Kraken hold off visiting Sharks for their second close victory this week
Seattle Times
SEATTLE – Plenty of talk after the Kraken’s losing streak was snapped this week centered around the team’s ability to keep pushing back.
They had lots of practice at that again Thursday night after yielding a goal to the San Jose Sharks just 38 seconds in and barely managing to avoid giving up another.
But the key to this 3-2 win was again the Kraken’s ability to hang in and push back until some of their shots found the back of the net. Defenseman Carson Soucy scored a pair of goals just 4 minutes apart to thrust the Kraken into an unlikely lead, given how most of the night had gone. The two goals by Soucy, giving him a team-high six among defenders, came as part of a Kraken onslaught out of nowhere that suddenly had the Sharks hanging on for dear life.
Calle Jarnkrok added an insurance marker at 6:27 of the third period, the 100th goal of his NHL career. Morgan Geekie did some strong work behind the net, then found Jarnkrok in the high slot for the one-timed goal.
Jarnkrok now has four goals and four assists in his past nine contests. His goal was needed as the Sharks drew back within one at the 9:37 mark when Timo Maier scored his sixth goal this week on the power play. Maier had been left all alone in the right faceoff circle where he wristed home a Logan Couture pass.
Mason Appleton took a hooking penalty with 1:07 to go and the Sharks pulled the goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage. But the Kraken hung on, marking the first time the 12-23-4 team has notched consecutive wins since defeating Florida and Buffalo in late November.
Between the two Soucy tallies, Ryan Donato also appeared to score another rebound goal only to have it waved off when video review determined the play offside. Then, right after Soucy put the Kraken ahead at the 8:25 mark of the period – corralling a loose puck off an Alex Wennberg-forced turnover and firing it through traffic from the high slot – Mark Giordano hit the post cleanly from the point a few minutes later.
It was a bizarre turn of events for a Kraken team that had spent much of the first period-plus on its heels after Wennberg gave the puck away in the opening minute and it went right to Tomas Hertl for an easy snap shot into a partially vacated net. But that would be the last easy one the Sharks would get on Philipp Grubauer, who repeatedly denied San Jose’s bid to go up by two.
Grubauer also had a bit of luck as a pinpoint pass to Erik Karlsson at the goalmouth wound up hitting the post but staying out. The Sharks then started the second period off with a number of close-in chances, highlighted by a Maier breakaway chance.
Maier made headlines earlier in the week by scoring a franchise record five goals in a win over the Los Angeles Kings. But Grubauer whipped out his glove and snagged a Maier wristshot before it could find the net.
It was moments later that the momentum began swinging. Soucy took a pass from Mark Giordano in the right faceoff circle and fired a wristshot through a screen with Riley Sheahan creating a jam in front of Sharks goalie Adin Hill.