Final Buzzer: Matinee Ideal

NASHVILLE ­- Ok, Kraken fans, you can breathe easier now. Seattle has secured five of six possible standings points on this road trip so far, including a 7-2 Saturday win over Nashville to put the home team eight points behind Seattle in the Western Conference wild-card race.
The Kraken took a two-goal lead into the third period here in the always-loud Predators' home arena. The decibels notched up a higher volume than any note sung at the local Grand Ole Opry when Matt Duchene tipped a bad-angle shot near the Kraken goal line to send the puck through D-man Justin Schultz's legs and goaltender Philip Grubauer next. One minute into the third period, suddenly the score tightened to 3-2.
But a stellar group of Kraken players steadied the wobbly scenario less than three minutes later. With leading scorer Vince Dunn and rookie sensation Matty Beniers working a give-and-go to get puck movement going, Dunn wired the puck to leading goal scorer Jared McCann. Instead of shooting - he definitely showed a shoot-first mentality all afternoon ­- McCann slipped a perfect pass to Adam Larsson, who was moving up in the zone to fire a snapshot past Preds goalie Juuse Saros to make it 4-2.

Take note on Dave Hakstol's systems of play: Besides Larsson's seventh goal of the season charging the net, Dunn was actually net-front by the time his defensive part was shooting the puck. Wreaking havoc at the Predators net was a key factor in disrupting NSH goalie Juuse Saros, who leads the NHL in quality starts and goalie steals (both stats were marked "No" in
Saturday's Post-Game Instant-Analysis
created by colleague Alison Lukan and Sportlogiq, which you can find on the Kraken app and website).

Breaking the Game Open

McCann did collect his own goal, 35th on the season, a bit later in the four-score third period as the Kraken "smashed" this contest wide-open with goals from Matty Berniers, McCann, and Bjorkstrand to follow. Beniers was happy about scoring his 20th goal and 50th point in a banner rookie season, but more excited about the win against a Western Conference wild-card contender.
"It's huge, said Beniers, who was outstanding on the penalty kill again Saturday, particularly when Yanni Gourde was whistled for tripping quickly after the Predators scored early in the second period to halve the score to 2-1. "It's not just two points. You're taking two points away from them too."
"This trip is a lot of games four games in seven nights]. It's good for us to feel a little pressure, know it's a big game and be able to come through."
[Watch: Youtube Video

Tolvanen Scores Twice, Including Game-Winner

When Eeli Tolvanen was claimed on waivers by the Kraken in mid-December, the former 2017 first-round Nashville draft pick looked forward to the fresh start and getting more than fourth-line minutes with the Predators. And that's when he wasn't scratched from the lineup altogether.
On Saturday, Tolvanen scored the Kraken's first power-play goal in six games, then outfoxed former teammates and Finnish countryman Juuse Saros when the goalie broke up a breakaway try by Oliver Bjorkstrand. Tolvanen snagged Saros' outlet pass and fired in his second goal of the game, which Dave Hakstol called "the biggest play of the game." For Tolvanen, it's his first multi-goal game in the NHL.
"I feel like I was getting stuck on the fourth line [in Nashville]," Tolvanen said Thursday. "Getting into an opportunity playing with Gordo and Bjorkstrand, they're really good players. We've produced a lot of offense."
"What [Tolvanen] did today is what he's been doing for us all the way along," said Hakstol about the winger joining the Kraken lineup on Jan. 1. "You see he's got some chemistry there with his linemates. The power-play goal was a big one for us. It hasn't been going well. It was a great screen by [Alex] Wennberg in front and great timing on the shot by 'Tolvy' ... We've come to count on him."

Momentum Swings Stopped

The first shifts after an opponent's goal are always critical, but especially so in a close game during a playoff race. After Nashville cracked the code on Philipp Grubauer early second period, scoring on a rebound shot that was just the third shot on goal of the game, alternate captain Yanni Gourde was whistled for hooking soon after. But without elite penalty killer Gourde (Matty Beniers held down his spot), the Kraken PK units avoided a complete momentum meltdown to keep the score 2-1 in favor of Seattle.
Late in the frame, after ex-Pred Eeli Tolvanen tallied his second goal of the game against teammates with whom he was one as of mid-December, another momentum shift was in view. No penalty this time around. Just big saves in the waning middle-period minutes by Philipp Grubauer, who rejected nine of 10 shots in the second period after seeing just one shot on goal in the first 20 minutes. Exiting for the second intermission with a two-goal lead had to feel much better than a slimmer one-goal margin in a matchup that had playoffs-in-the-regular season written all over it.

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Momentum Stop, Extra Credit to Grubauer

But the biggest momentum crusher in the first 40 minutes was Grubauer stopping Nashville first-liner Philip Tomasino's breakaway attempt mid-second period. The right-handed 21-year-old (who has already played 95 NHL games) had plenty of time and space to skate hard up the right zone and start his moves by faking a forehand shot, then crossing in front of the Kraken goalie to attempt a backhand flip to tie this tense game. But Grubauer wasn't fooled, tracking Nashville's 2019 first-rounder and fully extending his right leg pad to keep Seattle ahead. Grubauer said post-game he wasn't sure if the puck actually hit his pad, but Kraken video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan confirmed the puck actually caromed off his skate blade. In any case, the turning point was achieved in Grubauer's first game back from leaving last Saturday's home game mid-second period.
"If you think back to the second period, halfway through the period, they didn't have a ton of chances," said a satisfied Dave Hakstol to the post-game media scrum. "But they had the breakaway and that's a big point in the hockey game in terms of momentum."
Hakstol loved the fortitude of his squad when Nashville closed the game from a two-goal margin to a one-goal game twice in the first 40 minutes: "We wanted to challenge ourselves to be a little bit better than we were [Thursday], just elevate a little bit in competitive areas of the game. We had a really good response. Obviously, the start was good ... and every time they would get one back, we had a response."

Powering Up

The Kraken stepped onto the ice with no power-play goals in 11 attempts over the last five games. The power outage continued through the first two of three power play opportunities afforded Seattle in the opening 20 minutes. In a period during which the Kraken outshot Nashville 13 to one (the latter is a franchise record for a period), there was a dearth of shots and even attempts on the first pair of penalties.
But the third SEA power play of the period was indeed the proverbial - and highly welcomed - charm. In the second minute of the third man-advantage setup, Eeli Tolvanen took a cross-zone pass from Jared McCann. Choosing to forego a one-timer, the former Predator stickhandled the puck a bit while Alexander Wennberg skated in front of NSH goalie Juuse Saros in a moving screen. Tolvanen wristed a hard shot upper right corner past Saros' outstretched glove as he was incorrectly moving right because his sightline was expertly disturbed by Wennberg.

Fourth (Line)and Go

The Kraken coaching staff made a bold move of sorts before Saturday's showdown with Nashville. Fourth-line center Morgan Geekie was moved up to the second line to play right wing with Alex Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz, thereby breaking up a line that opened the scoring for Seattle in the first two games of this vital road trip. Ryan Donato subbed in as the fourth-line center with Daniel Sprong and Brandon Tanev.
Smart move, it turns out. On his first shift in a game since last Saturday at home against Edmonton, Donato took a savvy banked pass from Tanev, who was facing backward toward the Kraken line. Donato gathered the puck in the neutral zone, then drove to the Nashville net. Star goalie Juuse Saros made the initial stop but Sprong, despite a defender hassling him, bladed the puck past Saros for his 19th goal of the season and second on this road trip.

In fact, it is the second time this week Sprong scored in the early minutes and the third time in the three road affairs the fourth-liners have ignited the scoreboard. Tuesday night, Tanev opened the scoring at 2:28 into the win in Dallas with Sprong getting the primary assist. Thursday, Sprong took a crazy-good pass from the aforementioned Geekie to make it 1-0 just 2:32 into the first of two games here in Nashville. Saturday's first goal came 3:13 into the matinee.