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Third time’s a charm.
The Seattle Kraken, surviving a wild second period, turned a pair of Carson Soucy goals and a fantastic debut by Daniel Sprong into a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes, Tuesday before 11,670 fans at Gila River Arena.
The victory salvaged a season series closing victory, the first for the Kraken in three tries against Arizona, while finding a spark in their first game after the trade deadline to improve to 3-1-1 in the last five games.
“The group worked hard,” said head coach Dave Hakstol. “Pretty consistent effort throughout, we got a little sloppy with the puck in the second period and that cost us on a couple of second chances against. Guys did a real good job regaining that composure and playing in the third period with a lead.”
After a scoreless tie in the first 20 minutes where the Kraken held control with a 15-7 shots advantage, the floodgates opened in the following period to include five goals in less than ten minutes, including a wild exchange of three goals in 1:02.
Nick Schmaltz’s 19th goal of the season put Arizona up 1-0 at 8:11. On the next shift, Carson Soucy wired a point shot through traffic just 18 seconds after Schmaltz’s goal for a tie game. Soucy hit a new career high with eight goals.
“You’ve got to take it and make the most of your opportunity with a couple of young guys coming in,” said Soucy.
Nick Ritchie promptly gave Arizona the lead at 9:13 but the Kraken weren’t done. Daniel Sprong uncorked a snap shot off the rush with 6:21 left to tie the game on a power play.
“You can see it’s a weapon,” said Hakstol.
Soucy then notched his ninth goal just seconds after a power play expired to give the Kraken the lead at 3-2.
“'Souce' has done a nice job on that unit each time he’s had the opportunity,” said Hakstol. “When we’ve had injuries in the past he’s spent a little time there.
“He did a nice job up top. A lot of responsibility comes with that, and he’s got a good calming effect up there.”
Kole Lind then worked a loose puck off the boards to Jared McCann, promptly feeding Morgan Geekie on an open-net, cross-crease pass for a 4-2 cushion with 7:12 left in regulation.
The Kraken, who have won back-to-back games, move west to take on the Los Angeles Kings, coming up next on Saturday at 7:30pm PT (93.3 KJR / Kraken Audio Net).