Four-goal flurry in second period carries Kraken to 6-4 win over Flyers

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 17: Shane Wright #51 of the Seattle Kraken scores a goal during the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers at Climate Pledge Arena on October 17, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - A four-goal second period – including two goals eight seconds apart by Jordan Eberle and Shane Wright – carried the Seattle Kraken to a 6-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann each scored in the second period as well, and free agent addition Brandon Montour also notched his first goal with the Kraken in the win. Oliver Bjorkstrand's breakaway goal with 5:08 left thwarted Philadelphia's attempt at a third period rally.

The game followed a seven-goal effort on Tuesday night in Nashville against the Predators as Seattle's offense already appears far more dangerous than last year's team.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers and picked up an assist on Cam York's third period goal.

Philipp Graubuer added 19 saves on 23 shots in net for the Kraken in getting his first win of the season in net.

The Flyers pounced on a fortunate bounce to help grab an early lead. Scott Laughton grabbed a rebound off the end boards on a Ryan Poehling missed shot and tucked it in the net on a wraparound before Philipp Gruabuer could recover for a 1-0 advantage.

Brandon Montour notched his first goal in a Kraken sweater to even the score late in the period. A slap shot from deep beat Flyers 6-foot-7 goalie Ivan Fedotov through the wickets to make it a 1-1 game with 1:45 left in the opening period.

"You just keep getting better as repetitions come and as more games go, you just keep getting comfortable," Montour said of fitting in with Seattle. "I think guys are aware of how I play, and I'm aware of how the team, you know, kind of rolls, and what kind of makes us good. And as I said, as we keep going here, you know, it's still early, but we just keep getting better there."

But the lead wouldn't survive to make it to intermission as Laughton struck again 43 seconds later. The Kraken defense got disjointed due to a bouncing puck and Laughton sniped the top corner of the net over the right shoulder of Grubauer to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.

he second period was then thoroughly dominated by Seattle.

"I thought that was a huge kind of wake-up call to get us back in the game. And, you know, I that was probably our best second period of of the year," head coach Dan Bylsma said.

With Joel Farrabee in the box on a slashing penalty, Jared McCann copied Montour with a slap shot that beat Fedotov between the legs through traffic to tie the game at 2-2.

"Shoot and pray? I don't know," McCann said with a laugh of how to beat a large goalie like Fedotov. "I mean, he's a monster. You don't see much mesh with a guy that big in the net. So I feel like sometimes you just got to get it off as quickly as your can and I was able to find one."

Eeli Tolvanen gave the Kraken their first lead of the night with five minutes left in the period. Taking advantage of a tired Flyers defense, Tolvanen cleaned up a rebound of an André Burakovsky shot that Fedotov couldn't handle for a 3-2 Seattle lead.

A quick rush off a Philadelphia turnover let to a beautiful passing sequence from Yanni Gourde to McCann to Eberle for a wide open finish on the backdoor of the net for his team-leading fourth of the season.

"He's been chirping me a lot because apparently I don't pass it to him enough," McCann said. "But yeah, he likes to drive the net so I just tried to pull up there and find him. …

McCann and Eberle then teamed up off the ensuing face-off to set up Wright for a clean chance from the slot as he beat Fedotov for his first of the year and a 5-2 advantage.

McCann had a three-point night for the Kraken, and defenseman Ryker Evans was a plus-5 on the night in plus-minus.

"He didn't find his way to the scoresheet in the plus-minus because he happened to be standing on the ice. He was involved in most of those plays and being positive on on those plays," Bylsma said of Evans' night.

Fedotov was pulled for the third period after surrendering five goals on 24 shots to Seattle, with Samuel Ersson replacing him in net.

York's goal with just under 10 minutes left to play trimmed Seattle's lead to two, and Jamie Drysdale scored on the power play two minutes later as the Kraken lead was cut to 5-4.

The Flyers pressure continued as they looked for the tying goal, but the Kraken counter-attack allowed for some needed breathing room. Bjorkstrand jumped behind the defense with Jaden Schwartz finding him with a lead pass as he snapped a wrist shot by Ersson for a 6-4 advantage.

Ersson left for the bench with over three minutes left for the extra attacker for Philadelphia, but Grubauer and the Kraken defense held to preserve the two-goal victory.

Notes:

Vince Dunn didn't play in the third period for Seattle. He left the bench in the first period after having his legs taken out from behind and falling to the ice. He missed the final five minutes of the first period and didn't see the ice in the final period despite remaining on the bench.

Head coach Dan Bylsma said Dunn was "a little banged up" and the absence was more precautionary than anything. They'll see how he's doing over next couple of days to see if he'll be available Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.