Montour scores in overtime, sealing a thrilling 4-3 victory for the Kraken against the Lightning, snapping a losing streak.
For the second time in less than two week, the Kraken faced the Tampa Bay Lighting. On March 17th, the contest did not go in Seattle’s favor. Thursday, the Kraken arrived in Tampa Bay on a four-game losing streak and hoping to turn it around, and they did.
It was a battle from the first twenty. The Kraken went up 2-1 by the end of the first with goals from Brandon Montour and Kaapo Kakko. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard-called up just the day before from Coachella Valley-clocked an assist on the Montour goal. In the second, Bobby McMann was credited with Seattle’s only goal. The trade-deadline-acquired forward has 6 goals and 3 assists for 9 points in 7 games played since joining the Kraken. The third started and ended deadlocked at 3-3, and the game moved into overtime. 2:47 into the overtime period, Montour, set up by Shane Wright and Berkly Catton, managed to slip a quick wrist shot past Vasilevskiy, giving the Kraken the win and two points in the standings.
It was a chippy, physical game. The tone was set just two minutes into the second period when Berkly Catton fought JJ Moser; the first NHL fight for the rookie. Speaking after the game, Coach Lambert said Berkly's fight "was a real spark for our hockey team. It just shows his character, and I just thought that we were resilient.”
The Kraken remain just out of playoff position. Currently, it would take three points to move into the second wildcard spot. Six points would pull them up to 3rd in the division. The first-ranked Anaheim Ducks have 86 points as of the writing of this article, twelve ahead of the Kraken’s 74.
Next up, the Kraken travel to Buffalo where they will face the Sabres on the 28th. The Sabres are currently first in the Atlantic division, and tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the Carolina Hurricanes. It will be a tough match up, but the points are desperately needed.
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