Final Buzzer: Sword Fight

BUFFALO, NY - Playing in the back end of just their second back-to-back this season, the Kraken faced a tight checking Buffalo team in a game that had a slow start. And while this was the first time these two teams have met that Seattle didn't score first, the Kraken would ultimately battle back and uphold their perfect record (4-0) over the Sabres.
For the sixth straight game, four different goal scorers got on the scoresheet for Seattle marking a franchise record. But before that effort was complete, in his first game action since Dec. 30, Philipp Grubauer came up big for his team. Before the Kraken were able to claim the lead in the final period, he had numerous big stops including against Vinny Hinostroza on the breakaway, Alex Tuch, and Victor Olofsson. In total, Grubauer turned away 46 of the 50 unblocked pucks sent his way and prevented 1.29 goals that should have gone in given the shot quality he faced.

Across his career, Philipp Grubauer is now 8-1-2 against the Buffalo Sabres and extends his win streak against them to six. His head coach described the goalie's game as "excellent."
"I think the first period was a little rusty," Grubauer said. "But after that, I found the game and was good from that."
The Kraken have now scored at least four goals in four straight games marking a franchise record. They extend their win streak to six games and remain perfect both in the calendar year of 2023 and on the road trip.
"We had our ups and downs," Jordan Eberle said. "We obviously started a little bit slow I thought. (We) found a way to come back in the first. The second period was much the same. We started well in the third, obviously, and then held on. . . .(The Sabres) played well, and they created lots. Grubi was excellent tonight. He made some huge saves and kept us ahead."
What stood out? Let's dig in.

Special Teams Advantage

The Kraken average just over three penalties per game. They hit that total just over 25 minutes into the game, and each was a risky proposition since Buffalo has the second-best power play in the league. The first two penalties were successfully killed by the Kraken. But the third time the Kraken went to the box, Buffalo broke through. Right off the faceoff, Jeff Skinner gained possession of the puck and sent it to the top of the zone. Rasmus Dahlin, NHL's third star of the week, scored his thirteenth of the season from above the circles re-establishing the Sabres lead.
But,the Kraken did have it in them to respond. After the second successful penalty kill, the Kraken got a turn on the man advantage and made it count. 11 seconds after Seattle returned to full strength, Casey Mittelstadt was called for the same infraction (holding). The Kraken power play lined up and as the puck rimmed around the boards to the top of the zone, Andre Burakovsky was there to maintain possession. He fired and Jordan Eberle, who had established control of the lower right circle, redirected the puck past Eric Comrie for the tying goal.

"We've started to win special teams and not just the PK, the power play too," Eberle said. "We've started to, to hang in there. There's nights where we were getting, you know, outworked on both power play and penalty kill and that was losing his game. So I think that's been a big, big piece of why we're starting to win again."
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Additionally, add in a late period three penalty kill, and the Kraken succeeded at three of the short-handed situations they faced in the game.
Later in the second period, after the Sabres' power play score, the Kraken surged in their attack, and it culminated in another tying goal. Jamie Oleksiak began moving the play north by sending the puck to Oliver Bjorkstrand. He shifted play to the opposite side of the ice with an east-West pass to Justin Schultz. Schultz used speed to gain the zone while Yanni Gourde with his typical fiery play drove net front where Schultz delivered the puck for the finish.
"He didn't see me for a second, I was screaming at (Schultz) to let him know where I was. He made a great play and I was able to put it behind (Comrie)," Gourde told ROOT Sports NW's Piper Shaw during the second intermission.

Act Like You Beniers Before

Stop us if you've heard this before, but Matty Beniers is having a heck of a rookie campaign. The Kraken finally broke through for their first lead of the game and that goal came off the stick of this year's All-Star, Beniers. Andre Burakovsky started to confound the defense by maneuvering around the zone before passing to the ever-offensively-minded Vince Dunn. His shot bounced off Beniers, who'd managed to get net front. Beniers then had the tap-in for the go-ahead score.

"The goal that he scored at the start of the third period is a little bit indicative of how he plays," Dave Hakstol said. "He finds a way inside. . . On the call tonight, he's on top of the blue paint and finds a way to be able to tap one in. We know he's got that side to his game. He's got some dynamic ability to him in open ice and finding plays, but he's also got that moxie and the grit to go to some of those hard areas."
Beniers has now scored in five straight road games becoming the first rookie to do so since the 2017-18 season when Brock Boeser accomplished the same feat.
Beniers continues to lead all rookies in total points (34) and goals scored (16).
Beniers also played an integral part in the fourth Kraken goal of the game that would ultimately stand as the game-winner. Using one of the most dangerous passes In the game, the former Wolverine passed to Schultz from below the goal line who had the perfect finish from the slot to extend Seattle's win to two goals. This marked Beniers third straight multi-point game.

By the Numbers

Here's a look at our data-driven Instant Analysis from Sportlogiq (click
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