TEMPE, Ariz. — Jared McCann scored his fortieth objective of the season and the Seattle Kraken reached the 100-point mark of their second NHL season, beating the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Monday evening.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz and Matty Beniers additionally scored for the Kraken, who gained their fifth recreation in a row and are 26-10-4 on the street. They beat the Coyotes for the third time in eight days after successful twice at residence final week.
The Kraken had 60 factors final season, next-to-last within the league – Montreal had 55. Only the Vegas Golden Knights, with 109 factors of their debut season of 2017-18, reached 100 factors sooner amongst NHL growth groups.
“A lot of these guys that were here last year, they need to take a lot of credit for that,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol mentioned. “That being said, the group took it in stride and we get the opportunity to get ready for the playoffs.”
Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 pictures for the Kraken. Joey Daccord, who performed for Arizona State, completed the ultimate 1:16 in objective for Seattle.
Jack McBain scored for the Coyotes, who’ve one win of their final 11 video games. Ivan Prosvetov had 33 saves for Arizona.
PHOTOS: Kraken win fifth straight, attain 100 factors, prime Coyotes 4-1
Seattle is assured of at the least the highest wild card within the Western Conference. The Kraken clinched a playoff spot in Thursday’s win over Arizona however want some assist to remain above Los Angeles for third place.
The Coyotes scored first when McBain deflected Liam O’Brien’s shot from the blue line previous Grubauer 9:22 into the sport.
Seattle tied it on the facility play at 3:12 of the second interval. Bjorkstrand celebrated his twenty eighth birthday together with his twentieth objective of the season, a one-timer from Alex Wennberg. Eeli Tolvanen additionally assisted on the objective which got here with Arizona’s Barrett Hayton off for high-sticking.
“Our first period scared me,” Hakstol mentioned. “They made a mistake at the end of the shift and then now we’re playing defense tired. And that’s when bad things happen. So that’s why the power play in the second was really important.”
Schultz got here out of the penalty field – he was in for boarding – and scored unassisted on a breakaway at 14:56, eight seconds after the penalty expired.
Just 1:14 later, Beniers scored his twenty fourth objective with McCann and Will Borgen aiding. McCann picked up a objective on a wrist shot throughout an influence play within the third interval, with Schultz choosing up an help.
McBain and Seattle’s Carson Soucy dropped the gloves with 1:16 left within the recreation.
“Special teams played a big role in that game. They scored two on their power play,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny mentioned. When requested if it was robust going through a crew 3 times inside 4 video games, Tourigny mentioned, “I don’t think they found it tough.”
Arizona dropped to 21-15-4 at residence. The Coyotes, with one residence recreation remaining, completed 7-25-9 away from Mullett Arena.
Clayton Keller remained at 37 targets and 85 factors, one level off the Coyotes single-season factors excessive of 86 set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97. The franchise report is 132 factors, set by Teemu Selanne in 1992-93 when the crew was in Winnipeg.
ICE CHIPS
Kraken LW Vince Dunn was scratched for unknown causes. Dunn had performed in each recreation for Seattle this season till Monday and has 14 targets and a team-high 50 assists. … LW Jaden Schwartz (relaxation) didn’t play for the second straight recreation for the Kraken. … Keller and Seattle’s Brandon Tanev had been their groups’ nominees for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded yearly to the participant who greatest exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport. Both gamers rebounded from severe accidents final 12 months. Keller suffered a damaged femur and Tanev had a torn ACL.
NEXT
Kraken: At Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Coyotes: Close common season at residence Thursday in opposition to Vancouver.
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