Grubauer, Melanson Heroes in Road Win

CALGARY – Oh, so many places to start with the Kraken’s 5-1 win up here in Alberta, extending the Seattle point streak to eight games. The Kraken are now 19-14-7 and moved into third place in the Pacific Division. Boston visits Tuesday to start a short two-game homestand.

It’s tempting to tout the fourth line striking again with Jacob Melanson’s first NHL goal.

Maybe point to fourth-liner Ben Meyers taking part in a shift with third-line center Shane Wright, creating a 2-on-1 odd-man rush in which Meyers fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Wright, who, thank you very much, found a terrific way to celebrate his 22nd birthday. The Wright goal put the Kraken in the lead for good and exacted revenge for a road loss to Calgary on Dec. 18, which was the last regulation loss for Seattle.

Vince Dunn making it 3-1 on a give-and-go with defensive partner Adam Larsson was good stuff too. The play started in the neutral zone and finished with Larsson earning his 250^th NHL point and Dunn shooting a laser beam of a shot in traffic past Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, who was 8-3 in his last 11 games before Monday. The Flames were 12-3-1 at home coming into the night.

But, in the end, the glory needs to start with goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who made so many saves when his team needed it most that one loses count. Suffice to say, he finished with 41 saves, and more than a baker’s dozen could be tallied, a big stop with the game in balance. Grubauer faced 18 high-danger chances on the night.

Head coach Lane Lambert was highly appreciative of Grubauer’s effort on the night, especially during the first two periods. Grubauer handled five challenging shots in a late second-period successful penalty kill that could have changed the whole game.

“I thought in the first two periods, I thought we gave up too much,” said Lambert. “I thought Grubi was amazing for us. In the third period, we were much better defensively. From a penalty killing standpoint, you just have to try and give your goaltender the best opportunity to make the save. We haven't allowed too many seam passes of late. That's probably been the biggest turnaround [for the PK].”

Grubauer has won his last four starts, allowing just four goals on 141 shots. That’s a .972 save percentage and 1.00 goals against average, pretty Gruuuvy.

“He’s been reading the game real well,” said Lambert. “His focus has been really solid. Our goalie coach [Colin Zulianello] has a good relationship, and he's done a really good job with Grubui. I just think his professionalism ... we've had three goalies here ... Philip worked hard over the summer and just came in saying, “I'm going to try to win a job and play more. That's what he's doing.”

In case you are wondering, Freddy Gaudreau scored an empty-net goal late, and then Matty Beniers made it 5-1 with two minutes left, and Wolf was back in goal for Calgary.

Chapter and Verse on Melanson’s First NHL Goal

There was hockey poetry here when 2021 fifth-rounder Jacob Melanson scored his first NHL goal early second period. First of all, the scoring play was started by fellow 2021 draft classmate Ryan Winteron. The two were frequent linemates for American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley; Winterton simply knew Melanson would be back door as Winterton took a shot, grabbed the rebound, then skated behind the net to feed Melanson.

“It’s something you dream of as a kid,” said Melanson in the visitors' locker, sporting a fresh gash across the bridge of his nose and not minding one bit. “Like I’ve said before, playing in NHL games is cool, but getting that first goal is unreal. And it's cool that it came from ‘Wints.’ That means a lot.”

Melanson, whom veteran winger Jared McCann fondly called a human “bowling ball” Thursday morning when talking about Melanson’s hits, wasn’t about to miss this opportunity. He sure-handedly rammed the puck into the net. As for the hits, Melanson now has notched 45 hits in his 11 games since being called up from the AHL.

With his godmother and her family in the stands, Melanson didn’t skimp on an emotional goal celebration with a no-holds-barred fist pump. By the time he reached the left corner of the Calgary zone, he was joined by buddy Winterton, fellow fourth-liner Ben Meyers, and finally Ryker Evans, who knows something about American Hockey League development himself and, of course, is part of the 2021 draft class as he was picked 35^th overall in the second round.

“It's awesome to see the CV boys doing well,” said Melanson. “I mean, I know the fan base down there is proud of us. It's good to see.”

First Time in Nine Game Foe Scores First

Calgary jumped out to a 1-0 lead six-plus minutes in the first period when Flames forward Ryan Lomberg fired a mid-range shot at starting goalie Philipp Grubauer’s leg pads. The puck bounced out to CGY linemate Adam Klapka, who batted it into the net before Grubauer or defenseman Ryker Evans could react. It’s the first time in the last nine games that Seattle’s opponent scored first.

Four minutes later, Grubauer prevented a two-nothing hole for his teammates. Adam Larsson was whistled for hooking Flames star Jonathan Huberdeau on a clean breakaway. Correctly, a penalty shot was awarded to Huberdeau. But a patient Grubauer held his ground in the crease and turned away the CGY forward’s attempt with a flick of his leg pad. Overall, Grubauer stopped 12 of 13 shots on goal, facing six high-danger scoring chances per Natural Stat Trick.

As for the Kraken, they generated seven shots on goal and four high-danger chances, the best of which came from rookie forward Berkly Catton and veteran winger Eeli Tolvanen. Catton created a first-shot-and-rebound-shot sequence, but parried on both by former WHL Everett star goaltender Dustin Wolf. Catton now has 11 shots on goal in his last six games and is clearly becoming more confident at carrying the puck up ice through neutral ice and into the offensive zone.

Evans Back Home -- Again

Calgary native Ryker Evans was back in his hometown for a second game in two-plus weeks, dating back to Dec. 18, when the Flames downed Seattle before the Kraken then went on a seven-game point streak.

Head coach Lane Lambert was asked to assess Evans’ play during the recent 5-0-2 stretch at Monday's morning skate.

“When Riker moves his feet, he has success,” said Lambert. “So we just have to keep him moving his feet. He can skate. That's certainly his ability. I think he's been doing that better lately than he was at the beginning when he first came back [Nov. 8 after starting the season on the injured list]. But he's playing well.”