There’s still more than half the season to be played. But the Kraken found themselves in an unfamiliar spot Wednesday night — the wild-card race.
The Flames are among the teams breathing down their necks in the Pacific Division. With Seattle holding onto the third spot in the division, Calgary trailed by a single standings point heading into the game, albeit with four more games played.
Buoyed by a late goal, the Flames edged the Kraken 3-2 in regulation at Climate Pledge Arena and dropped the hosts out of the top three in the Pacific for the first time in some time. Calgary had played Tuesday night in Edmonton but held on in the final minute and a half on tired legs as Seattle pulled Philipp Grubauer and sent out the extra attacker.
Ryan Donato and Jamie Oleksiak scored for Seattle.
As the third period ticked down, Kraken goaltender Grubauer bodied down a point-blank chance from Andrew Mangiapane to help Seattle kill off another penalty. As soon as the Kraken returned to full strength, however, Jonathan Huberdeau made it 3-2 Flames.
Daniel Sprong nearly had his fourth goal in three games early in the first period but was stopped on a short breakaway. Yanni Gourde was headed off on a breakaway of his own about 10 minutes later but was accused of hooking his way there and instead dragged his feet over to the penalty box.
The Kraken narrowly killed off that penalty and were immediately rewarded at the other end. Donato, whose four-game goal streak ended in the last game before the league’s holiday break, punched a loose puck into the back of the net for his eighth of the season.
Oleksiak scored from close in 1:14 into the second period. Jordan Eberle got the primary assist on each goal.
The Flames gifted the Kraken two more breakaways in the first four minutes of the second period, both to Brandon Tanev. Both shots deflected wide. Tanev took a lap after the second landed in the netting and got a reassuring tap from Grubauer.
Tyler Toffoli gave Calgary a 1-0 lead after pulling the puck out of a pileup in front of Grubauer.
Near the game’s midway point, the Flames’ Elias Lindholm fired the puck between Oleksiak’s legs. Nazem Kadri redirected the shot beneath Grubauer to tie the game at 2.
Calgary got a freebie when Seattle was whistled for too many men on the ice. It was easy to see where the confusion came from — a player going off on a line change played the puck just in front of the bench. But his replacement hadn’t hopped on yet and the Kraken had five skaters out. The Seattle bench was furious, but the Flames didn’t convert on the man advantage.
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