Jaden Schwartz scored twice and Philipp Grubauer stopped all 19 shots he faced in relief of an injured Matt Murray as the Seattle Kraken defeated the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-1 Saturday night.
Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for Seattle, which avenged a 6-1 loss to the Sharks on Nov. 5. Chandler Stephenson and Jamie Oleksiak had two assists apiece.
Alex Wennberg scored and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 20 of 23 shots for San Jose, which suffered its second straight loss after a 6-0-1 stretch.
The Kraken broke a 1-1 tie at 16:05 of the second period. A San Jose turnover led to an odd-man rush that failed but Seattle was able to keep the puck in the offensive zone and Matty Beniers sent the puck behind the net to Mason Marchment. He sent the puck to Larsson for a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat a screened Nedeljkovic.
The Kraken extended the lead to 3-1 just 38 seconds later on a 2-on-1 rush as Stephenson sent a pass to Tolvanen for a one-timer from the right faceoff circle.
Schwartz scored a short-handed, empty-net goal at 16:31 of the third to make it 4-1.
Seattle opened the scoring at 8:14 of the first. Oleksiak’s stretch pass sent Stephenson down the right wing. Stephenson cut toward the net and sent a pass across the top of the crease, with the puck deflecting off Schwartz’s skate and into the net.
The Sharks tied it on the power play at 19:42 of the period. William Eklund sent a cross-ice pass to Macklin Celebrini at the right faceoff dot and he fed Wennberg at the far post for a tip-in. Murray apparently suffered a lower-body injury while trying to move from post to post and had to be replaced by Grubauer.
Will Smith appeared to give the Sharks a lead on a breakaway midway through the second period. Grubauer saved the initial shot but the rebound went off Smith’s skate and over the goal line before he crashed into the net, knocking it off its moorings. The on-ice officials huddled and went to a video review before determining Smith kicked the puck into the net, nullifying the goal.
–Field Level Media
