Justin Schultz overtime winner gives Kraken fourth straight win in 2-1 victory over Flyers

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 29: Justin Schultz #4 of the Seattle Kraken celebrates his game-winning goal in overtime against Carter Hart #79 of the Philadelphia Flyers at Climate Pledge Arena on December 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by
SEATTLE - Justin Schultz scored the game-winning goal in overtime in his return to the lineup for the Seattle Kraken as they notched their fourth straight victory in a 2-1 decision over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
Schultz has played in just two games since Dec. 9 for Seattle as the Kraken have given rookie defenseman Ryker Evans a chance to break into the NHL lineup. But with Schultz given the chance to play against Philadelphia, he came through to deliver the game-winning tally for Seattle with 2:25 left in overtime.
"This room was excited for him and that tells you all you need to know. He's one of the great teammates inside of this room, he's very well respected and it tells you a little bit about him," head coach Dave Hakstol said.
"He came in today and played a real solid game and tip of the cap to him to get the game winner. It's fitting in a lot of ways."
After Oliver Bjorkstrand was denied by former Everett Silvertips goaltender Carter Hart, the Kraken cycled the puck back to the top of the offensive zone. Bjorkstrand found Schultz driving toward the right front of the net and Schultz redirected the puck between Hart's legs and into the net to give Seattle the win and match a franchise record with points in eight straight games.
It's the second time in his Kraken tenure that Schultz has delivered a game-winning goal in overtime. Last year, he followed up a Jordan Eberle shot for a rebound strike that beat the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on the same net at Climate Pledge Arena.
"It's my lucky spot," Schultz said with a smile.
"Anytime you score an overtime winner, it's going to feel good. I just tried to come in and help the team as best as I can."
The Kraken had lost their last five overtime decisions with three overtime losses and two shootout losses prior to Friday night.
Vince Dunn tied the game with a power play goal early in the third period to extend the game to the extra session. Joey Daccord continued his tremendous run of play in net for Seattle as well with 27 saves on 28 shots faced. The lone goal for Philadelphia came on a short-handed 2-on-1 breakaway chance in the first period.
"We've been involved in a lot of (one-goal games) and we've talked a lot about being comfortable in those situations," Hakstol said. "And tonight, we probably didn't do it exactly the way we wanted. You know, we made a mistake on the power play so we had to chase the game against a really good defensive team from there, but we stayed with it. We didn't get outside of the comfort zone. We didn't try to do anything crazy. We just stayed on it and generated enough in the third period."
Both goaltenders delivered some standout saves in the opening frame. Hart denied a pair of chances from Eberle and Tomáš Tatar from prime real estate between the circles for the Flyers. Meanwhile, Daccord came through with a stellar glove save to deny Sean Couturier on the doorstep and stopped a Joel Farabee breakaway chance to help keep the game scoreless through the first 15 minutes.
"We've been in some low scoring games," Daccord said. "I think we're confident in our structure and we have a blueprint for how we need to win games. And I think when we stick to that, and we have a full group committed to the team and in the structure that we've set up in our game plan, good things happen."
Morgan Frost had a great look off an Owen Tippett pass on a Philadelphia power play opportunity ring the crossbar and go out of play for a missed chance. Seattle followed with one of their own as well as a Brian Doumoulin pass to Kailer Yamamoto had Hart clearly beat only for the pass to slide by the left post and wide.
But the Flyers wouldn't miss on all of their chances in the period. Early into a Kraken power play late in the period, Philadelphia pressured Seattle into making a mistake. Jared McCann was pressured into an errant pass that sprung a 2-on-1 chance for Scott Laughton and Travis Konecny for the Flyers. Konecny was denied a look by Daccord and desperately tried to tuck the puck in around Daccord's pad. The puck would have slid through the goal crease harmlessly except it caught Dunn's leg and deflected into the net to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
"You really have to take care of the puck to make sure that you don't give them free opportunities off the rush because they've got some great ability," Hakstol said. "They're good off the rush. So if you give them easy transition off of your puck play, they're going to take advantage of it."
The short-handed goal tied the Flyers with the Calgary Flames for most short-handed goals in the league with nine this season. Konecny is second in the league in the category behind only Simon Holmstrom's five with the New York Islanders.
The Kraken ramped up their offensive pressure in the second period as they out-shot Philadelphia by a 9-4 margin in the frame. A Matty Beniers pass to Eberle in front of the net led to a mad scramble with a pair of Eberle shot denied by a sprawled out Hart to keep Seattle off the board.
Tatar was called for a rather rare NHL penalty that put the Flyers back on the power play. He touched the puck while sitting on the wall in front of Seattle's bench as he was waiting to jump onto the ice. Tatar was waiting for Jared McCann to get off the surface to avoid taking a too many men on the ice penalty. McCann had cleared the ice, but Tatar had not jumped off the boards yet and was called for a bench minor penalty.
As the Flyers did in taking the lead, the Kraken created one of their best chances short-handed as well. Alex Wennberg raced around the Philadelphia defense to create a 2-on-1 chance with Brandon Tanev. Wennberg's shot chance was shielded away by Hart to keep the Kraken off the board.
Seattle's pressure continued into the third period with their second power play chance of the night ending far better than the first one did. With Tyson Foerster in the box for a hooking penalty against Tatar, Wennberg won an offensive zone face-off and Vince Dunn hammered a slap shot through traffic that beat Hart to bring the game level at 1-1 with 14:15 left to play.
Tye Kartye took a bad tripping penalty with 7:40 left to play and Daccord had to come up big with four saves while the Flyers had the man-advantage to help the game get to overtime.
Bjorkstrand then created two shot chances in overtime before getting the primary assist on Schultz's game-winner.
The Kraken now head into Monday's Winter Classic matchup with the Vegas Golden Knight having gotten back to a .500 record for just the second time this season at 14-14-9.
"It's good that our emotions are positive right now going into the New Year's game," Dunn said. "I think it's really special that everyone in this group has always stuck together. We have a very close group in here. Even when things weren't going well we weren't turning on each other, complaining about each other and I think that is a big piece to winning games and turning the corner. The fans have never backed out on us and I just think when everyone's still committed, even when things don't go your way, you can find a way to turn it around."