In the National Hockey League, a player can’t legally kick a puck into the net. But players are hit in the skates and everywhere else by the puck, especially in front of the net. That was the case with the Seattle Kraken’s Brandon Tanev last night. Twice in the third period of Seattle’s game with the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, a puck ricochet off Tanev’s skate and moments later the Kraken scored, en route to a 3-2 victory.
Tanev himself got the game-winner as the Kraken, for the first time in their history, won their fourth consecutive game and finish the week with a 3-0 road trip. Seattle improves to 7-4-1 on the season, good for second place in the Pacific Division behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
Martin Jones for the third consecutive game was a standout between the pipes for the Kraken. He stopped 35 of 37 shots – a season’s high in saves. Jones stopped 31 of 32 Penguin shots exactly one week ago at Climate Pledge Arena. In his last three games he’s stopped 88 of 91 shots – a goals against an average of .968.
“Great for me,” said Tanev of his game-winning goal. “But I think it’s more important that the team got all six points on this road trip. That’s the mindset and the goal we had setting out to this road trip and the three games we played. We beat three good teams. That’s the idea.”
Tanev added that the team feeds off the play of its goalkeepers. While Jones had two of the three road victories, Joey Daccord, replacing the injured Philipp Grubauer on the roster, played well in the Kraken’s come-from-behind victory over the Calgary Flames last Tuesday.
“Our goaltending has been really good throughout this road trip,” said Coach Dave Hakstol added. “It started with Joey in Calgary, and Jonesy picked up right where he left off from his home performance a week ago. You have to have that in order to have success on the road, especially in a game like this. His performance is critical for us.”
Hakstol has said that a goaltender has to stop every shot that he should and make two saves on shots that he shouldn’t in every game. In last night’s contest, according to the MoneyPuck.com website, Pittsburgh should have scored three or four goals. Smith wrapped things up with a point blank save on the Penguins’ Bryan Rust in the final minute.
Pittsburgh, winless in its previous six games, carried the play in the first period outshooting the Kraken, 13-8, but the teams reached the intermission in a scoreless tie. The Penguins opened the scoring at 5:24 of the second period when Jake Guentzel dropped a pass to Sidney Crosby who fired a one-timer into the net. However, Vince Dunn tied the game two minutes later with a drive from the left point that beat Penguins’ netminder Tristan Jarry.
Yanni Gourde gave the Kraken their first lead in the third period. Gourde passed to Morgan Geekie along the left-wing boards. Geekie’s centering pass went off Tanev’s skate but went right to Gourde who scored.
In the truth is stranger than fiction department, with the score tied 2-2, Geekie’s drive from the point again hit Tanev’s skate and went to Gourde standing to the right of the net. He fed Tanev with a pass and the Kraken winger sent it home from directly in front of the net. The goal came after Pittsburgh had dominated play since Gourde’s goal.
The Penguins had tied the game at 9:51. Guentzel tried to center a pass to Rust in front but the puck hit the stick of Seattle’s Matty Beniers, who turned 20 yesterday, and into the net. Crosby, a future Hall-of-Famer assisted on the goal. `Sid The Kid,’ now has 523 goals and 900 assists in his NHL career.
“This group is pretty tight,” said Hakstol. “There was never a point in the hockey game where you saw our group was rattled or coming apart in any way shape, or form. Guys are calm, guys are looking at what they can do next shift. That’s a pretty significant sign,” said Hakstol.
“We’re playing as a team, and it’s really fun to play that way,” said Gourde. “All four lines, all six defensemen, Jones has been unbelievable in net, so it’s been really team wins since the beginning of the year.”
The Kraken now return to Seattle for their longest homestand of the year starting on Tuesday night when they host the Nashville Predators (5-6-1). The Predators won a shootout in Vancouver, last night, 4-3.
GAME NOTES
- The Kraken have killed their last 11 penalties. Seattle’s Shane Wright picked up a penalty at 1:36 of the first period, but the Kraken, mostly with Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn on the ice, held the Penguins without a shot. The old saying in hockey is that your goaltender is your best penalty killer. Seattle’s Jordan Eberle was called for a penalty at 7:22 and Smith made four saves. Seattle went into last night’s game fifth in the league on the power play, but were scoreless in three attempts.
- Jared McCann, who like Tanev was a regular on the Pens before being drafted by the Kraken, was scratched from the lineup with an injury for the second game in a row. Wright replaced McCann on a line with Tanev and Gourde but was replaced on the line by Morgan Geekie in the third period. The Tanev-Gourde-Geekie trio accounted for two third period goals.
- The Kraken are 3-1 overall against the Penguins and 2-0 at PPG Paints Arena. The Pens, a perennial playoff team, have gone 0-6-1 in their last seven games. They did get one point in an overtime loss to the Boston Bruins, but that may have been their most frustrating game. Pittsburgh led 5-2 and surrendered the tying goal with a minute left. The Bruins won in overtime, despite the Penguins having a power play in the OT.
- The Kraken will begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday night. The final game of the homestand comes on Nov. 23 against the San Jose Sharks, the night before Thanksgiving. While it seemed the Kraken were playing every other night in October, they’ll twice get three days off between games on the upcoming homestand.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Period
No scoring.
Second Period
P- Sidney Crosby (Jake Guentzel, Kris Letang) 5:24. S- Vince Dunn (Yanni Gourde) 7:48.
Third Period
S- Gourde (Tanev, Morgan Geekie) 7:48. P- Guentzel (Crosby, Kris Letang) 9:51. S- Tanev (Gourde, Geekie) 16:21.
Shots on Goal- Seattle 28, Pittsburgh 37.
Penalty Minutes- Seattle 6, Pittsburgh 6
Referees- Frederic L’Ecuyer, Conor O’Donnell. Linesman- Steve Barton, Julian Fournier.
Three Stars- 1. Brandon Tanev, S 2. Yanni Gourde,.S 3. Jake Guentzel P.
