Kraken end losing streak

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The Seattle Kraken provided their fans with an early Christmas present last night- the Kraken defeated the San Jose Sharks, 4-2, the teams' first regulation win since November 20.

The Kraken got two third-period goals from unlikely sources- defensive-minded defenseman Ryker Evans and Ryan Lindgren (his first Kraken goal)- and then Chandler Stephenson added an empty-netter to ice the victory.

Seattle improves its record to 13-14-6. Although the Kraken reside at the bottom of the Pacific Division, the teams are bunched together. Seattle also has played two/three fewer games than the rest of the division and have several divisional games coming up. Currently Seattle’s five points behind the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Joey Daccord was once again a standout in the Kraken net. After stopping 42 shots against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night (a 4-2 loss) Daccord got the nod in the Kraken net. The Kraken netminder got some retribution. He may have had his worse game of the season against the Sharks, a 6-1 loss on November 15.

`(Daccord) was good when we needed him to be good,’’ said Kraken coach Lane Lambert.

After a scoreless first period, Eeli Tolvanen gave Seattle the lead at 6:52 of the second period. Tolvanen came away from a scrum at the blue line and came in on a breakaway. While Tolvanen lost his balance for a second, he regrouped and flicked a hard wrist shot past San Jose netminder Yaraslov Askarov.

The Sharks would tie the game five minutes later when Adam Gaudette tipped in a shot on a scramble in front. The Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini picked up his 36th assist of the season on the play.

San Jose took a brief 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the final period when Collin Graf took the puck away from Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn. But Seattle would respond 1:19 later, when Ryker Evans fired one home from the blue line for his third goal of the season.

Sharks’ rookie defenseman Shakir Mukhammadullin appeared to screen Askarov on the goal. Mukhammadullin had a rough period as Lindgren’s shot appeared to hit off the defenseman’s skate, changing direction and finding its way into the net.

Chandler Stephenson finished things off with an empty netter set up by Tolvanen. It was the Kraken’s first win in four games as they earned an overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings last week.

``There was a lot of commitment,’’ said Lambert after the game. ``We spent some time in our zone in the second period, but we had a lot of commitment, a lot of blocked shots. I thought that we stuck with it even when we went down in the third. It was total, total team effort."

The Sharks drop to 17-16-3, a respectable record considering the team began the season at 0-2-3.

Before the Christmas break, the Kraken have back-to-back games on Monday and Tuesday at Anaheim and Los Angeles respectively.

KRAKEN TRADE MARCHMENT TO COLUMBUS

After Thursday night’s game at Calgary, the Kraken traded Forward Mason Marchment to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 2026 fourth round pick, as well as a 2027 second round pick. The Kraken do not retain any salary in this deal.

Seattle comes out ahead as they traded a 2025 4th-round draft pick (126th overall) and a 3rd in 2026 to Dallas for Marchment in June. Marchment, who was expected to give the Kraken an offensive boost had only four goals in 29 games.

The Kraken also lost Brandon Montour, who’s probably been their best defenseman this season, when he pulled Colorado’s Josh Manson off Marchment in a fight, and fell to the ice heavily. Montour’s currently day-to-day.

First Period

No scoring.

Second Period

S- Eeli Tolvanen 5 (unassisted) 5:32.

SJ- Adam Gaudette (Igor Chernykov, Macklin Celebrini) PPG. 11:32.

Third Period

SJ- Collin Graf (unassisted) 1:55.

Second Period

S- Eeli Tolvanen 5 (unassisted) 6:52.

SJ- Adam Gaudette (Igor Chernyshov, Macklin Celebrini) PPG, 11:21.

Third Period

SJ- Collin Graf (unassisted) :36.

S- Ryker Evans 3 (unassisted) 1:55.

S- Ryan Lindgren 1 (Chandler Stephenson 12, Frederick Guadreau 5) 4:27.

S- Stephenson 9 (Tolvanen 14, Daccord 2) EN, 18:36.

Saves- S: Joey Daccord 34 of 36. SJ: Yaroslav Askarov 32 of 35.

Three Stars- 1. Joey Daccord 2. Collin Graf, SJ. 3. Chandler Stephenson


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