Wright scores 2, Kraken defeat Maple Leafs for 3rd win in row

SEATTLE -- Shane Wright scored two goals for the Seattle Kraken in a 5-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Brandon Montour and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist, and Matty Beniers scored his fourth goal in five games for the Kraken (25-19-9), who won their third straight and fourth in their past five. Joey Daccord made 29 saves.

“We’re dialed into playing the right way,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “It’s not always perfect, but when you try and play the right way, I’ve said it all year long, often times you end up on the right side of it, and you give yourself a good chance to win. And that’s what we’ve been doing lately, so credit to our guys.”

Nicholas Robertson and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs (24-21-9), who have lost six in a row (0-5-1). Anthony Stolarz made 17 saves.

“I thought it was a good effort. I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We made a couple mistakes, and it was in our net, but overall, we had our opportunities to score more goals. They didn’t go in. Their goalie played well.”

Beniers made it 1-0 on Seattle’s first shot of the game at 1:21 of the first period, taking a feed from McCann in the slot and snapping a shot off Stolarz’s left pad and in. The goal was Beniers’ 10th in January, setting a Seattle record for goals in a month.

“They’re going in for him,” Lambert said. “I think he’s been good all year long, and it’s nice to see. … Any time you have a player on your team that’s getting rewarded, I’m going to say it’s nice to see them get rewarded, but he’s doing a lot of good things.”

Robertson tied it 1-1 at 15:02 on a one-timer from the top of the left circle.

“I think we’ve just got to execute, focus on details,” Robertson said. “I know it’s a broken record, but we’ve got to bounce back and finish this trip off right.”

Wright regained a 2-1 lead at 6:23 of the second period. Jaden Schwartz’s snap shot from the right point was stopped, but the rebound off Stolarz’s right pad went to Wright, who chipped a backhand past Stolarz’s blocker.

“Great play by ‘Schwartzy’ to just kind of throw it on net there,” Wright said. “And I got a good bounce in the middle and just finished it off.”

Schwartz had left the game in the first period after a knee-on-knee collision with Roy but returned in the second.

“I can't say enough about [Schwartz’s performance], actually,” Lambert said. “There was a point in time when we were down to 10 forwards. I think that Jaden showed us what veteran leadership and a guy who's been around the game a long time can do. He knew what position and what situation we were in, and he came back.”

Montour pushed it to 3-1 just 31 seconds later at 6:54 after Frederick Gaudreau rushed the puck through the neutral zone and passed to Montour in the right circle, who snapped a shot that squeezed through Stolarz’s five-hole.

“Great play [by Gaudreau],” Montour said. “He’s very patient, he’s coming with a bunch of speed, and I think I was as well. So, great play by him.”

Rielly cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 6:04 of the third period, with a wrist shot from the left point that floated through traffic and under the crossbar.

“It’s challenging [to remain positive right now], but I think it’s important,” Rielly said. “I think we’re in a position where we have to dig our way out of this slump and get back into contention and start playing better hockey.”

Wright made it 4-2 with his second goal of the game at 8:32. Montour disrupted a pass at the top of the right circle. Wright picked up the loose puck and snapped it into the top right corner.

“‘Monty’ made a good read, good stick in the middle,” Wright said. “I had a lane to shoot and was able to put it in the net.”

McCann scored an empty-net goal at 17:23 for the 5-2 final.

NOTES: Kraken forward Berkly Catton left the game after colliding head-first with Toronto defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson at 12:04 of the first period. “I haven’t checked on him,” Lambert said. “[He was] obviously evaluated, didn’t finish the game, so we’ll see how he is tomorrow.” … The Kraken swept the season series against the Maple Leafs for their first time in franchise history.