Oliver Bjorkstrand’s second goal of the night came on a power play with 1:27 left in overtime, securing a 5-4 victory for the Seattle Kraken against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
Jared McCann also netted two goals for the Kraken, both in the first 12 minutes of the game, bringing his season total to a career-high 29 goals. Jaden Schwartz contributed a goal as well.
The Red Wings, acknowledging their fading playoff hopes, traded away key players ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Friday.
In their second NHL season, the Kraken are on track for their first postseason appearance as either a Western Conference wild card or one of the top three teams in the Pacific Division.
“This is a fun time of year to play hockey when you are looking at the standings, and you’re trying to push to get into the postseason in Year Two,” said forward Jordan Eberle, who had two assists. “A lot of these guys are from the foundation, which is also a lot of fun. I don’t think many people expect us to make the jump we’ve made.”
Martin Jones, who started in goal for Seattle, allowed three goals on 12 shots before being replaced by Philipp Grubauer late in the second period. Grubauer made 16 saves through regulation.
“We felt like we kind of gave the goalies a tough time,” McCann said.
Detroit’s Ville Husso made 31 saves through three periods, including a crucial stop with 7:20 left in regulation after Bjorkstrand’s shot bounced around the crease before being smothered by Husso to keep the game tied.
“It was a weird bounce,” Bjorkstrand said. “It would have been nice if that went in, but getting the one in OT was nice.”
The Red Wings had recently rallied to get into contention for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Still, a three-game losing streak prompted general manager Steve Yzerman to trade players for picks instead of adding reinforcements for a playoff push.
Detroit traded forward Tyler Bertuzzi to Boston for first- and fourth-round picks on Thursday, following the trade of defenseman Filip Hronek to Vancouver for first- and second-round picks a day earlier.
“It was an emotional morning,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “I think guys were taken by surprise a little, but you can never predict the trade deadline. I give our guys credit for fighting through that.”
Signaling that their rebuild is still in progress, the team signed captain Dylan Larkin to an eight-year contract worth nearly $70 million and defenseman Jake Walman to a three-year, $10.2 million deal this week.
Walman’s sixth goal of the season tied the game at 4-4 with 5:12 left in the second period.
Detroit recalled physical forward Adam Erne from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins earlier in the day, and he immediately tried to energize his disheartened teammates, getting into a fight with Yanni Gourde a minute into the game.
McCann scored his first two goals 12 seconds later, extending his points streak to four games. His second goal gave the Kraken a 3-1 lead midway through the first period.
Ben Chiarot and Erne also scored for the Red Wings, who have now lost four in a row, damaging their postseason hopes.
“Every game for us is a playoff game,” Walman said. “Stuff happens outside the rink that we can’t control, but we just have to keep playing hard.”
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Play at Columbus on Friday.
- Red Wings: Visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.
