It appeared Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers would remain stuck at 199 career points for the fifth straight game. But in the waning minutes of regulation Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lighting, Beniers’ redirection secured a point for Seattle. Tampa dominated the OT at Benchmark International Arena, eventually winning 4-3 on an outstanding individual effort by Bolts D-man and captain Victor Hedman.
The loss is the first for Seattle (5-2-1) in the initial four games of their current five-game road trip. The Kraken played much of the match without defenseman Brandon Montour, ruled out with a lower-body injury.
Reminiscent of the shooting gallery Philipp Grubauer (31 saves) faced in Detroit to start the trip, the Lightning peppered the goalie with 21 shots in the first 24 minutes. Tampa’s Brandon Hagel, who’s hotter than Florida summers, scored on two of those in the 1st and 2nd periods and already has six goals on the season. Grubauer made a pair of 10-bell stops in overtime to deny Hagel a hat trick.
Seattle’s Ryan Winterton scored the opening goal of the game at the 5:43 mark of the 1st period, with what was already the winger’s third shot on goal. Kraken veterans got it done on a 3rd period power play to tie the game 2-2. Captain Jordan Eberle slid a cross-crease pass underneath a diving Ryan McDonagh to Jared McCann, who tapped it home.
1st Period Goals
1-0 Seattle: 4th line speed & pressure strikes again, as Freddy Gaudreau forced a turnover behind the Tampa net. With Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy looking to his left to find the puck, Winterton, to his right, tucked the biscuit into the unguarded net.
1-1 Tie: Hagel converts his own rebound.
2nd Period Goals
2-1 Tampa Bay: Hagel again, a dart past Grubauer’s glove as the Kraken D backed in too far.
3rd Period Goals
2-2 Tie: 3rd time’s the charm for the Kraken power play, as McCann scores just seven seconds into the man advantage.
3-2 Tampa Bay: Seattle defenseman Ville Ottavainen knows better than to take a contested puck through the crease. But that’s what he did. Ilya Mikheyev reached through a tangle of sticks and legs to score his 100th NHL goal with 9:58 left.
3-3 Tie: Vince Dunn’s blueline blast is deflected by Beniers with 4:19 remaining.
Overtime
4-3 Tampa: Hedman weaves through all three Kraken in their own zone, avoids Grubauer’s poke-check, and pushes the winning goal through the five-hole.
Kraken Notables
Shane Wright had two grade-A chances, but goalie Vasilevskiy (24 saves) stoned him twice from point-blank range.
The multi-talented Hagel also starred on the Lightning PK, helping to kill two Kraken 2nd period power plays. Partly because of those kills, after registering their 21st shot, Tampa only added one more over the next 11 minutes.
The Kraken entered the game as a top ten team both in offense (3rd) and defense (8th).
For the second time in five days, a Kraken game was being contested at the same time as a Seattle Seahawks NFL game.
Former Kraken favorite Yanni Gourde missed the game for Tampa Bay with a hip injury.
By The Numbers
Goals by period: Tampa Bay 1-1-1-1 (4); Seattle 1-0-2-0 (3)
Shots by period: Tampa Bay 16-10-6-3 (35); Seattle 10-10-6-1 (27)
Power Plays: Tampa Bay 0-3; Seattle 1-3
Next up: The Kraken travel cross-state to conclude their five game road trip in Sunrise, Fla. Saturday against the Panthers at 3 pm pacific time.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Still Perfect On Roadie, Beat Flyers 3-2 in Shoot-out
Earlier Canucks:
— Close But No Cigar; Canucks Lose 4th Straight On Road Trip
KRAKEN REACTION! – Postgame Video …
