PITTSBURGH — There was a sense heading into this Saturday night clash with a slumping, ailing foe that the Kraken had an opportunity to chart a course well beyond that of a .500 team.
After all, they’d captured three straight and were looking to sweep their road trip facing an injury-plagued Pittsburgh Penguins squad that had stunningly dropped six in a row. Still, the Penguins weren’t going down easy and it took a goal by Brandon Tanev with 3:39 to play to lift the Kraken to a 3-2 victory, their fourth in a row and fifth in six games.
The Kraken improved to 7-4-2 on the season.
Tanev did some great work battling in front of the net and was positioned to take a Yanni Gourde pass to the slot and wrist it behind Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry.
Gourde had given the Kraken their first lead of the night 7:48 into the final period when a puck went to him straight off the skate of teammate Tanev. Gourde promptly deposited the puck behind Jarry for his second goal of the season and second point of the night.
But the lead held for only two minutes as Jake Guentzel attempted to send a pass in front of the Kraken net. Matty Beniers, celebrating his 20thbirthday, attempted to intercept the pass but instead deflected the puck behind goalie Martin Jones to tie things 2-2.
The Penguins learned pregame that star winger Guentzel did indeed feel well enough to play after a brief illness, a welcome addition to a Penguins lineup still missing Jeff Carter and awaiting the season debut of Teddy Blueger. Guentzel made a difference five minutes into the second period, feeding Sidney Crosby with a perfect pass in the slot that was one-timed behind Jones to open the scoring for the home side.
But the Kraken needed barely two minutes to even things up as Gourde won a faceoff in Pittsburgh’s end and sent the puck back just outside the circle. That’s where defenseman Vince Dunn skated up and leaned into a slap shot that a partially screened Tristan Jarry had little chance on to tie things 1-1.
The Kraken had other chances to score throughout. Beniers was set up perfectly in the opening period by Jordan Eberle but fanned on the shot.
Morgan Geekie then has a clear-cut 2-on-=0 breakaway while short-handed but went for the deke and was stopped. Geekie would wind up with a pair of assists on two latter goals by his team.