Kraken reach 100 points, beat Coyotes 4-1 for 5th straight win

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jared McCann scored his 40th goal of the season and the Seattle Kraken reached the 100-point mark in their second NHL season, beating the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Monday night.

Seattle Kraken 4, Arizona Coyotes 1: Stats

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who won their fifth game in a row and are 26-10-4 on the road. They beat the Coyotes for the third time in eight days after winning twice at home last week.

Philipp Grubauer stopped 22 shots for the Kraken. Joey Daccord, who played for Arizona State, finished the final 1:16 in goal for Seattle.

Jack McBain scored for the Coyotes, who have one win in their last 11 games. Ivan Prosvetov had 33 saves for Arizona.

Seattle is assured of at least the top wild card in the Western Conference. The Kraken clinched a playoff spot in Thursday’s win over Arizona but need some help to stay above Los Angeles for third place.

The Coyotes scored first when McBain deflected Liam O’Brien’s shot from the blue line past Grubauer 9:22 into the game.

Seattle tied it on the power play at 3:12 of the second period. Bjorkstrand celebrated his 28th birthday with his 20th goal of the season, a one-timer from Alex Wennberg. Eeli Tolvanen also assisted on the goal which came with Arizona’s Barrett Hayton off for high-sticking.

happy bjorkday! 🎁🥳 pic.twitter.com/dMV6GZN9uM

— x – Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 11, 2023

Schultz came out of the penalty box — he was in for boarding — and scored unassisted on a breakaway at 14:56, eight seconds after the penalty expired.

"andddd, i'll take that thank you very much" -schultzy, probably. pic.twitter.com/jOBbsrbKh1

— x – Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 11, 2023

Just 1:14 later, Beniers scored his 24th goal with McCann and Will Borgen assisting.

🐰 🐰 🐰 pic.twitter.com/yu7l8sLUcC

— x – Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 11, 2023

McCann picked up a goal on a power play in the third period, with Schultz picking up an assist.

4️⃣0️⃣ pic.twitter.com/mRCuW43xCs

— x – Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 11, 2023

McBain and Seattle’s Carson Soucy dropped the gloves with 1:16 left in the game.

Arizona dropped to 21-15-4 at home. The Coyotes, with one home game remaining, finished 7-25-9 away from Mullett Arena.

Clayton Keller remained 37 goals and 85 points, one point off the Coyotes single-season points high of 86 set by Keith Tkachuk in 1996-97. The franchise record is 132 points, set by Teemu Selanne in 1992-93 when the team was in Winnipeg.

ICE CHIPS

Kraken LW Vince Dunn was scratched for unknown reasons. Dunn had played in every game for Seattle this season until Monday and has 14 goals and a team-high 50 assists. … LW Jaden Schwartz (rest) did not play for the second straight game for the Kraken. … Keller and Seattle’s Brandon Tanev were their teams’ nominees for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game. Both players rebounded from serious injuries last year. Keller suffered a broken femur and Tanev had a torn ACL.

NEXT

Seattle Kraken: At Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Arizona Coyotes: Close regular season at home Thursday against Vancouver.

By The Numbers: Stats that explain why Seattle Kraken are playoff bound in Year 2