Ryan Donato scored in the shootout for Seattle, while New Jersey missed all three of its attempts, with two saved by Philipp Grubauer, as the Kraken triumphed over the Devils 4-3 on Saturday night.
Rookie Matty Beniers netted his first NHL goal, giving Seattle a 3-2 lead at 16:57 of the second period. Will Borgen and Carson Soucy also scored for the Kraken, snapping a two-game losing streak.
“I felt Matty played a real solid hockey game, he and his linemates,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, who had Beniers on the ice to start the game, again to start overtime, and then take the second shootout attempt. “He made some plays at critical times, which you’re looking for.”
Jesper Bratt, Jesper Boqvist, and Damon Severson scored for New Jersey, which lost its second consecutive game after winning the first two of a five-game Western Conference road trip.
In the shootout, Donato went first for the Kraken, getting Nico Daws to move to his right before slipping the puck into the net on his left. Grubauer then saved Tomas Tatar’s shot. After Beniers hit the post, Grubauer stopped Bratt’s attempt. Daws saved Daniel Sprong’s try, but Yegor Sharangovich hit the post on the Devils’ last attempt, sealing the win for Seattle.
Beniers, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft from Michigan, made his NHL debut Tuesday at Calgary, recording an assist in a 5-3 loss. His goal on Saturday, a power play tally, gave the Kraken a 3-2 lead. Defenseman Vince Dunn fired a shot from the blue line that hit the post, and Beniers swept the loose puck into the net.
“Someone had a nice tip, and I’m just crashing the net, and it popped out to me,” Beniers said. “It was kind of a lucky goal for me — you don’t get many of those that pop out and are just sitting there in the crease, and you just pop it in.”
Hakstol added, “The creativity is there; as he gets more confidence, we’ll see more of that.”
Making his home debut, Beniers said, “It was a lot of fun. Hopefully, we’ll put one in the back of the net next time before we get to a shootout. But we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”
Through regulation and overtime, Grubauer and Daws each made 23 saves.
Severson tied the game at 3 at 4:55 of the third period with a shot from the right circle for his 11th goal of the season.
The Devils built a 2-1 lead in the first period with Bratt’s 25th goal of the season and Boqvist’s eighth, sandwiching Borgen’s goal that tied it at 1.
New Jersey went 0 for 3 on the power play. The Devils are now 0 for 24 in their last nine games and 1 for 35 in their last 10 road games.
“Our power play wasn’t good enough,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “We could have generated some momentum, we could have generated some good energy, but we didn’t. We’ve had some power plays that have been good where we should have scored.
“We had some looks that we didn’t take advantage of. We could have taken a two-goal lead, which was a letdown. That had the biggest impact on the game.”
Game Notes
Beniers’ power-play goal ended an 0-for-16 Kraken drought with the extra man. Bratt’s game-opening goal was his 200th career point, all with the Devils, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2016.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Play at Vegas on Monday night.
- Kraken: Host the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
