Red-hot Kraken send Bruins to 1st regulation home loss
Behind play of Jones, Seattle wins seventh consecutive game
BOSTON — Kraken goalie Martin Jones called it Seattle’s best game of the season, and who was forward Yanni Gourde to argue?
“I won’t disagree with Jonesy, especially after tonight’s game,” Gourde said Thursday after Jones stopped 27 shots for a second straight shutout in the Kraken’s 3-0 victory against the Boston Bruins.
“He’s been phenomenal for us throughout the season, especially the last two games,” Gourde said. “He came out big tonight against a very, very talented that group, made some key saves throughout the game and they kept us in the game.”
Three nights after shutting out the Canadiens in Montreal, Jones stopped David Pastrnak’s breakaway in the second period — Boston’s best chance at a goal — and Seattle matched its franchise record with a seventh straight victory. The Kraken also won seven in a row earlier this season — their second since joining the NHL as an expansion team.
Brandon Tanev and Eeli Tolvanen scored for Seattle and Jaden Schwartz added an empty netter after the Bruins pulled Linus Ullmark for a 6-on-5 advantage with about five minutes to play.
“I thought that was probably our most complete game of the season,” Jones said. “To come in and play how we did and come up with a win in this building, you know, that’s a big step forward for us.”
Ullmark made 28 saves for the Bruins, who had won four straight in building an 11-point lead in the race for the NHL’s best record. It was the first regulation loss at home all season for Boston, an Original Six franchise in its 99th season.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the first period when what seemed like a harmless attempt to send the puck behind the net by Daniel Sprong was tipped by Tanev into the narrow space on Ullmark’s glove side.
“I was a little surprised,” Tanev said. “But, I mean, you take them any way you can get them.”
The Kraken made it 2-0 in the second when Tolvanen received a deflected puck in the slot, whirled around, faked a slapshot and wristed it under the crossbar. The Bruins played on, but the referee and the replay official confirmed the puck found the back of the net.
The Bruins pulled Ullmark with five minutes left and kept the puck in the Kraken zone for almost all of the next three minutes before Schwartz cleared it into the empty net to make it 3-0.
The Kraken also won seven in a row from Nov. 17 to Dec. 1, a streak that included four overtime victories. All seven of the expansion team’s wins in the current streak — the longest active run in the NHL — have been in regulation.
The Bruins’ last home loss in regulation was April 14, 2022, to Ottawa. They had been 19-0-3 at home this season.
“It’s a tough place to win, obviously,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “You don’t come in here with any passengers and win a hockey game.”
Seattle 1 1 1 — 3
Boston 0 0 0 — 0
First Period: 1, Seattle, Tanev 8 (Sprong), 7:14. Penalties: Lindholm, BOS (High Sticking), 1:50; Smith, BOS (Tripping), 11:21; Schultz, SEA (Tripping), 17:39.
Second Period: 2, Seattle, Tolvanen 6 (Gourde, Bjorkstrand), 19:21. Penalties: Marchand, BOS (Hooking), 11:59.
Third Period: 3, Seattle, Schwartz 10 (Dunn, Larsson), 18:10 (en). Penalties: None.
Shots on Goal: Seattle 14-9-8—31. Boston 9-10-9—28.
Power-play opportunities: Seattle 0 of 3; Boston 0 of 1.
Goalies: Seattle, Jones 20-5-3 (27 shots-27 saves). Boston, Ullmark 22-2-1 (30-28).
A: 17,850 (17,565). T: 2:18.
