Montour, Nyman lead Kraken

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Seattle Kraken fans got a taste of history last night at Climate Pledge Arena as Brandon Montour scored the fastest overtime goal in NHL history as the Kraken posted a come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

And he wasn’t the games number-one star.

Whoever selects the three stars at Climate Pledge proved to be a sentimental soul and the number-one star went to Jani Nyman (pronounced Numan, like the guy on Seinfeld) who scored the third Kraken goal in his first NHL game,

Not that anyone seemed to mind. The 20-year-old Finland native didn’t look out of place playing on a line with veterans Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky. The leading rookie scorer in the AHL, a second-round pick in the 2022 draft, also hit the post with a shot, had two hits and played on the power play.

``It was a special night,’’ said Nyman, whose parents were in attendance at the game. ``First goal First game. This is the best league in the world, so it’s a speed league, But I tried to play to my strength and do the same things I did in the minor leagues.”

The Kraken got off to a good start, dominating the latter stages of the first period and Eeli Tolvanen’s second period goal gave the Kraken a 2-0 lead. But when Juraj Slafkovsky scored a disputed third period goal (the officials went to replay to see if Slafkovsky hit the puck with a high stick) the Canadiens had taken a 4-2 lead.

``The game we played called for a response. It called for us to dig deep down,’’ said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma. ``We had a really good first period and I think there were five posts (Kraken shots that hit the post in the game).’’

Seattle outshot the visitors, 15-5, in the first period but could only muster one goal – Montour’s 14th of the season, a 20-foot drive off a pass from Jordan Eberle.

With a three-goal hat trick in the previous game against the Canadiens and with two goals and two assists last night, the Kraken defenseman recorded eight points on the season against Montreal. Montour’s five goals is the most by a defenseman versus Montreal since Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins in 1983. Bourque played eight games against Montreal that season.

After Tolvanen’s goal, set up by Eberle (three assists) the Canadiens rattled off three consecutive goals from Patrick Laine, Alex Newhook and Slafkovsky to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at the end of the second period.

However, it was Slafkovsky’ goal- which the officials took a long time to look at on replay- that could have been the back breaker. But Nyman’s goal off a nice pass from Eberle gave the Kraken hope.

Then Seattle got a break when Canadien defenseman David Savard was called for tripping with four minutes remaining in the game. The Kraken pulled goalie Joey Daccord for an extra attacker (it was Daccord bobblehead night) giving them a 6-4 advantage.

Vince Dunn took a cross-ice pass from Montour and Dunn’s shot from the right point was deflected by Matty Beniers past Canadien netminder Jakob Dobes.

That set the stage for an overtime period. Chandler Stephenson almost always takes the opening faceoff for the Kraken in overtime. This time he won the faceoff to Montour who went in all alone and slapped a shot past Dobe into the net. Montour’s 15th goal of the season also sets a new record for Kraken defensemen.

``It was Chandler, to be honest. He came up with (the faceoff),’’ said Montour. ``He bumped it up to me. It was nice for the group to get a (win).’’

The Kraken (28-34-4) host Utah tomorrow and then welcome the former Kraken Brandon Tanev and the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. One of the Kraken’s most popular players, Tanev was dealt to the Jets at the trade deadline last week.

First Period

S- Brandon Montour 14 (Jordan Eberle 8) 4:54.

Second Period

S- Eeli Tolvanen 19 (Eberle 9, Chandler Stephenson 33) 4:47.

M- Patrick Laine (Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson) PPG, 7:11.

M- Alex Newhook (Laine) 11:21.

M- Juraj Slafkovsky (Cole Caufield, Hutson) 14:04.

Third Period

M- Slafkovsky (Jayden Struble, Nick Suzuki) 7:18.

S- Jani Nyman 1 (Eberle 10, Montour 20) PPG 10:53.

S- Matty Beniers 10 (Vince Dunn 20, Brandon Montour 21) PPG, 17:48..

Overtime

S- Montour 15 (Stephenson 34) 0:04.

Shots on Goal- Montreal 25 (3 with 4), Seattle 35 (Jordan Eberle 4).

Hits- Montreal 23 (Josh Anderson 6), Seattle 17 (Tye Kartye, Jani Nyman, Eeli Tolvanen),

Penalty Minutes- Montreal 8, Seattle 6.

Faceoffs- Montreal 52.8%, Seattle 47.2%.

Blocked Shots- Montreal 17 (David Savard 4), Seattle 9 (Brandon Montour, Cale Fleury 2).

Referees- Cody Beach, Trevor Hansen. Linesmen- Kiel Murchison, Andrew Smith.

Three Stars- 1. Jani Nyman. 2. Jordan Eberle. 3. Brandon Montour.


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