Yanni Gourde netted two of Seattle’s four goals in the third period, including the game-winner with 6:47 left, as the Kraken surged past the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 on Saturday night.
Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Adam Larsson also scored for the Kraken, who dominated play with a 42-24 shot advantage. Despite their control, they entered the third period trailing 2-0.
Joe Veleno and Taro Hirose scored for Detroit, now losing seven of its last eight games.
The Kraken, who spent much of their inaugural season in last place in the Pacific Division, have won two of their last three games.
“It’s just one game,” Larsson said. “Losing has been tough, and we’re all sick of it. This is something we need to build on. It can’t just be a one-night thing.”
After being stymied by Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic (38 saves) for much of the game, Seattle broke through in the third period.
“He gave us a chance to find our footing,” said Detroit forward Sam Gagner. “He made some incredible saves. When your goalie is playing like that, you’ve got to find a way to reward him.”
Larsson got the Kraken on the board at 7:10, cutting Detroit’s lead to 2-1 with his career-high fifth goal of the season. Less than three minutes later, Schwartz tied the game with assists from Vince Dunn and Alex Wennberg.
Gourde then scored the go-ahead goal at 13:13, assisted by Haydn Fleury, and added an empty-netter with 18.7 seconds left to secure the win. Gourde now has 16 goals, second-most on the team.
“It was a combination of everything,” Larsson said of the Kraken’s comeback. “The volume of shooting, physicality, and structure-wise, I thought we looked good. That was one of our best periods in a while.”
Detroit scored in the second period, just after Seattle failed to capitalize on a 5-on-3 power play. Veleno scored at 13:18 off an assist from Dylan Larkin. Three minutes later, Hirose added a power-play goal to give Detroit a 2-0 lead, with assists from Tyler Bertuzzi and Lucas Raymond.
Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves for the Kraken.
“We don’t have any room for error,” said Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill. “We’ve got to bring our A game every night.”
Seattle took the game’s first 13 shots, with Nedeljkovic making a series of impressive stops. Detroit didn’t register a shot until Gagner’s attempt at 11:27 of the first period.
“We just stayed with it,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “It wasn’t a game of extremes. The first period was excellent, and we got it going in the third.”
Despite a 16-6 shot advantage in the first period, the teams ended the period scoreless.
“Ideally, we would’ve scored in the first period,” Hakstol added. “But we stuck with it, and the guys pushed in the last 20 minutes.”
Game Notes
Seattle captain Mark Giordano was a healthy scratch for the second straight game. Kraken forward Karson Kuhlman was activated after missing 18 games with an injury. Kole Lind was reassigned to AHL Charlotte. Tyler Bertuzzi returned to the lineup for the first time since the birth of his child on March 11.
UP NEXT
- Red Wings: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
- Kraken: Play at Arizona on Tuesday.
