Eeli Tolvanen scored his first goal in a Seattle uniform, helping the Kraken snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Sunday night.
Adam Larsson, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Brandon Tanev also scored for Seattle, while goalie Martin Jones made 18 saves to secure the win.
Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders, marking the 100th goal of his NHL career in his 400th game. Ilya Sorokin stopped 31 shots for New York.
Tolvanen, acquired by Seattle off waivers from Nashville on Dec. 12, broke a 1-1 tie at 3:58 of the second period. He received a pass from Vince Dunn at the top of the right circle and sent a powerful slap shot to the back left corner past Sorokin. The goal, Tolvanen’s third of the season, came on a power play, ending Seattle’s seven-game, 0-for-16 power play drought dating back to Dec. 11.
“That felt really good. It’s been a while since I played my last game, so it’s nice to get the first goal out of the way in the first one,” said Tolvanen, whose last game was on Nov. 19. “It was a power play, so it’s just getting pucks on the net and shooting right away when you get it in the zone.”
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol added, “The power-play goal, you can’t teach that – that’s an ability he has. He beat a good goaltender on that play, and that’s a real skill he possesses.”
Larsson opened the scoring for Seattle at 9:53 of the first period with his fourth goal of the season, capitalizing on a pass from Ryan Donato. Barzal tied the game at 1-1 at 17:30 of the first period, redirecting a pass from Casey Cizikas into the net for his ninth goal of the year.
Bjorkstrand extended Seattle’s lead to 3-1 at 13:04 of the second period, scoring his fifth goal of the season by slapping in a rebound off a shot by Jamie Oleksiak. Tanev added an empty-net goal with 34.3 seconds left, marking his seventh goal of the season.
Islanders coach Lane Lambert attributed the loss to a lack of execution. “You can’t play the speed you want if you don’t execute cleanly,” Lambert said. “Give them credit – they filled good gaps all night, but we certainly didn’t execute how we wanted.”
Game Notes
- Donato’s assist on Larsson’s goal extended his point streak to seven of the last eight games. He also has a point in five straight home games, the longest such streak of his career.
- Barzal reached his milestones of 400 NHL games and 100 goals in Seattle, where he played junior hockey for four seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
- The Islanders are now 5-1-0 against Pacific Division opponents. Their game in Seattle was the first of four straight road games against Pacific teams, with upcoming stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary.
- The Kraken will play their next seven games on the road.
UP NEXT
- Islanders: Visit Vancouver on Tuesday night.
- Kraken: Visit Edmonton on Tuesday night.
