Kraken clinch first playoff berth, beat Coyotes 4-2

SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken clinched the primary playoff berth in franchise historical past and set an NHL document for victories in an enlargement workforce’s second season by beating the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 on Thursday night time.

Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Matty Beniers and Vince Dunn scored for the Kraken, who earned their forty fourth win – essentially the most by a second-year NHL workforce because the Original Six period, which led to 1968. It’s a giant turnaround for Seattle, which was 27-49-6 in its first season and completed final within the Pacific Division.

“It feels great,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol stated of his workforce’s playoff berth. “Day One, that’s where you want to work toward and be part of. The group in the room there earned it, they earned it from Day One.”

Philipp Grubauer had 27 saves for Seattle, which gained its third straight sport.

“We’ve got a special group here,” Eberle stated. “From Day One, I think a lot of people have written us off. To get to this point is obviously an accomplishment, but I think this group feels we’re not done.”

Barrett Hayton and Laurent Dauphin scored for Arizona, which has dropped 9 in a row. Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 pictures.

PHOTOS: Kraken clinch first playoff berth, beat Coyotes 4-2

“We made a step in the right direction today, and we want to finish strong,” coach André Tourigny stated. “We have three games in front of our fans.”

McCann, who additionally had two assists, scored his team-high thirty eighth objective at 19:36 within the first interval to place the Kraken forward. Dunn adopted that up with a objective 28 seconds into the second interval. Eberle sneaked one previous Vejmelka at 5:52 to make it 3-0.

Hayton scored Arizona’s first objective on the 12-minute mark of the second, and Dauphin scored his objective at 19:21 within the third. Beniers made it 4-1 at 16:09 of the third interval along with his twenty third objective of the season.

Eberle had the second of his two assists on the objective, making it an eight-point night time for the road of McCann, Beniers, and Eberle.

Beniers, a rookie, can be making his first playoff look, however doesn’t appear to be too nervous about what is certain to be an intense environment.

“I know it’s going to be harder, faster, more physical,” Beniers stated. “But I think we’ve got a team that plays the right way all the time. That’s how we got to this position. I think if we keep doing a lot more of the same, we’ll be just fine in the playoffs.”

Hakstol gave Seattle followers who’ve but to expertise playoff hockey an concept of what to anticipate.

“I can’t describe it, it’s a whole different level,” Hakstol stated. “I seen that our followers tonight have been unbelievable as soon as once more. Right from the drop of the puck, you can really feel that pleasure, and you can really feel a few of the depth as the sport went on. They’ll understand it once they stroll within the constructing for that first sport.

“They’ll feel it when the puck drops and then everybody will know what it feels like.”

NOTES

Eberle’s objective gave him scores in three straight video games, his longest scoring streak since November 2021. … Seattle’s win was its second house victory over the Coyotes in 4 days. The Kraken additionally defeated Arizona 8-1 on Monday. … The Kraken and Coyotes will play once more Monday in Arizona – their third assembly within the span of per week.

UP NEXT

Coyotes: Host Anaheim on Saturday.