After being swept by the San Jose Sharks in back-to-back games earlier this season, the Seattle Kraken made sure history wouldn’t repeat itself, dominating their divisional rivals in a 6-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena. It was a complete team effort, with the second line leading the way and Brandon Montour coming just one goal shy of his second hat trick of the season.
Seattle wasted no time setting the tone as Chandler Stephenson broke free for a breakaway just under four minutes into the game, calmly burying his shot to put the Kraken ahead 1-0. However, a chaotic defensive play later in the first saw the puck take an unfortunate bounce off Shane Wright’s skate and into Seattle’s net, allowing Carl Grundstrom to tie things up for the Sharks.
If the first period was evenly matched, the second was all Seattle. Just over two minutes into the frame, Oliver Bjorkstrand cashed in on a favorable bounce off Chandler Stephenson’s skate to restore the Kraken’s lead. From there, the floodgates opened. Montour ripped home his first of the night just 51 seconds later, and moments later, Jaden Schwartz added a short-handed goal to extend the lead to 4-1, ending Sharks goalie Yaroslav Askarov’s night. Montour would strike again before the period ended, this time on the power play, putting Seattle in firm control heading into the third.
The Sharks got one back in the final frame, with Tyler Toffoli finding the net off a feed from Macklin Celebrini, but Eeli Tolvanen quickly answered with his 15th goal of the season, sealing the victory for Seattle.
While the Kraken’s offense stole the show, Joey Daccord continued his strong play in net, stopping 26 of 28 shots for a .929 save percentage. Meanwhile, Stephenson delivered one of his best performances of the season, tallying a goal and two assists, including a power-play helper.
With their five-game homestand continuing, this was exactly the kind of response Seattle needed after their previous struggles against San Jose. They’ll look to build on this momentum in their next matchup.