Ryan Donato broke a scoreless tie early in the third period against his former team, and the Seattle Kraken beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Donato scored after knocking a rebound off Sharks defenseman Radim Simek’s skate and past goalie James Reimer. Donato, who played for San Jose last season before leaving as a free agent, was pleased to score against his old team.
“Obviously, it’s nice to do it against an old team and that stuff,” Donato said. “It was a blessing that somehow it bounced off a couple of things and went into the net. I’m happy it went that way.”
Brandon Tanev added a crucial insurance goal, and Logan Couture finally got the Sharks on the board with the San Jose net empty, scoring with 2:07 left to play.
Seattle’s goalie, Chris Driedger, made 33 saves to help snap a three-game losing streak, with defenseman Adam Larsson making a critical stop in the second period on Matt Nieto.
“I just felt confident,” Driedger said. “I thought we just locked it down. I can’t recall many odd-man rushes. … I thought we just locked it down really well. We only had one penalty kill. It was just an all-around great team effort. Nights like that will be easier to stop the puck.”
Calle Jarnkrok sealed the victory with an empty-net goal.
Reimer made 27 saves for San Jose, which fell to 2-2 during a seven-game homestand, the longest of the season for the Sharks.
“It seemed like the first one was going to win the game,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “But the thing that’s probably disappointing the most is they got the 1-0. We’ve got to keep it 1-0 and try to get that game to 1-1 to get to overtime. We can’t give up the second one, and we did. It was a frustrating game. We know they work hard, and they have a balanced lineup. We couldn’t generate enough.”
Both teams struggled to generate good scoring chances in the first two periods, with most of the 38 shots coming from low-danger areas and neither goalie conceding.
The Sharks had the only power play but struggled to maintain offensive zone pressure, allowing the Kraken to easily kill the penalty.
“I think early on we were a little too cute,” Sharks forward Timo Meier said. “I tried too much to make some passes cross-ice, and that’s not how we score goals. I think it has to be more of a straight line and more pucks and bodies there.”
The best chance of the early game came in the second period when Nieto found himself with an open net, only to have Larsson block the shot on the goal line.
“That was the save of the year,” Driedger said. “It’s always nice when one gets past you to have your D bail you out there.”
HOMECOMING
The Kraken began the game with a line of former Sharks players, with Alexander True centering Donato and Joonas Donskoi. True was selected by Seattle in the expansion draft, while Donato and Donskoi signed as free agents.
STEPH SHOUTOUT
The loudest applause in a first period that didn’t see many scoring chances came during a stoppage of play when the video board showed Stephen Curry’s record-breaking 3-pointer. Curry hit his 2,974th 3-pointer on Tuesday in the first quarter of the Golden State Warriors’ game against the New York Knicks, breaking Ray Allen’s record.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Visit Anaheim on Wednesday.
- Sharks: Host Vancouver on Thursday night.
