Jaden Schwartz was taking a sip of water when he noticed Matty Beniers breaking in alone on goal. The Seattle rookie wasted no time clinching the win for the Kraken.
“I looked up and saw that he was on a breakaway. It happened fast, but they were hungry off the faceoff,” Schwartz said.
Beniers scored seven seconds into overtime, securing a 3-2 comeback victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. This extended the Kraken’s franchise-record winning streak to seven games.
After winning a faceoff scramble to start overtime, Beniers received a tip from Andre Burakovsky and beat Darcy Kuemper for his 10th goal of the season. According to the NHL, it was the fastest overtime goal by a rookie in a regular-season game.
“It’s all about your battle level and your 50/50 puck wins, and they created that,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “It was a 50/50 bouncing puck; we won that. (Burakovsky) did a good job, and Matty had some good opportunities tonight, and he finished that one at the right time.”
Coming off a 10-1-1 record in November, the Kraken overcame a 2-0 deficit to maintain their streak. Yanni Gourde tied the game with 2:27 left in regulation, jamming a rebound past Kuemper. Seattle dominated the third period and finally got rewarded with Gourde’s third goal of the season.
Schwartz added a power-play goal for Seattle in the second period, flicking the rebound of Vince Dunn’s shot past Kuemper.
“We’ve been doing a good job of finding ways to win and staying with it,” Schwartz said. “A lot of momentum swings in games, and we’re doing a pretty good job of managing that.”
Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves and was solid all night against his former team. It was just his second start since coming off injured reserve.
“The first period was a little tough, I think, two goals on three or four shots. Not how you want to start things off,” Grubauer said. “The second period went well, and I think that’s a period I needed personally for myself to get back into this.”
Martin Fehervary and Conor Sheary scored first-period goals for the Capitals, but they couldn’t withstand Seattle’s pressure in the second and third periods.
“Not enough of the good stuff tonight,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. “Not enough of the right things.”
Fehervary scored at 7:36, and Sheary added a power-play goal with 5:56 left in the first period to give the Capitals a 2-0 lead. Alex Ovechkin assisted on both goals, marking the fourth time in five games the Washington captain had multiple points. Kuemper finished with 22 saves for Washington.
“Our game has definitely been trending upwards. Tonight, we might not have had our best stuff or all our legs, but we got up to the lead and unfortunately couldn’t hang on for the two,” Kuemper said.
WELCOME HOME
TJ Oshie played near his hometown for the first time in his career, having missed Washington’s trip to Seattle last season due to injury. During the first period, Oshie immediately got involved in the action, fighting Seattle’s Yanni Gourde. It was Oshie’s first fight since early in the 2021-22 season and his second career fight against Gourde, having tangled once before when Gourde was in Tampa Bay.
Game Notes
Seattle F Morgan Geekie (upper body) missed his second straight game. … Grubauer made his first start at home since Oct. 17 against Carolina. … Ovechkin skated in his 1,299th career game.
UP NEXT
Capitals: At Calgary on Saturday night.
Kraken: Host Florida on Saturday night.
