WINNIPEG, Manitoba — In a game with odd bounces and poetic justice, the Kraken couldn’t solve Jets goaltender David Rittich in the shootout and fell 3-2 on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre.
A zigzagging puck put the Kraken ahead with less than a minute left in the second period. The Kraken power play came out and Jared McCann got two of the most fortuitous bounces Seattle has seen all season. He fired – not even particularly hard – directly at the ankles of Winnipeg’s Dylan DeMelo. The puck shot off DeMelo and across the ice, where it glanced off Winnipeg’s Mason Appleton and slid directly into the half-open net.
On his 28th birthday, Kraken forward John Hayden got the nod on the fourth line in place of Daniel Sprong. He scored his second goal in just four Kraken appearances this season to tie the score at 1. Morgan Geekie found Hayden pinching in and put a redirection-ready puck on his stick.
Sprong is the team’s third-leading goal scorer, but he’s quieted lately. He hasn’t found the net in eight outings.
But fair was fair. Midway through the third period, Pierre-Luc Dubois fired a puck in off Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn to tie the score at 2. Dubois also got the winner in the shootout.
Winnipeg convincingly killed off a double minor for high-sticking during the first period. They were down to four skaters and three sticks when a twig snapped along the boards less than halfway through. With dad Dave Lowry, a Kraken assistant coach, looking on from behind the opposing bench, Jets center Adam Lowry handed his own stick off and prowled the exterior, throwing his leg forward to block a shot from Kraken forward Jordan Eberle. That drew a roar from the crowd.
As the latter penalty wound down, Seattle’s Alex Wennberg had a chance to spin and fire from just outside the crease but opted to pass and the chance fizzled out. Wennberg has the second-fewest shots on goal (67) among forwards who have been with team all season.
Kraken defenseman Will Borgen sent a hard shot off the crossbar in the third period before Dubois tied the score. In his second straight start for Seattle, Philipp Grubauer stopped a breakaway in order to nudge the game to overtime. He was credited with 38 saves.
The Jets got a 2-on-1 in overtime that turned into a one-on-one showdown with Grubauer. Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler’s bid crept wide of the net.