McCann scores late in OT, Kraken edge Golden Knights

SEATTLE -- Jared McCann scored with four seconds remaining in overtime, lifting the Seattle Kraken to a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.

The goal was McCann's 400th NHL point.

After a Matty Beniers slap shot from the high slot hit Vegas goaltender Adin Hill in the chest, it dropped to McCann at the top of the crease. McCann swatted it into an open net as Hill fell to the ice.

“I knew there wasn’t much time on the clock,” McCann said. “Matty made a great play, obviously, turned back and created space from the guy, and I just tried to do the same at the net.”

Beniers also scored, and Vince Dunn had two assists for the Kraken (2-0-0), who have won their first two games of the season for the first time in franchise history. Joey Daccord had 26 saves.

Seattle entered the game with a 3-11-1 record in franchise history against Vegas.

“They’re a good hockey team, we know that,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “Past is past, I guess, so to speak. It’s important for our team to understand that what we’re doing is a formula to have success. You’re not always going to win, and that’s the way it goes. The outcome was great, but had it been slightly different, I wouldn’t have been unhappy with our hockey team’s effort.”

Pavel Dorofeyev scored his fifth goal in three games for the Golden Knights (1-0-2). Hill had 20 saves.

“I’m just trying to simplify the game as much as you can,” Dorofeyev said. “When I see the opportunity to take the shot from there, you just take it and go from there.”

Beniers broke through to make it 1-0 with a power-play goal at 7:58 of the second period. Jordan Eberle made a pass between his legs from behind the goal line to Beniers at the top of the crease, who deked to his backhand and tucked it around Hill’s left skate.

“It was an awesome pass [by Eberle],” Beniers said. “He’s an extremely gifted passer, we all know that, and he put that on display right there by going between his legs. I’m right in front all alone, so he set that whole thing up.”

Said Lambert: “It wasn’t quote, unquote a blind pass, he knew exactly where he was going. He had surveyed that situation while the puck was coming around the wall, so he just made a nice touch play there, which he has the skill to do. And then, the finish [by Beniers] was elite, so good play by both those guys.”

Dorofeyev tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 4:11 of the third period. Mark Stone fed a pass from behind the net to Dorofeyev in the left circle, who then sent a one-timer over Daccord’s glove.

Dorofeyev had a hat trick in Vegas’s season-opening 6-5 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, then scored in a 4-3 overtime win at the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

"I think he's just continuing on from what he did last year,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “He’s a confident guy, he’s a little bit stronger this year, he’s a year older, he knows the League better, and he knows he can score in this League. So, we're looking for him, too, as a shooter. He's not deferring.”

NOTES: Dorofeyev became just the second Golden Knights player to record five goals through the first three games of a campaign, joining James Neal in 2017-18 (five). … McCann’s overtime goal was the latest overtime goal in franchise history, eclipsing Eberle (4:55 of OT on Oct. 24, 2023). It also marked the latest overtime goal League-wide since Utah’s Dylan Guenther scored with one second left in the extra frame on Feb. 4, 2025 (4:59).