The Seattle Kraken secured a rare road victory and made franchise history.
Adam Larsson scored 1:17 into overtime to give the Kraken their first-ever overtime win, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Thursday night.
“It’s a satisfying win and one we worked hard for,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “Our game stayed consistent from the start through to the winning goal in overtime.”
Jared McCann scored the tying goal with 3:56 left in regulation against his former team, forcing the game into overtime.
Larsson, who scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, sealed the victory in the extra period, giving Seattle their fourth win in six games following a nine-game losing streak.
Seattle earned just its fifth road win of the season, improving to 5-11-2 away from home. Its previous road win came on December 14 at San Jose, and it had lost four straight away games since then.
Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves, helping the Kraken snap Pittsburgh’s six-game winning streak.
“Great effort by everyone,” Grubauer said. “We didn’t give them too many chances and played tight, not giving them much room to make plays. Even after we gave up that goal, we stayed focused and bounced back.”
Evgeni Malkin scored his fourth goal of the season, a power-play tally at 8:41 of the third period, but the Penguins saw their season-best eight-game home winning streak come to an end. Tristan Jarry made 27 saves for Pittsburgh, still winning 17 of its last 20 games overall.
“In the third period, we beat ourselves,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “We started playing a high-risk game, and it’s hard to win consistently when you do that.”
McCann tied the game at 16:04 of the third, deflecting Vince Dunn’s point shot past Jarry. McCann, who played parts of three seasons with Pittsburgh, was traded to Toronto during the 2021 offseason before being selected by Seattle in the expansion draft. He leads the Kraken in points and is just two goals shy of matching his career high.
“I’m really grateful to this organization for giving me a chance to play,” McCann said. “They’ve revived my career.”
The first two periods remained scoreless, with Pittsburgh holding a 20-9 shot advantage, including an 11-2 edge in the second period. Seattle went nearly 17 minutes without a shot, spanning the end of the first and the start of the second period.
Grubauer made a crucial sliding pad save on Jeff Carter during a 2-on-1 with Evan Rodrigues. Later in the period, Pittsburgh pressured with a prolonged even-strength shift that resembled a power play, but they couldn’t convert.
The Kraken turned things around, outshooting Pittsburgh 18-4 in the third period and 2-0 in overtime.
“One of the things I really liked was that we pushed in the third period, even at 0-0, without risking our game,” Hakstol said. “That’s a good trait for our team.”
EXPANSION SUCCESS IN PITTSBURGH
Seattle became the fifth expansion team in NHL history to win its first game in Pittsburgh, joining Los Angeles, St. Louis, Buffalo, and Edmonton. Expansion teams are now 5-13-9 in their first road games against Pittsburgh.
“It’s a great win in this building,” Hakstol said. “It’s a tough place to get a victory.”
STREAKING STATS
Larsson extended his point streak to three games, matching his career-high for goals in a season.
Malkin, who missed the first 34 games of the season due to offseason knee surgery, has four goals and 10 points in nine games. He’s also on a six-game point streak with two goals and seven points during that stretch.
PENGUINS POWER PLAY
Pittsburgh has scored power-play goals in five of its last six games and converted on 10 of its last 12 opportunities with the man advantage.
PENGUINS CONNECTION
Three other Kraken players—Riley Sheahan, Jamie Oleksiak, and Brandon Tanev—and two Seattle executives, Ron Francis and Jason Botterill, have ties to the Penguins.
Sheahan played 122 regular-season games for Pittsburgh, scoring 18 goals and 41 points. Tanev, who missed his 12th game with a torn ACL, was selected from Pittsburgh in the expansion draft, while Oleksiak recorded 25 points in 83 regular-season games for the Penguins.
Francis won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh in 1991-92, while Botterill was part of the Penguins’ three most recent championships (2009, 2016-17) in a front-office role.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Continue their four-game road trip Saturday at the New York Islanders.
- Penguins: Continue their six-game homestand against Detroit on Friday.
