Brandon Montour scored on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle with 49.6 seconds remaining in overtime as the Seattle Kraken rallied for a 3-2 victory against the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night.
Mason Marchment had a goal and an assist, Matty Beniers scored and Ryker Evans had two helpers for Seattle, which improved to 2-1-0 on its four-game trip that concludes Sunday against the New York Islanders. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist and Evgeni Malkin also scored for the Penguins, who lost for the second straight night at home. Goalie Sergei Murashov, making just his third start, stopped 18 of 21 shots.
The Penguins held possession for most of overtime before Evans got control of the puck behind his own net and fed Freddy Gaudreau, who skated into the offensive zone before leaving a drop pass for Montour, who had just come off the bench.
The Penguins broke a 1-1 tie at 5:56 of the third period thanks to their NHL-leading power play. There was a scramble for the puck in front of the Seattle net and it finally squirted free to Malkin for a tap-in at the right post. Ben Kindel, the 11th overall selection in this summer’s draft, and Crosby were credited with assists.
The Kraken tied it 2-2 at 12:36 of the third. Marchment sent a cross-ice pass to Beniers at the right faceoff dot and he beat Murashov with a wrist shot high to the near post.
Following a scoreless first period in which the Penguins outshot Seattle 9-3 but saw their power play go 0 for 3, both teams scored off defensive miscues in the second.
The Kraken opened the scoring at 1:24 of the middle period on an unassisted goal by Marchment. The Penguins failed to clear their defensive zone, with Marchment picking up the puck just inside the blue line. He used a defender as a screen and put a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle over Murashov’s blocker and into the far upper corner of the net. It was Marchment’s first goal in 19 games since tallying in the season opener.
The Penguins tied it at 16:16 after a dump-in behind the Seattle net. Grubauer stopped the puck but his backhanded pass sailed past defenseman Ryan Lindgren and to Pittsburgh’s Connor Dewar in the left-wing corner. Dewar immediately fired a pass to an unmarked Crosby at the top of the crease and he tapped the puck into the open net. It was Crosby’s team-leading 13th goal of the season.
Crosby became the sixth player in NHL history to tally multiple points in 500 career games.
–Field Level Media
