Thursday night's matchup with top-tier Eastern Conference foe New Jersey was exactly the kind of game Kraken coach Dave Hakstol knows will be plentiful during what is undeniably a Seattle run at a postseason spot in just its second season. He's said it more than few times in media scrums: His team has to be prepared to play and win a lot of 3-2 games. It all came down to protecting a slim one-goal lead over the final 20 minutes.
The litmus test result unfolded shift by shift, close calls by just-missed chances, big save matching big save. An early Devils penalty in the third period provided hope to stretch the lead to two goals but instead backfired like a car needing a new fuel pump when New Jersey veteran forward Erik Haula outskated everybody to backhand a game-tying shorthanded goal.
But instead of dread, Kraken alternate captain Yanni Gourde did what two-time Stanley Cup winners do. He won a puck battle behind the New Jersey net and moved the puck net front to - is anyone surprised if you watch the first two periods? - Ryan Donato , who had scored the first two goals of the night. Understandably, Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood took a potential Donato hat trick seriously.
But instead, Donato shoveled the puck to Brandon Tanev on the other side of the NJD crease. One shift earlier, Tanev couldn't connect on redirecting an impressive net-front pass from center Morgan Geekie . Tanev didn't miss this time, scoring his ninth goal of this season that now has the Kraken in first place in the Pacific Division. Kraken go up 3-2, bedlam followed.
Video: NJD@SEA: Tanev taps in a pass in front of the net
Seattle clung to the one-goal margin for most of the final period, but road-worthy New Jersey did not play weary in the final period of a five-game, 12-night road trip. Two No. 1 overall NHL Draft picks with Nico Hischier (2017) scoring and Jack Hughes (2019) getting the assist to quiet the crowd with just 1:14 remaining.
So a 3-2 victory was out and overtime beckoned. Just over a minute into OT, Kraken leading scorer Andre Burakovsky circled the offensive zone to position for a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. His shot sailed past Blackwood, who effectively earned his team a standings point. D-man Vince Dunn earned the assist on the overtime winner to extend his franchise-record point streak to nine games. More bedlam and no doubt Dave Hakstol was happy to take the two points in a 4-3 tight-game win.
Video: NJD@SEA: Burakovsky scores in OT
"It's about close games, right?," said Hakstol after the win. "You have to be able to respond and we were able to do that tonight. Every game you're gonna go back and look at things you want to do differently and a little bit better. We'll do that again tonight. But overall, this is a good performance, an important two points for us and our guys should feel good. Everybody contributed to the win."
Hakstol liked how his team started the game and kept the pedal to the metal throughout:
"I thought we played quick again tonight. We had our energy back, physically and mentally we were on it. You could feel that right from the start of the hockey game."
The Kraken bounced back from two losses after a flawless seven-game road trip. Martin Jones picked up his 22nd victory of the season, making 26 saves. The Kraken are now 27-14-4 with 58 standings points in 45 games. Vegas has 58 points, too, but the Kraken have a game in hand and own a .944 winning percentage compared to Vegas' .930.
Andre Burakovsky played the hero in the final round of this heavyweight fight of a game, scoring the game-winner and saving significant Kraken fan and player grief for losing in OT despite notching 40 shots on goal, including 15 Grade-A chances.
But in the second period when Burakovsky lost a puck at center ice on the wall, basically heading up ice before he fully secured the puck, the Kraken forward gave New Jersey an opportunity to score. The Devils and defenseman Damon Severson took advantage to make it 2-1. It was just the sort of ineffective wall play that Hakstol said after Tuesday's loss in Edmonton needed to be cleaned up. He brought it up in an otherwise glowing evaluation-not Burkovsky by name but more to point out that those wall plays can lead to good and bad.
The Kraken built a two-goal lead here at noisy Climate Pledge Arena Thursday in the opener of a five-game homestand, fueled by Ryan Donato's always-ready willingness to play on any Kraken forward line. Donato, who skated on the fourth line Tuesday in Edmonton, scored his ninth goal of the season in the first period with second-line center Alex Wennberg as a decoy. Then Donato, taking a pass from second-line winger Jared McCann , made it 2-0 early in the middle period.
The second goal was started by an Alex Wennberg faceoff that was chased down by D-man Cale Fleury (suiting up for his first game since Dec. 15). The 24-year-old right-handed Fleury expertly moved the puck up the sidewall to McCann, who stepped left past an attempted check at the blue line to race up ice, slipping the puck to Donato once in the offensive zone and then skating to the slot to force Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to anticipate Donato might pass rather than shoot.
Video: NJD@SEA: Donato fires home his second of the game
It was another heads-up shift from the second line on this night and it should be noted McCann was busy all night getting his stick in the way of Devils' breakouts. Fleury, smiling at the memory in a second-intermission interview with ROOT SPORTS' Piper Shaw, notched the first-ever NHL assist to accompany his one goal in 57 appearances between Seattle and Montreal.
But New Jersey didn't arrive in Seattle as the NHL's best road team with 18 wins to fade away. Defenseman Damon Severson scored his fourth goal of the season to halve the lead. Both goalies, Seattle's Martin Jones, and the Devils' Mackenzie Blackwood, buttoned down the remaining eight-plus minutes of the second 20 minutes - despite significant Kraken pressure in the offensive zone - to set up a final period that affords an advanced look for the home crowd at what playoff hockey might just be like.
The second period concluded with 29 total shots for Seattle (12 Grade-A scoring chances) and 22 shots for the visitors (seven Grade-A chances, per Natural Stat Trick).
The Kraken controlled the early tempo with 10 shots in the first 12 and a half minutes, including three Grade-A scoring chances. Three of those 10 shots were off the stick of red-hot Vince Dunn. But Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood stopped them all.
On Seattle's 11th shot on goal, Ryan Donato took a stretch pass that banked off the boards from D-man Will Borgen , then gathered the puck to shoot deep-angle in the New Jersey zone. Donato's decision to shoot the puck rather than slip a pass to nearby linemate Alex Wennberg paid big dividends. Donato wired his up and over Blackwood to make it 1-0 Seattle.
Video: NJD@SEA: Donato fires home a beautiful shot
Donato moved up two lines from Tuesday in Edmonton, playing with second-liners Jared McCann and Wennberg (who smartly worked as a decoy on the opening goal, leaving Mackenzie to have to consider Wennberg might end up the puck). Donato notched two primary assists on McCann's hat trick in the Chicago 8-5 win last Saturday. Good move to reunite the two wingers.
With Justin Schultz out of uniform Thursday (Dave Hakstol promised an injury update Friday), Will Borgen moved up a defensive pairing to play top-four minutes with Jamie Oleksiak . SEA coaches clearly are trusting more in Borgen's responsible play on defense, and there's no denying his skating skills and offensive touch, plus a welcome propensity to put pucks on net when given the opportunity. He's already achieved a season-high for assists (10).
On the Donato scoring sequence, Borgen hustled back on defense to disrupt a Devils rush up ice. Then he retrieved the loose to get it up ice before New Jersey could do much except keep Donato to the outside, which didn't work.
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