Jared McCann scores 39th goal of season, Kraken roll to 7-3 win over Blackhawks
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 08: Adam Larsson #6 of the Seattle Kraken celebrates after scoring a goal during the second period of a game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena on April 8, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Christo
SEATTLE - Jared McCann scored his 39th goal of the season and Jordan Eberle became the fifth different member of the Seattle Kraken to reach 20 goals on the year in a 7-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.
Daniel Sprong added his 21st of the season and Adam Larsson matched a career-high with his eighth goal of the year as Seattle clinched at least the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with the victory. The Kraken could still displace the Los Angeles Kings for the third playoff spot from the Pacific Division. They sit two points behind the Kings and the Kraken have an extra game in hand.
The Kraken have now scored at least seven goals in a game seven times this season, which is tied with the Edmonton Oilers for most in the NHL.
"It seems like we're getting contributions each night from different guys, different lines, defense pairings, whatever it may be. So that's obviously a big skill to have going into the playoffs and you know, something that's tough to beat," said Eberle, who has goals in four consecutive games.
With Seattle already having clinched a playoff spot, the team chose to rest veteran forward Jaden Schwartz for their meeting with the Blackhawks. Jesper Froden dressed in place of Schwartz in the lineup with Ryan Donato filling Schwartz's spot on Seattle's second line on the left wing. Head coach Dave Hakstol officially listed Schwartz as day-to-day after the game.
Froden chipped in helping to get the scoring going for Seattle. He set the puck on a tee for Eeli Tolvanen, who snapped a shot by Petr Mrazek on the glove side for a 1-0 Kraken lead.
Chicago answered just under a minute later. A nice bit of a passing with a backhand feed from Anders Bjork found Seth Jones clear between the circles for a quick one-time shot that beat Martin Jones to bring the game level at 1-1.
Eberle's goal put Seattle back out front. A quick fire toward the net from Jamie Oleksiak deflected off both of Eberle's skates and by Mrazek. Then with Seth Jones in the penalty box for a tripping penalty, Yanni Gourde added a power play goal as Seattle took a 3-1 lead into the intermission.
Seth Jones then scored his second goal of the night on a power play midway through the second period to cut Seattle's lead. Morgan Geekie took a holding penalty before Larsson also was sent to the box for tripping Jones. With the 5-on-3 advantage, Jones fired a slap shot that slipped through Martin Jones to make it a 3-2 game.
Larsson would make amends for his penalty as he came out of the box with perfect timing for Oleksiak to find him for a breakaway look. Larsson uncorked a fantastic deke move that beat Mrazek for the finish to restore Seattle's two-goal lead.
When asked after the game if Hakstol knew Larsson had that type of move in his toolbox, Hakstol deadpanned: ""Which? The one where we went down 5-on-3?"
Then when prompted about the goal he scored, he replied with a sarcastic tone: "The finish coming out of the box was outstanding, Yeah, we knew he had that in his bag."
A Chicago zone clearance attempt got deflected by Justin Schultz as the puck fell directly to Daniel Sprong, who snapped a quick shot by Mrazek to make it a 5-2 Kraken lead.
The Blackhawks got another goal back before the end of the period. Lukas Reichel deflected an Alex Vlasic shot by Jones as Seattle's lead was cut to 5-3.
"There were sloppy portions of the game and some of that's inherent coming off of a big win the other night," Hakstol said. "You can talk yourself out of it as much as you want but in reality it looked like some of that maybe leaked into our game tonight."
It briefly appeared Chicago had managed to pull even closer. Jujhar Khaira scored only to have the play challenged by Seattle for a missed offsides call. After review Boris Katchouk was deemed to have entered the zone early and the goal was nullified.
"They're on top of that stuff before the play is even 10 feet over the line," Hakstol said of their video team. "So those guys in back do a heck of a good job. And, you know, that was obviously a timely call that went our way tonight."
When the team returned to the ice for the third period, Philipp Grubauer had replaced Jones in net for Seattle. Jones took a hard slap shot from Katchouk in the final minute of the period that seemed to sting his glove hand. Hakstol had no update on Jones' status afterward only to say an update wasn't available.
Jones made 15 saves on 18 shots before exiting the game. Grubauer saved all 11 shots he faced in the third period.
"That's not an easy spot to be in," Hakstol said of Grubauer. "But yeah, he came in, he did have the big pad save on, I think it was on (Tyler) Johnson on the side of the net, had a couple through traffic. So he did a really good job just going in calm and had things settle down."
Oliver Bjorkstrand won a puck off Caleb Jones in the Kraken offensive zone and passed to McCann as he quickly gathered it and fired it into the net for his 39th of the season. Then a strong forecheck from Sprong on Jarred Tinordi led to the Chicago forward falling down and crashing into the boards as Ryan Donato collected the loose Puck. It moved from Donato to Sprong to Morgan Geekie for his ninth goal of the year as the Kraken lead grew to 7-3.
Seattle had seven different scorers and 12 different players record a point in the victory. Sprong had a goal and two assists. Oleksiak had three assists on the night.
"Any given night a guy can put one in for us and have a big night and I think that's going to be critical during playoffs as well," Oleksiak said. "You know, especially when you're playing teams that can shut you down pretty well and shut down one or two lines. I think it's huge to have four lines that can put pucks in the net. So you know, I think It's a recipe for success."
Injuries have bit other Western Conference playoff teams in recent days as well. Cale Makar and Darren Helm are out indefinitely for the Colorado Avalanche with lower body injuries. Joel Eriksson Ek is week-to-week for the Minnesota Wild after a lower leg injury earlier this week, and Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud left Saturday's game against the Dallas Stars with a leg injury after a Stars playing fell on the back of it.
With just three games remaining before the playoffs, finding a way to get through the remaining games healthy will be as important a task as any over the last week of the season.
If Jones is unable to play over the next week, the Kraken will likely need a goaltender to be called up from AHL Coachella Valley as Seattle had a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday on the road against the Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights. Joey Daccord would be the most likely call-up as he's played three games for Seattle this season.