Jared McCann notched his 40th goal of the season as the Seattle Kraken hit the 100-point mark in their second NHL season, defeating the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Monday night.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz, and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who secured their fifth consecutive win and improved to 26-10-4 on the road. Seattle bested the Coyotes for the third time in eight days after two victories at home last week.
The Kraken, who accumulated just 60 points last season, have now matched an impressive record, with only the Vegas Golden Knights reaching 100 points faster among NHL expansion teams in their debut season of 2017-18.
“A lot of the credit goes to the guys who were here last year,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “This group has taken everything in stride, and now we can prepare for the playoffs.”
Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves for the Kraken, while Joey Daccord, an Arizona State alumnus, finished the final 1:16 in goal for Seattle.
Jack McBain scored for the Coyotes, who have only one win in their last 11 games. Ivan Prosvetov stopped 33 shots for Arizona.
Seattle has secured at least the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Kraken, who clinched a playoff berth with Thursday’s win over Arizona, still have a chance to surpass Los Angeles for third place.
The Coyotes scored when McBain deflected Liam O’Brien’s shot past Grubauer at 9:22 of the first period.
Seattle tied it with a power-play goal at 3:12 of the second period. Bjorkstrand, celebrating his 28th birthday, netted his 20th goal of the season with a one-timer from Alex Wennberg. Eeli Tolvanen also assisted, with Arizona’s Barrett Hayton in the penalty box for high-sticking.
“Our first period scared me,” Hakstol said. “We made mistakes at the end of shifts, and that’s when bad things happen. So the power-play goal in the second was really important.”
Schultz exited the penalty box after a boarding infraction and scored unassisted on a breakaway at 14:56, just eight seconds after his penalty expired.
Beniers extended the lead just 1:14 later with his 24th goal, assisted by McCann and Will Borgen. In the third period, McCann added another goal on a power play, with Schultz picking up an assist.
McBain and Seattle’s Carson Soucy had a brief altercation with 1:16 left in the game.
“Special teams played a big role in that game. They scored two on their power play,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. When asked about facing the Kraken three times in four games, he replied, “I don’t think they found it tough.”
Arizona fell to 21-15-4 at home and, with one home game left, has a disappointing 7-25-9 record on the road.
Clayton Keller remained at 37 goals and 85 points, one point shy of the Coyotes’ single-season points record set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97. The franchise record of 132 points was set by Teemu Selanne in 1992-93 when the team was in Winnipeg.
ICE CHIPS
Kraken LW Vince Dunn was scratched for unknown reasons. He had played in every game for Seattle this season, tallying 14 goals and a team-high 50 assists. … LW Jaden Schwartz (rest) missed his second consecutive game. … Keller and Seattle’s Brandon Tanev were their teams’ nominees for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the game. Both players rebounded from serious injuries last year, with Keller suffering a broken femur and Tanev a torn ACL.
NEXT
Kraken: At Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Coyotes: Close the regular season at home against Vancouver on Thursday.
