Jaden Schwartz scored a goal and added three assists, propelling the Seattle Kraken to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday night, snapping a six-game losing streak.
Calle Jarnkrok and Yanni Gourde each contributed a goal and an assist, with Schwartz reaching 401 career points in Seattle’s first win since Nov. 4.
“Maybe it’s because we’re just tired of losing games,” Jarnkrok said when asked about the team’s improved performance.
“We came together as a group and discussed how we need to play,” he added. “We went out there today and executed. But we have to play like this every game.”
Jared McCann and Adam Larsson also found the back of the net for Seattle, while Philipp Grubauer made 37 saves.
Washington came into the game on a 6-0-1 run and took an early 1-0 lead just 3 1/2 minutes in, courtesy of a slapshot from Tom Wilson. However, playing on back-to-back nights, the Capitals seemed to lose steam as the Kraken took control during a dominant three-goal second period.
“The game slipped away from us in about four minutes,” Capitals center Nic Dowd said. “After that, I thought we actually played really well and controlled the game. We had something like 20 shots in the third period. We could win if we hadn’t let it slip early.”
Alex Ovechkin added his 15th goal of the season for Washington, with Wilson assisting on the play.
The Kraken tied the game late in the first period while Evgeny Kuznetsov was in the box for holding. Schwartz, a constant threat with five shots and high energy in the first two periods, sent a close-range shot off Vitek Vanecek’s stick, and McCann backhanded the rebound into the net at 15:58. Morgan Geekie also earned an assist.
Seattle has now scored at least one power-play goal in four consecutive games.
Schwartz gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead at 6:17 in the second period, cleaning up Carson Soucy’s redirected shot. It was the Kraken’s first lead in more than 266 minutes.
Larsson extended the lead to 3-1 just 43 seconds later, capitalizing on a breakaway with a slapshot after a pass from Gourde and Jarnkrok.
Schwartz made an impact later in the period, stealing the puck at the defensive blue line and passing ahead to Jarnkrok, who beat his defender and scored from the left faceoff circle with about six minutes remaining. Schwartz’s final assist came when Gourde sealed the game with an empty-net goal.
“Schwartzie is really good down below the circles in the offensive zone, and you saw him in his element tonight,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “He produced and had a really strong offensive night.”
Vanecek made 26 saves on 30 shots in his third-season loss.
Game Notes
Capitals forward Conor Sheary (upper-body injury) and T.J. Oshie (lower-body injury) were sidelined and are listed as day-to-day after both played Saturday in San Jose. Sheary, who scored two goals against the Sharks, was scratched after warmups. Oshie, who was born in nearby Everett, had been out since Oct. 27 before returning for Saturday’s game. Washington recalled forward Brett Leason from Hershey of the AHL and reassigned forward Garrett Pilon. Leason, who debuted on Oct. 29, has three points in 10 games for the Capitals this season. McCann has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 13 games.
UP NEXT
- Capitals: Host Montreal on Wednesday.
- Kraken: Host Carolina on Wednesday.
