After a sluggish start, Carson Soucy and the Seattle Kraken bounced back to claim their first win streak in nearly two months.
Soucy scored twice, marking the first two-goal game of his career, and Calle Jarnkrok added a crucial third-period goal as the Kraken defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Thursday night.
Seattle overcame a rough beginning, conceding Tomas Hertl’s 21st goal of the season just 38 seconds into the game. The Kraken, an expansion team, notched consecutive wins for the first time since November 27 and 29 against Florida and Buffalo. This victory followed their shootout win over Chicago on Monday, which ended a nine-game losing streak.
“It’s frustrating to start slow after a win in the last game, but we looked at ourselves and knew that kind of start was unacceptable,” Soucy said.
Soucy found the net at 4:18 and 8:25 of the second period, while Jarnkrok scored what proved to be the game-winner at 6:27 of the third period.
The Kraken won both matchups against the Sharks in their inaugural season.
“I give our guys a lot of credit for stepping up in the second and third periods and finding a way to get it done even when we weren’t at our best,” said Seattle coach Dave Hakstol.
Fresh off a franchise-record five-goal game for San Jose, Timo Meier scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to bring the Sharks within one.
San Jose had several opportunities in the third period, spending much of it on the power play, but couldn’t find the equalizer. Seattle successfully killed two penalties after Meier’s goal, and despite a late power play with 1:07 left, the Sharks couldn’t capitalize on a 6-on-4 advantage after pulling goalie Adin Hill.
“We started strong and took the lead, but after the first period, we stopped playing,” Hertl said. “They took control, managed the game better, and we couldn’t recover. It’s a tough loss, especially with what’s coming up before the break.”
Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves in one of his stronger performances, turning away several dangerous chances from the Sharks. His best save was a glove stop on a breakaway by Meier early in the second period.
Hill finished with 16 saves for the Sharks.
Soucy’s first goal was his first since December 18, evening the score after a sustained period of San Jose pressure. His second goal, a wrist shot, gave Seattle a 2-1 lead less than two minutes after a potential go-ahead goal by Ryan Donato was overturned on an offside review.
Jarnkrok extended the lead to 3-1 with his 100th career goal, finishing off a great pass from Morgan Geekie behind the net.
“We started flat, but we recognized it and took the opportunity to shift the momentum,” Donato said.
Grubauer also got some help from the posts. Erik Karlsson hit the post on an open-net chance in the first period, and Logan Couture’s deflection during a second-period power play also struck the post.
Game Notes
Mark Giordano received a major penalty for fighting in the second period after dropping the gloves with San Jose’s Adam Raska, his first fighting major since 2018. … Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was out due to a non-COVID-19 related illness. … Morgan Geekie was activated off injured reserve after missing four games with an upper-body injury, and Alexander True was returned to Seattle’s taxi squad. … San Jose forward Alexander Barabanov recorded an assist on Hall’s goal in his first game back from COVID-19 protocol.
UP NEXT
- Sharks: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
- Kraken: Host the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.
