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FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Kraken – Game 70

Franchise Sports Media

Golden Knights (38-28-4)  | Seattle Kraken (21-41-6)

 

The Golden Knights defeated the Kraken 5-2 for their fourth straight win.

Photo Credit: Elaine Thompson/AP

The Vegas Golden Knights took care of business once again when they secured a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Kraken Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena.

The Golden Knights completed the season series sweep, moving to a 4-0-0 all-time against the NHL’s newest franchise. Jack Eichel recorded his first two-goal game with the Golden Knights, while Evgenii Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson had multi-point efforts, and Shea Theodore scored for the second game in a row. Logan Thompson made 26 saves on 28 shots for his seventh win of the year.

Eichel opened the scoring just past the midway mark of the first period, one-timing a centering feed from Alec Martinez to give Vegas a 1-0 lead. It was Martinez’s first point since Oct. 29 and fourth assist of the season.

Eichel added his second of the game just 1:26 into the second period after negating an icing and going to the slot, where Dadonov found him after capitalizing on a Seattle turnover. Eichel buried it glove-side for his ninth of the year. It was Eichel’s first two-goal game since Feb. 22, 2020.

 

Theodore made it 3-0 at 7:20 of the middle frame with his second goal in two games after going 27 without lighting the lamp.

 

Golden Knights vs Kraken
Photo Credit: Elaine Thompson/AP

It may not have been quite as fancy as his breakaway goal the other night, but Theodore beat Philipp Grubuaer cleanly off a feed from Dadonov, that being his second helper of the game. It proved to be the game-winner and gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 edge through two periods.

But Alex Wennberg cut the Vegas lead to two when he scored 10:44 into the third period off a drop pass from Jared McCann.

The goal snapped Thompson’s shutout streak at 121:51. Jonathan Marchessault made it 4-1 with his second empty-net goal in two games, but Seattle responded quickly. Kole Lind scored the first goal of his NHL career to make it 4-2 with 1:38 remaining.

The Kraken made it even more interesting when they got a power play to set up a 6-on-4 with 66 seconds left, but William Karlsson scored a shorthanded empty-net goal to seal the 5-2 win. The goal extended Karlsson’s point streak to three games, his longest of the season.

The Golden Knights were able to clog the neutral zone effectively, force turnovers, and limit Seattle to just three high-danger chances at 5-on-5 in the first two periods. That, along with another strong performance by Thompson, helped Vegas collect a much-needed two points.

Thompson is 6-2-0 in his last eight starts.

It was a productive night for the top line of Eichel, Dadonov, and Stephenson, who combined for six points (even if the trio had a miserable 28.57 percent Corsi share in 13 minutes of ice time). Dadonov has six goals and 11 points in his last eight games.

Of course, it wouldn’t be 2021-22 Vegas Golden Knights hockey without some injury scares. Dylan Coghlan had two but was able to stay on the bench after both, including when he took a puck to the face late in the contest. Thompson also took a stick (Stephenson’s) to the back of the head but remained in the game. The Golden Knights sit in the second wildcard seed with 80 points after picking up a critical four points in Seattle. Edmonton is three points ahead with a game in hand, while Dallas is one point behind with four games.

 

The Golden Knights look to keep their winning streak going with a home-and-home against Vancouver on Sunday. They drop the puck at 4:00 pm on AT&T Sports Net.

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-DJ Wood– Franchise Sports Media

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