McCann has hat trick as Kraken win franchise-best 8th straight

CHICAGO — Jared McCann had his first career hat trick and the Seattle Kraken beat the Chicago Blackhawks 8-5 on Saturday for their franchise-record eighth straight victory.

McCann scored twice in a five-goal flurry in a 3:41 span of the first period.

All-Star rookie Matty Beniers and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and an assist and the Kraken won their seventh straight on the road to become the first NHL team to sweep a trip of seven or more games.

“Being able to score in a game like this is just huge,” McCann said. “And obviously we made some history tonight, so (that) was nice.”

Daniel Sprong, Andre Burakovsky and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for Seattle.

Seattle improved to 26-12-4, a win short of its total last season when it joined the NHL as an expansion franchise. Ryan Donato, Alex Wennberg and Yanni Gourde each had two assists.

Coach Dave Hakstol stopped short of saying his team is ahead of schedule. But he likes what sees so far in Seattle’s second season.

“It’s a great accomplishment for the players to be able to do that,” Hakstol said. “It shows the consistency and work they’ve put in from the start of this road trip.”

The sharp-shooting McCann, who leads the Kraken with 22 goals, has been a big part of Seattle’s surge.

“He just continues to find the back of the net and provide real good two-way play,” Hakstol said. “He has a natural scoring ability, an elite ability there. We saw that tonight.”

The Kraken’s 16-4-2 road record has helped too.

“We didn’t have the best year last year, especially on the road,” McCann said “We’ve added some new faces and made our team a lot deeper.”

The game was tied at 1 midway in the first when the Kraken surged ahead with five goals on six shots against last-place Chicago.

Beniers started the onslaught with his 17th goal, through a screen at 9:30. McCann and Burakovsky connected on prime chances 1:22 part to make it 4-1 and prompt Chicago coach Luke Richardson replace goalie Petr Mrazek with Alex Stalock.

In alone, Tolvanen beat Stalock just 37 seconds later. McCann completed the spree at 13:11, firing a shot from the right circle between Stalock’s pads.

The Kraken started their eight-game run with a home win against the New York Islanders on New Year’s Day, then topped Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Buffalo and Boston before capping the trip with this win.

Seattle and goalie Martin Jones blanked Boston 3-0 on Thursday, handing the Bruins their first home regulation loss this season. In this one, Jones made 22 saves for his seventh straight victory.

The Kraken had a seven-game winning streak earlier this season, from Nov. 17-Dec. 1.

Taylor Raddysh had a goal and two assists for Chicago, whose three-game winning streak ended. Jonathan Toews, Maxi Domi, Isaak Phillips and Patrick Kane also scored for the Blackhawks.

“Now, you just have to put your work ethic back on and get right back at it,” Richardson said. “I assume that this is unacceptable for them (Chicago players) as well and they’ll be ready to work on Monday.”

Kane returned after missing three games with a lower-body injury.

Mrazek stopped just one of five shots. Stalock blocked 21 of 25 shots and heard derisive cheers from the crowd on routine saves once he settled in.

Seattle 6 0 2 — 8

Chicago 1 1 3 — 5

First Period: 1, Seattle, Sprong 14 (Geekie, Tanev), 2:50. 2, Chicago, Toews 12 (S.Jones, Raddysh), 4:40. 3, Seattle, Beniers 17 (Dunn), 9:30. 4, Seattle, McCann 20 (Donato), 10:46. 5, Seattle, Burakovsky 12 (Eberle, Beniers), 12:08. 6, Seattle, Tolvanen 7 (Gourde, Bjorkstrand), 12:45. 7, Seattle, McCann 21 (Donato, Wennberg), 13:11. Penalties: McCabe, CHI (High Sticking), 15:17.

Second Period: 8, Chicago, Phillips 1 (Dickinson), 10:45. Penalties: Schultz, SEA (Interference), 19:02.

Third Period: 9, Chicago, Domi 13 (S.Jones, Raddysh), 0:51 (pp). 10, Seattle, McCann 22 (Wennberg, Larsson), 1:54. 11, Seattle, Bjorkstrand 7 (Gourde, Oleksiak), 2:37. 12, Chicago, Raddysh 12 (S.Jones, Toews), 16:50 (pp). 13, Chicago, Kane 8 (Domi), 19:45. Penalties: Seattle bench, served by Sprong (Too Many Men on the Ice), 15:57.

Shots on Goal: Seattle 11-10-9—30. Chicago 8-8-11—27.

Power-play opportunities: Seattle 0 of 2; Chicago 2 of 2.

Goalies: Seattle, Jones 21-5-3 (27 shots-22 saves). Chicago, Mrazek 3-10-1 (5-1), Chicago, Stalock 6-6-1 (25-21).

A: 20,075 (19,717). T: 2:29.