Matty Beniers had a goal and an assist and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves for his first victory since Dec. 30 as the Seattle Kraken defeated the host Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 Saturday afternoon.
Tye Kartye, Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour also tallied as the Kraken snapped a two-game losing streak. Kartye and Grubauer were both making their first NHL appearances in more than a month after being recalled from Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League.
Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who dropped to 0-3-0 on their seven-game homestand. Samuel Ersson stopped 28 of 32 shots.
Trailing 1-0, the Kraken took control with three second-period goals.
Kartye tied it at 10:11 of the period, racing down the ice to avoid an icing call after the puck was cleared by defenseman Vince Dunn. Kartye corralled the puck behind the Flyers’ net and skated back to the top of the right faceoff circle before he spun and fired a shot that sailed over a screened Ersson’s left shoulder.
Beniers gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead at 18:57, taking a cross-ice pass from Ryker Evans at the top of the right faceoff circle before spinning and carrying the puck below the goal line. Beniers beat defenseman Emil Andrae, darted in front of the net and put a shot off Ersson’s right arm and just over the goal line.
Stephenson made it 3-1 with a short-handed goal at 19:38. Stephenson pick-pocketed Flyers captain Sean Couturier at the red line, skated in alone and put a shot off the underside of the crossbar and in. The Flyers went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.
The Kraken extended their lead at 3:55 of the third as Beniers won a faceoff back to Montour at the right point and he hammered a slap shot into the far upper corner of the net.
The Flyers opened the scoring at 19:28 of the first as Couturier won a puck battle along the boards at center ice and fed Matvei Michkov. The puck hopped off Michkov’s stick and straight to Tippett, who was skating down the left wing. Tippett drove to the net, but Evans made a poke-check before Tippett could get a shot off. The puck popped into the air, deflected off Tippett’s hip and just over Grubauer’s right leg pad and inside the near post.
–Field Level Media
