Kakko scores winner, Kraken fend off Golden Knights for 4th straight win

LAS VEGAS -- Kaapo Kakko scored the game-winner at 3:18 of the third period to give the Seattle Kraken their fourth straight win with a 3-2 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

Kakko broke the 2-2 tie when he backhanded the rebound of Adam Larsson's shot through Vegas defenseman Kaedan Korczak's legs and past Golden Knights goalie Akira Schmid.

“[Being tied 2-2] is a good spot,” Kakko said. “That was a mindset we had. We've got to win the period, and that’s what we did.”

Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann also scored, while Chandler Stephenson had two assists and Joey Daccord made 27 saves for the Kraken (26-19-9), who have won their past four games and five of their past six.

"We haven’t had bad periods," Tolvanen said. "We know [the standings are] pretty tight. I don’t think we should look at it that much. We just want to play as many games as we can."

Ivan Barbashev and Mitch Marner scored, while Jack Eichel tallied two assists and Schmid made 20 saves for the Golden Knights (25-15-14), who have lost six of their last seven games (1-4-2).

“Our first period, again, we’re not engaged enough,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “No reason not to start on time. We’re at home, made a day off [Friday]. ... You take time away from the rink, it should help you be ready to go.”

Tolvanen scored at 6:50 of the first period, roofing a rebound off a Ryan Winterton shot over Schmid's left pad to make it 1-0.

“We talked about our starts,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “The guys have done a good job of making sure that they’re ready to go. It’s not that they weren’t before, but there’s just a little extra focus that we had to have. They’ve done it.”

McCann pushed it to 2-0 at 13:04 on the power play. McCann got the quick pass at the right circle from Vince Dunn and elevated the puck over Schmid glove side with a snap shot. The score was McCann's 200th career goal.

Barbashev cut it to 2-1 at 8:52 of the second period. Eichel's pass from behind the goal line found Barbashev at the right post, where he dropped to his left knee and got a wrist shot past Daccord.

Marner tied the game 2-2 at 19:48 on the power play when his wrist shot from the slot snuck through traffic and past Daccord.

“We just have to make some plays, get the fans going because now it’s like we give up one goal and it’s, ‘Here we go again,’” Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl said. “We stop playing. We know this can happen. It will happen. Obviously, we will never score first every time, but we can’t just let in another one.

“We just have to be a good team.”

NOTES: McCann joined Matty Beniers (also 10 in Jan. 2026) as the second Kraken player with a 10-goal calendar month. … Eichel (two assists) became the third player in Golden Knights history with 40 career multiassist games, following Shea Theodore (53) and Mark Stone (48).