BUFFALO, N.Y. — Once again, the Kraken bench wasn’t messing with a winning formula. And once again, Martin Jones was one of the ingredients. Veteran goaltender Jones, brought in before the season to back up Philipp Grubauer — at least until holdover Chris Driedger recovered from knee surgery — has 26 starts to Grubauer’s 13 at one game shy of the season’s halfway point.
Part of that is due to Grubauer’s lower-body injury, and part of it was going with the hot hand. The Kraken had won five straight as of Monday, all with Jones in net. A back-to-back — with international travel, no less — secured Grubauer his first start since Dec. 30. He stopped 32 of 35 shots Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres and improved to 4-7-1 on the season.
“It’s been almost two weeks but felt pretty good,” Grubauer said. “I think the first period was a little rusty, but after that, kind of found the game.
“They made it not too easy in front of the net today, but we found a way to keep things mostly to the outside. Great win.”
He didn’t get the needed goal support in 41- and 36-save outings, respectively, against the Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes toward the end of December, both 3-2 losses. Also during that stretch, he was in net for a comeback win against the Winnipeg Jets and the first 3:55 of a meltdown against the Edmonton Oilers.
Then Jones kept backstopping wins, and during games, all Grubauer could do was watch and chat.
“He’s been working hard. It’s obvious by his performance tonight,” coach Dave Hakstol said of Grubauer. “He went in and did his job.”
Among his flashier saves, Grubauer met Buffalo’s Dylan Cozens on the doorstep and gloved a breakaway chance from Vinnie Hinostroza. A few of his 17 third-period saves were up there as well.
“He was reading the play, he was on top of things that were going through seams and across ice,” Hakstol said. “He was very good tonight.”
“He made some huge saves and kept us alive,” forward Jordan Eberle added.
Wright finds OHL landing spot
Shane Wright, the Kraken’s fourth overall pick in 2022 and occasional lower-line center, was reassigned to the Ontario Hockey League following a gold-medal run with Canada’s World Junior squad, which he captained. He was quickly traded within the league to the Windsor Spitfires.
Kraken general manager Ron Francis wanted Wright to be dealt to a Memorial Cup contender before the OHL trade deadline, which was Tuesday. The Kingston Frontenacs, where Wright played 121 games in two seasons (71 goals, 89 assists), sat .500 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, while the Spitfires were three points out of first in the West on Tuesday.
Wright was acquired along with a conditional 14th-round pick from the Frontenacs for a tidy sum that included two players and multiple picks. The Spitfires tweeted a picture of Wright taking part in his first practice Tuesday.
Wright will see more game action than he was likely to in Seattle, which Kraken winger Eberle pointed to as a positive.
“I think what we forget sometimes is when you’re 18, 19, and you go high in the draft there’s a lot of guys who don’t play (in the NHL) at that age,” Eberle said Monday. “Sometimes you’ve got to sit back and understand that there’s one or two, maybe, and it’s not a bad thing.
“He’s a pro already. I fully expect him to be in a Kraken jersey soon.”
The Kraken can still recall Wright this season. However, with two additional NHL games, his three-year, entry-level contract will no longer “slide,” or extend, another year.