Brandon Tanev scored twice and Alex Wennberg and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist as the Seattle Kraken won for the first time in franchise history, defeating the host Nashville Predators 4-3 Thursday night.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves as the Kraken, who lost their opener by the same score Tuesday in Las Vegas, held on despite being outshot 13-1 in the third period.
Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists for Nashville, which was playing its first game of the season. Eeli Tolvanen and Roman Josi also scored and Juuse Saros stopped 22 of 25 shots.
Wennberg netted the go-ahead goal at 9:54 of the second period, breaking a 2-2 tie. Seattle’s Joonas Donskoi battled for the puck with defenseman Alexandre Carrier in the left wing corner. Carrier pushed the puck up the ice but right to the Kraken’s Alex Barre-Boulet at the left faceoff dot. Barre-Boulet immediately fed the puck to a wide-open Wennberg, stationed near the right post, and he slapped it into the net.
Tanev scored an empty-net goal at 18:39 of the third to give Seattle a 4-2 lead.
Granlund scored on a rebound with 39.9 seconds left, but the Predators couldn’t get the equalizer.
Tolvanen opened the scoring at 3:18 of the first. Granlund won a faceoff in the Seattle end and teammate Luke Kunin backhanded a pass to Tolvanen between the faceoff circles. His one-timer beat Grubauer.
The Kraken took a 2-1 lead on a pair of power-play goals in the final five minutes of the period.
McCann struck first at 15:27, taking a cross-ice pass from Mark Giordano and putting a wrist shot from the left point past Saros, who was screened by Jaden Schwartz.
Tanev gave the Kraken the lead at 17:33. Donskoi got the puck deep to Wennberg near the right post, and he fed a pass across the crease to Tanev, who poked it into the empty side of the net.
Josi tied the score at 2-2 on a blast from the point on a 5-on-3 power play at 4:36 of the second.
Kraken forward Calle Jarnkrok, selected from Nashville in the expansion draft, didn’t make the trip because he’s in the COVID-19 protocol.
–Field Level Media
