Philipp Grubauer delivered a flawless performance off the bench, stopping all 19 shots he faced after replacing the injured Matt Murray, and the Seattle Kraken rode a pair of goals from Jaden Schwartz to a 4–1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Seattle broke open a tight game late in the second period when Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen scored just 38 seconds apart, pushing the Kraken ahead 3–1. Jamie Oleksiak and Chandler Stephenson each tallied two assists in a strong rebound effort for a team that suffered its worst loss of the season — a 6–1 defeat — to San Jose in the same building just 10 days earlier.
Alexander Wennberg scored the lone goal for the Sharks, while Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 19 shots. San Jose has now dropped two straight after a four-game winning streak.
Murray left the game with a lower-body injury in the final seconds of the first period after allowing the Sharks’ power-play equalizer. Grubauer, who also picked up a win Thursday against Winnipeg, stepped in seamlessly to secure his third straight victory. Seattle continues to lean on its depth in goal, with starter Joey Daccord currently on injured reserve.
Larsson snapped home his first of the season from the right circle to give Seattle the lead late in the second, and Tolvanen followed with a blistering slap shot moments later for his second straight game with a goal. Schwartz sealed the night with an empty-netter — his seventh of the year — in the closing minutes.
Schwartz had also opened the scoring at 8:14 of the first period, redirecting a perfect pass from Stephenson. Wennberg tied it for San Jose on the power play, tipping in Macklin Celebrini’s league-leading 17th assist.
Up Next:
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Sharks: Host the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.
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Kraken: Begin a road swing Tuesday in Detroit against the Red Wings.
