Kraken win in shootout

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The Seattle Kraken won’t make the National Hockey League playoffs this season, but their penultimate game of the campaign was a noteworthy one.

The Kraken and the St. Louis Blues went to seven rounds of a shootout before Chandler Stephenson beat goaltender Jordan Binnington (a star for Canada in the 4Nations tourney) to give the Kraken a 4-3 victory last night at Climate Pledge Arena.

The contest ended when Kraken goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer got a piece of the shot from St. Louis’ seventh shooter Jimmy Snuggerud and deflected the puck wide of the net.

Grubauer’s stop came after Chandler Stephenson notched the game winner when he went wide and beat Binnington to the stick side. Grubauer recorded a big save on Pavel Buchnevich prior to Stephenson’s goal. Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko also scored for Seattle in the shootout.

If this is Grubauer’s final game as a Kraken (Joey Daccord is expected to start the season finale against Los Angeles on Tuesday night) it was a nice win to finish his Seattle career. An original Kraken, Grubauer starred in Seattle’s only playoff series win against Colorado two seasons ago. But the veteran netminder struggled this season and even went down to the AHL for a month to turn his game around (this reporter is guessing that Grubauer will probably be back next season).

``I didn’t want to get too fancy (on the game-winning score),’’ said Stephenson. ``We wanted to get one for Grubi. He’s always been the backbone of this team.’’

“The goal of the guys is to finish the season strong and prove to each other and prove to everybody watching that we can be a good team,” said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma. “And yes, I think that does provide hope for the future.’’.

Since the March trade deadline, the Kraken have played better in wins over playoff bound clubs like Los Angeles and Edmonton. With last night’s victory, the Kraken move to 18-17-5 at home, 35-40-6 overall. The Blues are 43-30-8, but with one standings point and one game remaining, St. Louis leads Calgary by four points for the final Western Conference playoff berth. The Flames have two games remaining.

After a scoreless first period, Jaden Schwartz scoring his team-leading 25th goal. St. Louis defenseman Nick Leddy slid on the ice to block the initial shot, but the rebound came right back to Schwartz who lifted the puck over Binnington into the net.

After the Blues’ Radek Faksa tied the game at 1:06 of the third, what had been a defensive-minded game suddenly exploded with three goals in a little over a minute.

After Michael Eyssimont, acquired at the deadline by the Kraken, made it 2-1, Colton Parayko drove to the net, tying the game for the Blues.

Before Kraken PA announcer Chet Buchanan had a chance to announce that goal, Leddy fired a shot from the point that Grubauer was screened on, giving the Blues their first lead, 3-2.

Shane Wright would tie the game at 9:53. Jamie Oleksiak’s drive hit Wright’s skate as he was driven into the net by a Blues’ defensemen and skipped past Binnington. The officials went to a video review and appeared to make the correct call that Wright made no kicking motion, which would have disallowed the score.

Wright now has 19 goals on the season with a chance to get a milestone 20th goal in the Kraken’s final game against Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

``I always set pretty high expectations for myself so I’m always expecting more and want to push myself to do more and do better always,” said Wright, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 entry draft. “So, obviously, it’s been a great year. I’ve learned a lot about myself and how to play here (in the NHL).”

Scoring Summary

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

S- Jaden Schwartz 25 (Jordan Eberle 16) 3:44.

Third Periof

ST- Radek Faksa (Nathan Walker, Nick Leddy) 1:06.

S- Michael Eyssimont 9 (Tye Kartye 6) 6:44.

ST- Colton Parayko (Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou) 7:21.

ST- Nick Leddy (Zach Bolduc, Matt Josedph) 7:34.

S- Shane Wright 19 (Jamie Oleksiak 12, Kartye 7) 9:53.

Overtime

No scoring.

Shootout

S- Eeli Tolvanen score.

ST- Jake Neighbors score.

S-Jordan Ebele, save.

SJ- Rob Thomas score.

S-Kaapo Kakko score.

ST- Brayden Schenn, hit post.

S- Matty Beniers save.

ST- Zack Bolduc save.

S- Shane Wright save.

SJ- Pavel Buchnevich, save.

S- Jared McCann, save.

ST- Jordan Kyrou, save.

S- Chandler Stephenson, score.

ST- Jimmy Snuggerud, save.

Shots on Goal- St. Louis 23 (Jordan Kyrou 5), Seattle 27 (Brandon Montour, Shane Wright 3).

Hits- St. Louis 25 (Jake Neighbors 6), Seattle 18 (Tye Kartye 6).

Penalty Minutes- St. Louis 4, Seattle 2.

Faceoffs- St. Louis 51.0%. Seattle 49.0%.

Blocked Shots- St. Louis 15 (Colton Parayko 5), Seattle 10 (Matty Beniers 5).

Referees- Graham Skilliter, Jake Brenk. Linesman- Killian McNamara, Joe Maher.

Three Stars- 1. Chandler Stephenson 2. Shane Wright 3. Tye Kartye. 

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