A couple of quick goals Thursday night set the tone for a Kraken squad that has these upcoming games in its back pocket for months when it comes to a playoff push.
The visiting Anaheim Ducks are by no means terrible, although they did provide some resistance at key points. But the Kraken, riding two early goals from Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers, got a late power play marker from Daniel Sprong and held on for a 4-1 victory that allowed them to continue focusing on playoffs ahead instead of the teams behind them.
Alex Wennberg finished the scoring with an empty-net goal as the Kraken improved to 41-25-8 and strengthened their hold on the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference — five points ahead of the second wild-card. holder Winnipeg Jets.
Beniers’ goal was a sight to behold, showing incredible strength and above-average stick grip as he took a Jared McCann pass and calmly waited for young Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal to commit. Once that happened, Beniers nimbly grabbed around him and made the final move to return the puck home.
It’s the kind of play that Beniers had earlier this season before suffering a concussion in January and then hitting a bit of a rookie wall that’s common for college players who aren’t used to one. 82-game NHL schedule. But he snapped a month-long hitting streak over the weekend against Nashville, then added his 21St of the season to add to his Calder Trophy bona fides and signal that he still has some left in his tank as the playoffs approach.
Schwartz’s goal that opened the scoring less than eight minutes into the game was more basic, taking a pass on-the-fly and unloading a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. Dostal — a 22-year-old playing in his 18th career game in parts of two seasons — came out to challenge the shooter but not from the best angle as the puck eluded him in the short part.
And that was the game, as the Ducks lost six straight while scoring just nine total goals as they competed for the best lottery odds to land top prospect Connor Bedard in draft in July. Anaheim really rattled the Climate Pledge Arena crowd when Brock McGinn scored with just 1:16 left to cap off a dull second period that saw almost no action.
Derek Grant centered the puck from behind the net for McGinn McGinn to one-time past Martin Jones to suddenly play again despite a 25-15 Kraken win in shots.
But Sprong’s late score with 4:18 left and Wennberg’s empty netter got everyone breathing again. Jones recorded the victory, his first since February 28.
Had they been playing a better team, the Kraken might have found themselves roped-a-doped into some trouble. But that’s supposed to be the advantage in this stretch of the schedule that — minus the formidable Los Angeles Kings on Saturday — is loaded with lottery contenders.
After the Kings’ contest, there are three games against Arizona, another game in Chicago and the final Northwest rivalry road clash against the Vancouver Canucks next Tuesday. Although the Canucks have been playing better lately, as have the Coyotes to a lesser degree, they still aren’t like some of the East Coast behemoths that have been giving the Kraken problems since the All-Star break.
The thinking since early this season is that if the Kraken make it to April within striking distance of the playoffs this stretch of the schedule will represent a built-in kick-off. The fact that Thursday’s win puts them into the final two weeks of the season seven points ahead of Calgary and eight ahead of a Nashville squad also vying for the conference’s final wild-card spot means no they now need the rest of the “easy” part of the schedule. to punch their inevitable playoff ticket.
