By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Kraken defeated the New Jersey Devils in an overtime shootout at Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle’s number two overall draft pick Matty Beniers, scored his first NHL goal in the second period to give Seattle the lead. The Kraken were caught leaving Devils players wide open on the three goals that they allowed, but ultimately were able to force overtime. Seattle’s Ryan Donato was the only Kraken player to score in the shootout, but goaltender Philipp Grubauer made three saves to shut the door on the Devils.  

Seattle’s third goal on the night was scored by Matty Beniers. It was Beniers first goal in his young NHL career and his second point, in his second game. With the goal, Beniers joins teammates Jordan Eberle (2010), Jared McCann (2015), and Ryan Donato (2018) as the only Kraken players to score in their first-ever NHL home game. Since joining Seattle, Beniers has made an immediate impact and brings excitement to an inaugural team that has struggled throughout the year. Beniers would describe how the game went for him in the post-game press conference. 

“Just a really fun night, getting the win was awesome, having family here was great... kinda lucky goal for me, you don’t get many of those where they’re just popping, bouncing in the crease and you can just bat them in. It was a great feeling, I just kind of jumped into Canner’s arms after,” Beniers reflected on the win, and his first career goal.  

The major issue in this game was Seattle leaving Devil’s skaters wide open on several occasions, resulting in three goals for New Jersey. The Kraken defense left players open streaking to the net, in front of the net, and on odd man rushes. This is nothing new for Seattle, a team that has had defensive miscues in nearly every single game during their inaugural season. Despite these issues, the Kraken penalty kill stood tall in this game. Seattle held New Jersey scoreless on the Devils three power play opportunities.  

Another bright spot for Seattle was getting offense from their defenseman. Seattle’s other two goals in regulation came from defenders Carson Soucy and Will Borgen. Borgen was able to score a one-timer from the faceoff circle, and Soucy got an excellent pass right as he skated towards net for a wrist shot goal. With a team that has struggled many times to find offense and goal scoring as a whole, getting production from your defenseman is a welcome surprise. Since the trade deadline, Soucy and Borgen have seen their level of play improve significantly. Soucy spoke about his play after the game. 

“Trying to grow as a hockey player, learning opportunities like joining the rush. Not always leading the rush when I used to, kinda getting taken away, but rather trusting out forwards and trusting that they’ll find the open play, the open space, and the open ice. I think as I’ve grown as a player, I’m doing a better job of that, just trying to be an option for our forwards, but it helps when you’re playing with good players who find you, too,” Soucy reflected.  

The Kraken will get a day off before their next contest, which is against the Ottawa Senators. This matchup will take place at Climate Pledge Arena, with a puck drop of 7PM PST. Young forward Brady Tkachuk and the Senators will play Seattle for the second time in history. In their first matchup, the Senators withstood a three goal Kraken comeback to win in overtime.

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