TEMPE, Ariz. — One of the odder things about the Kraken’s latest in a string of bottom-feeding opponents was that this one somehow boasts a winning record playing at their pint-size home arena.
It doesn’t always make sense, as the Arizona Coyotes aren’t very good and their 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, smaller than junior-hockey facilities in Kent and Everett, on Monday night was yet again seemingly filled with more visiting fans than anything else. Despite that apparent home-crowd disadvantage, the Kraken found themselves the latest visiting side locked in a tough battle nearly two periods through this 4-1 win before a pair of goals 74 seconds apart late in the second propelled them to a fifth straight victory.
Justin Schultz and Matty Beniers capped a three-goal, middle-period Kraken comeback that carried them from behind by one to up by two at intermission. Schultz stepped out of the penalty box with five minutes left in the period and the game tied 1-1, moved in alone and put a deke move on goalie Ivan Prosvetov for his team’s first lead of the night.
Then, before the ample Kraken cheering contingent in the stands could settle down, Beniers notched his 24th of the campaign off a Jared McCann pass with just fewer than four minutes to go for a 3-1 lead.
McCann would seal things on the power play late in the final frame, his quick snapper from the left circle finding pay dirt for his 40th goal of the season.
The Kraken have taken full advantage of their schedule the final few weeks, running up their five-game streak with a trio of wins over Arizona and two more over Chicago and Anaheim squads that have spent most of the season languishing near the NHL basement. Arizona is the best of that lousy bunch, though, and the three games played with them in exactly a week seemed a bit of a pre-playoff test for the Kraken in that the postseason will also see them getting awfully familiar — and testy at times — in a hurry with whoever their opponent winds up being.
It looked early on as if this third contest would go quite differently from two initial Kraken victories, as the Coyotes took the lead midway through the opening frame on Jack McBain’s redirection of a Liam O’Brien shot past Philipp Grubauer.
But Oliver Bjorkstrand cued the Kraken comeback from a goal down with his 20th of the season on the power play just more than three minutes into the middle period. He became the sixth Kraken player to hit the 20-goal mark, joining McCann, Beniers, Jaden Schwartz, Daniel Sprong and Jordan Eberle — who on Monday was announced as the NHL’s second star of the week ending April 9.
Grubauer also kept things tied with several key stops on some Coyotes power-play chances in the middle period before Schultz converted his breakaway effort.
The Kraken entered the night with a chance to catch the Los Angeles Kings for third place in the Pacific Division. Doing so would likely propel the Kraken into a first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers if they wind up finishing second behind Vegas.
As for the Coyotes, they were expected to contend for a top draft-lottery position this season and headed in that direction until their new home arena was ready. The Coyotes plan to play at Mullett, built for the Arizona State University team, for several more seasons until they can get a deal for a bigger arena finalized and built someplace in the greater Phoenix area.
They were booted out of their former Gila River Arena home in nearby Glendale last spring after a longstanding dispute with that municipality, which decided not to renew their annual lease amid allegations of missed bill payments.
After two initial weeks on the road, they finally played a home game at Mullett on Oct. 28 and had gone a surprising 21-14-4 there ever since. The winning record was a stunner given the team’s 7-25-9 road mark much better reflects what was expected from them this season, especially once trading away star defender Jakob Chychrun ahead of the March 3 deadline.
But even on nights where the visitors outcheer the home fans — typically the case when “Original Six” squads visit, or when Kraken fans with second homes in the vicinity or cheap flights down decide to pack the seats — the Coyotes still make things interesting in the league’s most intimate environment.
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