On Wednesday night, Colin Blackwell scored a short-handed goal in the third period to secure a 4-3 victory for the Seattle Kraken over the Nashville Predators, ending a seven-game losing streak.
Blackwell’s goal, coming just over three minutes into the third period, marked his first career short-handed tally. Having started his NHL career with the Predators, Blackwell found the net against his former team, making the moment even sweeter.
“That one felt good. A team I used to play for, those ones always feel good,” Blackwell said. “That one definitely sticks out there for this year.”
Blackwell also assisted during a second-period burst where the Kraken scored three goals in 2 minutes and 39 seconds, the fastest span in the franchise’s short history. Alex Wennberg, Calle Jarnkrok, and Yanni Gourde each contributed goals during this run.
“It’s a great feeling, obviously,” Wennberg said. “And it was great, too — three different lines go in and score. So that’s also good for the team; you have everyone chipping in and doing their part.”
Chris Driedger made 19 saves for his fifth win with Seattle, earning its first win since February 11 against Anaheim. Despite trailing 2-0 early, the Kraken’s explosive second period turned the tide.
Matt Duchene scored twice for Nashville, while Philip Tomasino also found the net. Roman Josi assisted on two goals, reaching 500 career points, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves.
After a relatively quiet first period, where Nashville took a 1-0 lead, the second period saw a flurry of activity. Nashville extended its lead with Duchene’s power-play goal, but Seattle quickly responded.
Marcus Johansson’s cross-ice pass set up Wennberg for an easy goal 29 seconds later. Soon after, Jarnkrok tied the game, and a minute later, Gourde gave Seattle its first lead.
Duchene tied the game again late in the second period with his second goal, capitalizing on an open net.
Nashville scored in the first period when Michael McCarron’s pass found Tomasino at the top of the crease.
“To be honest, I don’t think we deserved to win really tonight,” Josi said. “I thought our first (period) was OK, was pretty even. But the second, they had a long push, obviously scored those three goals, and then we had a push toward the end. But our third period just wasn’t good enough.”
Game Notes:
- Josi reached 500 points in 732 games, the fifth-fastest defenseman in the last 25 years.
- Jarnkrok became the fourth Seattle player to score against his former team, having been selected from Nashville in the expansion draft.
Short-Handed Success: The Kraken has recently excelled on the penalty kill, scoring three short-handed goals in the last five games and killing off 18 of the last 20 penalties. “We kind of switched it up recently to be very aggressive,” Blackwell said. “Any time you can frustrate their top guys and put a lot of pressure on them and make it hard on them, it’s very beneficial for us and makes a long night for them.”
For Ukraine: The Kraken invited Ukrainian-born singer Roman Vashchuk to perform his country’s national anthem before the game. The team’s One Roof Foundation also announced a donation of part of the night’s proceeds to the USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in support of the people of Ukraine.
Up Next:
- Nashville: Plays at San Jose on Saturday.
- Seattle: Travels to play the Capitals on Saturday.
