With the Seattle Kraken out of playoff contention, the focus has shifted to developing young players who could be key contributors in the future.
Shane Wright, one such player, is flourishing under this spotlight.
Wright scored 68 seconds into the first period, marking his fourth goal in four games since being called up from the AHL. Philipp Grubauer made 39 saves for his second shutout of the season, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Arizona Coyotes 5-0 on Tuesday night.
André Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, Brandon Tanev, and Will Borgen also scored, helping the Kraken secure their fifth win in seven games.
With the playoffs out of reach for Seattle, much of the attention has turned to young talents called up from Coachella Valley of the AHL, particularly Wright, who won’t turn 21 until early next year.
Seattle’s first-round pick in 2022, Wright, scored 20 goals in 53 AHL games this season and has carried that momentum into his stint with the Kraken. He recorded his first three-point game in a 3-1 win over Anaheim on Friday and made an immediate impact against Arizona, scoring just over a minute into the game.
“He just turned 20 years old, and everybody wants to spin the clock ahead and fast forward. It doesn’t work that way,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Huge compliments to Shane for continuing to elevate his game.”
Wright received a pass from Jordan Eberle near the goal line and flipped a backhanded shot past Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka.
“I’ll take anything. Anyway, I can get them. They all count the same on the scoresheet; that’s what I’m going to say,” Wright said. “Just tried to get it on the net there, and a lucky bounce for sure, but we’ll take it.”
Burakovsky scored a power-play goal 66 seconds after Wright’s, his fifth power-play goal of the season — a career-high. Schultz added his seventh goal of the season early in the third period, finishing off a two-on-one pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Tanev and Borgen ended long goal droughts with their third-period goals. Tanev had just one goal since late January, while Borgen hadn’t scored since mid-February. Bjorkstrand and Matty Beniers each had two assists.
Grubauer’s shutout was his second of the season and 22nd of his career. He was especially strong in the second period, stopping 18 shots, including several dangerous chances. He made key saves on Alex Kerfoot in the final minute to preserve the shutout.
“It means a lot. We don’t have too many home games left, so we want to make sure we finish this homestand off strong,” Grubauer said.
Arizona was shut out for the second time this season, the last time being a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders in October.
Vejmelka made 20 saves for the Coyotes.
“They got a goal early, and then it was tougher for us to generate offense. We came back and generated a few at the end, but Grubauer was solid,” Arizona coach André Tourigny said.
UP NEXT
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Coyotes: At Vancouver on Wednesday night.
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Kraken: Play their last home game of the regular season on Thursday night against San Jose.
