SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A somewhat depleted Kraken squad still generated plenty of offense Friday night and looked to have once again seen their patience rewarded late.
They got a tying goal from Mason Marchment, his second of the game, off a cross-ice pass from Mason Marchment just under eight minutes into the final period. But Lindgren wound up taking a penalty a few minutes later and the Utah Mammoth cashed-in on the power play to send the Kraken to a 5-3 defeat at Delta Center.
Onetime Seattle Thunderbirds junior forward Dylan Guenther scored the decisive goal with the man-advantage off a one-timed shot from the left faceoff circle with 7:05 to go that Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer had no chance on.
The Kraken had a late power play chance with 4:36 to go but failed to generate the tying marker.
JJ Peterka and Lawson Crouse added empty net goals after with Grubauer pulled for an extra attacker to clinch it. Kraken injury call-up Ben Meyers scored on a bang-bang play in close for the Kraken in the final minute with the game by then out of reach.
The Kraken entered the day announcing that winger Jared McCann would miss three weeks with a lower body injury suffered the final minute of the Kraken’s game Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kraken scored with 25 seconds to go in that game after being awarded a power play on the sequence in which McCann was tripped and injured, then wound up winning 3-2 in overtime.
McCann is the latest forward out multiple weeks, joining Jaden Schwartz and Berkly Catton and forcing the Kraken into some creative shuffling to balance their lines.
Tolvanen was moved up to the top line left wing spot while Freddy Gaudreau was elevated to the second line at right wing. Beyond the injuries, the Kraken have had several players battling through illness in recent days, which likely played into some of the line decisions.
Nonetheless, the Kraken peppered Utah goalie Karel Vajmelka with 35 shots and a number of near misses. Marchment, added to the second line with Gaudreau and Chandler Stephenson, wound up opening the scoring for the Kraken just under four minutes into the second period, splitting the defense and getting in alone before making an impressive backhand move in-tight on netminder Vajmelka. It was the third goal of the season for Marchment and only his second since opening night, but the skillful backhander served as a reminder of how deft his hands can be with the puck.
But then, just five minutes later, Marchment coughed the puck up to Nick Schmaltz just inside the Utah zone and watched him race the length of the ice before beating Grubauer with an impressive set of quick hand moves. Spokane native and onetime Kraken forward Kailer Yamamoto then scored a disputed go-ahead goal before the second period ended and put the visitors up 2-1 by the second intermission.
Yamamoto’s goal was initially waved off by the referee due to a goaltender interference call against Mammoth forward Liam O’Brien. But the Mammoth challenged the call and got it overturned after replays showed O’Brien was outside the crease when making slight contact with Grubauer.
Things were starting to look bleak by the final period with Utah still leading by a goal and having just fended off a 5-on-3 power play for 1:42 as the Kraken fired plenty of pucks Vajmelka’s way but couldn’t put any in. The Kraken even called timeout with 31 seconds to go in the first penalty, likely in an effort to generate more quality shots from close range.
Right after the timeout, Eeli Tolvanen wound up for a slapper from the high slot, but the puck was stopped and deflected out of play.
But the Kraken weren’t done and not long after Tolvanen’s miss, Lindgren had the puck near the left point and spotted Marchment standing open in the right circle. Lindgren fed Marchment the pass and the forward didn’t miss with the one-timer for his first multi-goal night of the season.
Alas, it was not to be. Lindgren took a cross-checking penalty a few minutes later and the Mammoth made sure the Kraken’s end-of-game luck did not continue.
