Alex Wennberg scored the winner in his 600th career NHL game, Morgan Geekie and Eeli Tolvanen scored on either side of it and the Kraken finished out play before the All-Star break by moving into first place in the Pacific Division.
The Kraken turned in an imperfect effort but still held back the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
After Tolvanen made it 3-1, Columbus crowded Philipp Grubauer (24 saves) and outshot Seattle 9-3 through the first 13 minutes in their best stretch of the game. But they got no closer.
The Kraken bounced back after a dud of a 5-2 loss to the Flames on Friday night and split a back-to-back at home.
“It’s a really good response coming off of last night and it’s a really good way to finish off January for our team,” coach Dave Hakstol said.
“As much time as we spent in our zone in the third, we really didn’t give up that much.”
The Kraken controlled possession in the first period but never unleashed the fury on the visibly outmatched Blue Jackets. Columbus also did a good job early of blocking routes to goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (28 saves.)
Geekie knocked a zero off the scoreboard about halfway through the first period on a smooth scoring play in transition. He quickly settled a pass from Brandon Tanev and tucked it inside the goal post.
The frequent collaborators were joined on their line by Andre Burakovsky.
“I haven’t really played with anyone else other than the guys I’ve played with up until now. It was good,” Geekie said. “Burakovsky is a great player. I’ve played with Tanev before. There’s a lot of speed on that line, so I just try to be the mediator, slow things down when they need to be slowed down.”
It was Geekie’s first goal since a three-game scoring streak that ended Nov. 3.
“I’ve had chances,” Geekie said. “It’s not something I worry about. It’s not really my role here -we have lots of guys who score goals. It’s not something I’m looked upon to do, but mentally it was nice to see it go in.”
Situated between Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann on a line chart shuffled before the game, Wennberg scored his 10th of the season from close in. McCann waited at the red line to deal the puck to Eberle, who in turn tapped it to Wennberg, who had moved up from the hash marks. He marked an already special occasion.
“Every now and then you pinch yourself and realize you’ve been in this league for a while,” Wennberg said.
Tolvanen scored his eighth goal in 15 games since entering the Kraken lineup on Jan. 1. The Kraken stuffed three attempts by the Blue Jackets to exit their own zone. Tolvanen denied of the third try, carried the puck in and beat Merzlikins low through a screen.
“The defensive part of his game is something I’m learning,” Hakstol said of Tolvanen.
“Tonight, that was a goal-scorer’s goal. But he’s also comfortable in tight spaces offensively. That’s helped that line be very effective.”
In the final second of play, Yanni Gourde sent the puck off the goalpost with the Blue Jackets cage emptied for the extra attacker. He shrugged and laughed it off. His team had already done enough.
The Kraken’s next game is Feb. 7 at the New York Islanders. Rookie Matty Beniers, who missed Friday and Saturday’s games for undisclosed reasons, was not ruled out as of Saturday night and is set to represent the Kraken at the NHL All-Star weekend Feb. 3-4.
Hakstol didn’t offer an update on Beniers.
“We had pretty good assurance that he wouldn’t be available last night or tonight, and we’ll take it a step of a time from there,” he said.
Forward Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Justin Schultz have both missed time recently due to injury. Others could likely use the upcoming time off as well.
“We’ve got some guys that are nicked up, guys that are out of the lineup. Right now we don’t think there’s anything too long-term,” Hakstol said. “This seven days is well-timed for the guys that are in the lineup, this has been a hell of a month.”
Wennberg suspected that after a few days, he’d be missing hockey already.
“But you try and enjoy it as much as you can,” he said.