Seattle Kraken cruise past Montreal 5-1 for first home win
Seven minutes into the second period, Yanni Gourde gave the Seattle Kraken their first two-goal lead of the season. Two minutes later — thanks to Brandon Tanev’s team-high fifth goal — that two-goal lead turns into three.
Heading in to Tuesday’s 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, only one of Seattle’s six games had been decided by more than two goals. Three had been one-goal games, the lone win a 2-1 victory in overtime. The Kraken have experiened a close win and tight losses. They suffered a lopsided defeat to Philadelphia. But until Tuesday, they hadn’t managed a comfortable victory of their own.
That changed against Montreal. Seattle left little doubt while earning its first home win in franchise history.
“I think we just kept our foot on the gas,” said forward Ryan Donato. “Personally, I think there were times where we have the lead and we wanted to win so badly that we kind of just sit back and worry about defense when we know we can still play offense and keep the pressure down there and not let up on them. I think that’s what we did (on Tueesday).”
It started with Jordan Eberle, who just spoke with the media on Monday about his season-opening scoring drought. Through six games, Eberle had two assists and no goals. As he put it: “The chances are there but you get paid to score.”
A day later, Eberle did just that — and it didn’t take him long. Just 62 seconds in, Eberle scored his first goal of the season to put the Kraken up 1-0.
“We got off to a good start, which always helps in your home building to build some momentum, especially with the crowd we have behind us,” Hakstol said. “It was a good start. We were able to complete a pretty good first period. The big difference tonight, compared to a couple nights ago, is we were able to build on that lead and get a little bit of breathing room.”
Midway through the first period, Mike Hoffman scored on a rebound for Montreal to tie the game. It looked for a moment like the Kraken were in for another close contest. After scoring the first goal against Vancouver on Saturday, Seattle lost 4-2.
But Tanev had the answer on Tuesday, putting the Kraken back up on a deflection with 5 minutes remaining in the first. The second period gave Seattle a cushion as Gourde and Tanev scored their back-to-back goals.
Unlike previous games — most recently against the Canucks — the Kraken didn’t fade in the third period. Instead, they expanded their advantage on a Donato goal with remaining and and didn’t allow the Canadiens to get back on the board.
After opening the Climate Pledge on Saturday, Eberle said some of the pressure eased in the second home game.
“There’s a lot of anxiety and you feel the big game — the first-ever game in this building,” he said. “So with that out of the way, I think the boys felt a little bit at ease. Knowing that we had a good practice here (Monday), you get used to the building and that will work to our advantage.”
While the Kraken get comfortable in their home arena, they’re also still learning how to play together. As that chemistry develops, Tanev said, the results will show on the ice.
“As we play more games together … there’s gonna be some familiarity, there’s gonna be some confidence, there’s gonna be some trust in one another,” Tanev said. “I think we’ve seen that over the course of the past two games.”
While his teammates were putting up a scoring-high for the season, goalie Philipp Grubauer matched them with an exceptional performance in the net. He finished with 19 saves.
“Big saves at the right time,” Hakstol said. “It’s about the situation, you know. It’s not always about the volume. When you look at the job that (Grubauer) did tonight, he did his job and he did it well.”
Seattle will play two more home games — Minnesota on Thursday and New York on Saturday — before heading back out on the road.
“I think over time, we learn from mistakes,” Grubauer said. “I think it’s still going to be a process, but I think we were picking up the smaller details that, in the end, they make a huge difference. Overall, we came out of the gate (against Montreal) and played a full 60 minutes. I don’t think there were too many times where we sat back and let them dominate the game.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2021 at 10:23 PM.
