, who set up Tanev for the tying goal in the second period. Ironically, both players were healthy scratches in the Kraken’s loss to Colorado on Tuesday night.

And the save of the game may not have been by Daccord but from defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in the second period. After Daccord slid to his left to make the initial save, Vegas forward Brett Howden curled behind the net and attempted a tip-in. But Oleksiak sprawled to protect the open net with a kick save of his own. Fellow defenseman Ryker Evans led the Kraken with five hits.

After a four-game road losing streak, the Kraken wanted to get back on track when they returned to Climate Pledge to begin a five-game homestand with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Things didn’t start well for the home team. After Knights’ netminder Aidin Hill made a sprawling save on Yanni Gourde about seven minutes into the contest, Vegas came back with goals from Dorofeyev (when the Knights had a 5-3 advantage) and Nicolas Roy.

Tanev who’s known for his penalty killing, hustling and feistiness, turned on the ignition late in the first period. He stepped into the passing lane at his own red line taking the puck away from defenseman Brayden McNabb, and after a slight stumble went in on a breakaway. He beat Adin Hill with a slapper over the goalie’s right shoulder.

The Kraken had a strong second period outshooting the Knights, 13-5. Kartye outmuscled veteran Knights’ defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and slid a pass across to Tanev for the score.

`` We were off-kilter in the first period,” said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma. ``We were able to grab it back and keep pushing and playing. I thought the second period was our best of the year.”

``It was nice to see Tye come back into the lineup,” said Tanev. ``He and I and Yanni (Gourde) have been playing together as a line. He (Kartye) made a great play. Without that play I wouldn’t have been able to get that second goal and I think we played well together.”

The Kraken took their first lead of the game in the third period when Bjorkstrand intercepted an unwise clear by Hill and drove to the net.

“I thought his game, in particular, was a great bounce-back game for (Bjorkstrand),” said Bylsma. “He's a talented, skilled player with a great shot and he scores a lot of goals His competition was at a great level for him to have success in the game.”

After Daccord’s big save off Jack Eichel with two minutes remaining the Knights finally notched the tying goal when Pietrangelo shot went off the foot of defenseman Adam Larsson and into the net.

With one standings point in the books, the Kraken regrouped to score the game winner only 29 seconds into the overtime. Chandler Stephenson as usual, took the opening faceoff in OT but for the first time this season lost the draw.

However, Brandon Montour picked off an errant pass and sent McCann in on a breakaway. McCann, the first Kraken to reach 100 goals in a Seattle uniform, made a goal scorers move, waiting for Hill to commit and then lifted a wrist shot into the net.

The Kraken announced before the game that they had acquired (actually reacquired) Daniel Sprong from the Seattle Kraken for future considerations. Sprong spent part a year and a half with the Kraken and was instrumental in their one playoff appearance. The 27-year-old Amsterdam native had 21 goals and 25 assists for Seattle in the 2022-23 season.

Seattle returns to the ice on Tuesday when the Kraken host the Columbus Blue Jackets.

First Period

N- Pavel Dorofeyev (Nicolas Roy, Jack Eichel)  PPG, 10:13. N- Roy (Ivan Barbashev, Eichel) 13:31. S- Brandon Tanev 2 (unassisted) 17:21.

Second Period

S- Tanev 3 (Tye Kartye 1) 7:12.

Third Period

S-Oliver Bkorkstrand 4 (unassisted) 2:58. V- Alex Pietrangelo (Shea Theodore, Eichel) 18:35.

Overtime

S- Jared McCann 7 (Brandon Montour 7) :29

Shots on Goal- Vegas 24 (3 with 3), Seattle 32 (Brandon Tanev 6).

Hits- Vegas 26 (Keegan Kolesar 5) Seattle (Ryker Evans 5).

Blocked Shots- Vegas 10 (Ivan Barbashev 2), Seattle 16 (Adam Larsson, Brandon Montour, Jamie Oleksiak 3).

Penalty Minutes- Vegas 2, Seattle 8.

Faceoffs- Vegas 48.1%, Seattle  51.9 %.

Three Stars- 1. Jared McCann 2, Brandon Tanev 3. Joey Daccord.

Referees- Trevor Hanson, Kendrick Nicholson. Linesmen- Trent Knorr, Travis Toomey.