Seattle’s power play scored twice and Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves as the Kraken held off the Utah Mammoth for a 5-3 victory on Thursday night.
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The Seattle Kraken’s special teams were the difference in a 5-3 win over the Utah Mammoth on Thursday night, with the Kraken building an early two-goal advantage before a third-period push from Utah tightened the game.
Seattle’s power play converted twice to help establish the lead. Matty Beniers and Brandon Montour each found the back of the net during the Kraken’s two-for-four showing on the man advantage.
Utah also made its presence felt when it had power-play opportunities. The Mammoth converted twice on three power plays in the third period, erasing Seattle’s lead and forcing the Kraken to respond.
Head coach Lane Lambert said defending Utah’s man advantage was difficult, while emphasizing Seattle’s offensive response. “It’s hard to say we didn’t kill poorly when we gave up two goals,” Lambert said. “But at the end of the day, our power play really stepped up and I’d rather focus on the positive.”
Seattle’s ability to regain momentum came into play after Utah surged. Late offence again moved the game back in Seattle’s favour when Bobby McMann and Mackie Samoskevich combined for a crucial goal.
Samoskevich credited McMann for the play. “It was a bit chaotic,” Samoskevich said. “The puck was bouncing everywhere, and then it came to Bobby, and he kind of just made the perfect play to me. I didn’t have to do much there, so credit to him.”
The Kraken’s season start included another example of their ability to bounce back after surrendering leads. The recap notes it was the third time in roughly 10 days Seattle had carried a multi-goal advantage into the third period only to see it disappear.
Beniers said the team needs to learn from those moments and do more to shut opponents down. “We got to learn from it,” Beniers said. “We have to get better playing with leads and shutting teams down and not letting them push back.”
Lambert also pointed to the Kraken’s composition during a game that shifted after Utah’s third-period power-play success. He added that after an apparent Mammoth goal was overturned following a coach’s challenge, the energy from the crowd helped fuel Seattle’s late push.
In goal, Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves on 36 shots as Seattle held on for the win. Lambert praised his netminder’s performance as a key reason the Kraken remained in position to finish the game despite Utah’s comeback momentum.
With the victory, Seattle left Thursday night with its seventh win of the season, driven by its power play and its response to Utah’s pressure after momentum shifted. Lambert said managing leads will continue to be a focus. “We’ve got to continue to play the game the same way with the lead,” Lambert said. “And that comes up a little bit of experience, a little bit of time.”
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