Postgame coverage with Everett Fitzhugh, Dave Tomlinson, and Mike Benton with the recap, reaction and highlights from a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.
Down 1-0 early, it was a step to a humbling experience.
Sunday night, the Seattle Kraken refused to be humbled.
Roaring back with three unanswered goals, the Kraken swept the Florida Panthers for another benchmark victory, 5-3 before a sellout crowd at Climate Pledge Arena.
Against a team expected to contend for the Stanley Cup, the Kraken got 28 saves out of goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who has won his last three starts, and made a late show-stopping save on Anthony Duclair with the Panthers pulling the goaltender for a six-on-five situation.
Marcus Johansson, Yanni Gourde, and Colin Blackwell scored 5:17 apart in the second period, including a 17-second gap between Gourde’s one-time blast and Blackwell’s rebound for the fastest two goals in Kraken history.
Florida raced back to tie the game with a pair of goals by Jonathan Huburdeau and Aleksander Barkov just 1:35 apart in the period, but Mason Appleton beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky with a wrist shot off the rush just 26 seconds into period three.
After Grubauer stopped the Panthers on several grade-A looks late in the game, Calle Jarnkrok sealed the game with an empty netter with 19 seconds left.
The Kraken will wrap up the six-game homestand Tuesday, 7pm (KJR / Kraken Audio Network) against the Nashville Predators.