SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 01: Carson Soucy #28 and Yanni Gourde #37 of the Seattle Kraken check William Karlsson #71 of the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena on April 01, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)Photo: Getty Images
Jack Eichel, Evgenii Dadonov, and Chandler Stephenson combined for six points as the Vegas Golden Knights scored the first three goals, enough to send the Seattle Kraken to a 5-2 defeat on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 17,151 at Climate Pledge Arena.
Vegas swept the four game regular season series from the Kraken, who fell for the third time in four games. Alex Wennberg scored his ninth goal of the season in the third, with 9:16 left to break the Golden Knights shutout run of six straight periods in the head-to-head series.
Kraken forward Kole Lind scored late in the third period on a wrister past Logan Thompson for his first career NHL goal.
“It’s been a wild ride for me,” said Lind. “From the beginning of pro hockey I’ve struggled. Getting drafted here was a big opportunity for me. Finally getting one’s a big sigh of relief.”
Philipp Grubauer, seeing the Golden Knights for the first time since the first game in franchise history on Oct. 12, made 21 saves. Logan Thompson, his counterpart, took back-to-back wins in net with 26 stops.
Grubauer came up with a point blank save on Dadonov early in the first period before Eichel took an Alec Martinez feed and deflected it through Grubauer’s five hole at 10:28 for a 1-0 cushion.
Eichel’s second goal of the game, off a defensive zone breakdown, put Vegas up 2-0 at 1:26 of the second and Shea Theodore took advantage of open ice at 7:20 for a 3-0 lead on a snap shot between the circles.
Leading goal scorer Jared McCann, battling Michael Amadio, and leading scorer Yanni Gourde, taking on Ben Hutton, got into a pair of fights in the second period with the Kraken in a three-goal deficit.
“Frustration, easiest way to put it,” said McCann, who ended the fight with an emotional toss of his helmet toward the penalty box doors.
“Things haven’t been going our way this year, with bounces and things like that. I just feel it kind of boiled over tonight.”
McCann added a slick, behind-the-back assist to Wennberg’s goal, who parked the pass into a wide open net to get the Kraken on the board.
Jonathan Marchessault’s empty netter put Vegas up 4-1 with 2:16 left before Lind countered with his first goal. The Kraken then earned an opportunity to cut the deficit to one goal with Mattias Janmark off for tripping for a six-on-four situation, pulling Grubauer again.
William Karlsson, after two good Kraken looks from the circles, parked a 180-foot heave into an empty net with 32 seconds left.
The Kraken will end the homestand on Sunday, 6pm PT against the Dallas Stars.
KRAKEN LINEUP VS. VEGAS, APR. 1:
Rask-Gourde-Kuhlman
McCann-Wennberg-Eberle
Donato-Sheahan-Lind
Sprong-Geekie-Donskoi
Dunn-Larsson
Soucy-Oleksiak
Pouliot-Borgen
Grubauer
Driedger