Seattle Kraken score 3 in third period to beat Utah 5-2

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Kraken scored three goals in the third period to finish off a 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday.

Seattle Kraken 5, Utah Hockey Club 2: Box score

Jaden Schwartz broke a 2-2 tie with 12:38 remaining, Matty Beniers made it a 4-2 game a few minutes later with his sixth goal of the season, and Jared McCann finished it off with an empty-net goal with 1:49 left in a fight-filled first meeting between Seattle and Utah.

Logan Cooley gave Utah a 1-0 lead on a first period power-play goal, but Yanni Gourde tied it for Seattle with 1:54 remaining, and Andre Burakovsky tipped one in 51 seconds later to give the Kraken the lead.

Utah’s Alexander Kerfoot snuck one past Kraken goaltender Phillip Grubauer with 59 seconds left in the second period to tie the game at two apiece.

Grubauer finished with 28 saves, while Utah’s Karel Vejmelka had 28.

Recent Kraken acquisition Kaapo Kakko had two assists in his first home game.

Takeaways

Utah: Utah’s offense has struggled lately, scoring two goals or fewer in each of its past three games. Utah has won just two games this season where it scored fewer than three goals.

Seattle Kraken: Seattle seems to have found its late-game magic. It was the second consecutive game Seattle scored three goals in the third period.

Key moment

Schwartz’s goal made up for one he had taken away back in the first period because the Kraken was offside. That goal would have tied it at 1-all. His makeup goal in the third period proved to be more valuable.

Key Seattle Kraken stat

3 — Schwartz had a three-point night, scoring his 12th goal of the season while providing assists on Gourde’s and Burakovsky’s goals. It was his second 3-point game of the season.

Up next

Utah will play at Edmonton on Tuesday, while the Kraken will host Vancouver on Thursday night.

Kaapo Kakko excited for fresh start with Seattle Kraken