Jared McCann scored his 40th goal of the season as the Seattle Kraken hit the 100-point milestone in their second NHL season by defeating the Arizona Coyotes 4-1 on Monday night.
Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz, and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who secured their fifth consecutive win and improved their impressive road record to 26-10-4. This victory marks the third against the Coyotes in just eight days, following two home victories last week.
Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves for Seattle, while Joey Daccord, who has a connection to Arizona State, took over in goal for the final 1:16. Jack McBain scored for the Coyotes, who have only one win in their last 11 games. Ivan Prosvetov made 33 saves for Arizona.
With this win, Seattle is guaranteed at least the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Kraken, having clinched a playoff spot with Thursday’s win over Arizona, now seek to stay ahead of Los Angeles for third place.
The Coyotes initially took the lead when McBain deflected Liam O’Brien’s shot past Grubauer 9:22 into the game. Seattle equalized on a power play at 3:12 of the second period. Bjorkstrand celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring his 20th goal of the season, assisted by Alex Wennberg and Eeli Tolvanen, while Arizona’s Barrett Hayton was off for high-sticking.
Schultz emerged from the penalty box to score unassisted on a breakaway at 14:56, just eight seconds after his penalty expired. Beniers followed with his 24th goal just 1:14 later, assisted by McCann and Will Borgen. In the third period, McCann scored on a power play, with Schultz assisting.
In a final scuffle, McBain and Seattle’s Carson Soucy fought with 1:16 left in the game.
Arizona, with a home record of 21-15-4, will play their last home game on Thursday. The Coyotes finished with a poor away record of 7-25-9.
Clayton Keller remains at 37 goals and 85 points, just one point shy of tying the Coyotes’ single-season points record 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 after playing every game this season, tallying 14 goals and a team-high 50 assists. LW Jaden Schwartz missed his second consecutive game for rest. Keller and Seattle’s Brandon Tanev were nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy, awarded to the player exemplifying perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the game. Both recovered from serious injuries last year—Keller from a broken femur and Tanev from a torn ACL.
NEXT
- Kraken: At Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday
- Coyotes: Close regular season at home Thursday against Vancouver.
