Seattle Kraken blow two-goal lead, lose 4-2 to Predators
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 10: Reid Schaefer #49 of the Nashville Predators celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the second period of a game against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on March 10, 2026 in Seattle, Washington (Christopher Mast / NHLI / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - For the Seattle Kraken to make the playoffs, they can't lose games like this.
The Kraken blew a 2-0 lead after the first period as the Nashville Predators rallied with three goals in the second period, and Juuse Saros made 43 saves in a 4-2 Seattle loss on Tuesday night.
The team has now lost five of their seven games since the Winter Olympics break, including the loss to Nashville and a pair of losses to a struggling St. Louis Blues team. The Kraken have gone from several points inside the playoff picture to percentage points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for the final Wild Card spot.
Kaapo Kakko scored on a rebound of a Shane Wright shot less than three minutes into the contest, and Matty Beniers sniped a puck over the shoulder of Predators goaltender Juuse Saros from below the right circle as the Kraken built a 2-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. Seattle held a 19-7 edge in shots at the end of the first period with several more chances that could have extended the lead.
Wright and Jacob Melanson each had shots ring off the post, and Eeli Tolvanen, Wright and Kakko had dangerous chances saved by Saros to keep the game within reach for Nashville.
And the Predators proved it was within reach in the second period.
Tyson Jost was left unmarked in the left circle off a rush as he beat Joey Daccord just over four minutes into the period to trim Seattle's lead to 2-1. Adam Larsson didn't close out on Jost as he had a clean shot on goal.
Wright briefly appeared to restore the two-goal advantage, finding the net off the rush only to have the goal waived off for goaltender interference. Ryker Evans clipped skates with Zachary L'Heureux and spilled through Saros into the net as Wright's shot was sailing into the goal to negate the score for Seattle.
Almost immediately afterward, former Seattle Thunderbird Reid Schaefer scored to tie the game at 2-2. Schaefer occupied space in front of the Kraken goal as Matthew Wood found him from the right circle for a tap-in finish for the tying tally.
Four minutes later, the Predators jumped out front.
Nashville won a face-off in the offensive zone with rookie defenseman Ryan Ufko getting the puck at the right point. Ufko deked around Ryan Winterton, sliced to the net past Ben Meyers and beat Daccord with a stunning backhand-to-forehand finish for a 3-2 lead.
It was the first goal of Ufko's career in his fourth career NHL game and it ended up being the game-winner for Nashville.
Despite trailing in the third period, the Predators dominated the shot attempts by a 26-13 margin in the final frame, with Seattle leading on shots on goal, 10-9. But none of those shots beat Saros, and Steven Stamkos scored on an empty net with 4.1 seconds left to seal away the win for Nashville, who is just one point behind the Kraken in the standings as well.
And Seattle will have to attempt to break their skid on Thursday night against the league-leading Colorado Avalanche, who added Nazem Kadri and Nicolas Roy to their lineup at the trade deadline.
Beniers stellar goal – and the first fight of his NHL career against Justin Barron – ultimately went to waste. Beniers stood up for Jared McCann after he was cross-checked into the boards dangerously by Barron, with Beniers dropping the gloves in response.
Seattle has several challenging games against playoff teams still left on their schedule. It's games against teams that aren't in the playoff chase at all, or ones in the fight with the Kraken, that they can't afford to lose.
The Source: Information in this story came from FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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