Well-timed timeout leads to tie-breaking goal as Kraken ice Penguins

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Jan 25, 2025

Published in Hockey

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SEATTLE — Timeouts in hockey usually come in one of two situations: In the first half of a game when a team is underperforming and needs a few resetting words of “encouragement” from the bench, or in the closing moments usually while trailing to draw up a specific play for the situation.

Rarely are they used in the middle of the second period in a game tied 1-1.

With a pending 5-on-3 power play awaiting, that was precisely when the Kraken used their timeout on Saturday against Pittsburgh. And while the play may not have developed exactly as assistant coach Jessica Campbell drew it up on the bench, the end result was a puck in the back of the net.

Vince Dunn’s power-play goal snapped the tie, and the Kraken went on to a 4-1 win over the Penguins for their fourth win in the past six games.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who rebounded nicely from Thursday’s 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the best team in the league, the Washington Capitals.

Tolvanen’s goal came five minutes into the third period and Beniers finished a 2-on-1 from Kaapo Kakko with less than seven minutes remaining. Beniers’ goal was his seventh in the past 14 games, while Kakko now has 14 points in 17 games since being acquired from the Rangers.

The Kraken also hit their magic number of four — they’ve scored at least four goals in each of their past 11 wins.

Not to be lost was another stellar performance in net from Joey Daccord, who made 28 saves. Daccord was outstanding in turning away a flurry of Pittsburgh chances early in the third period, including looks from Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell and Kris Letang. A minute later, Tolvanen finished a blind pass from Jared McCann and Seattle had a 3-1 lead.

While Tolvanen’s goal provided cushion, Dunn’s power-play goal was the turning point.

The Kraken used their timeout realizing the importance of the 5-on-3 situation. It took the better part of the 1 minute, 20 seconds of the two-man advantage before the Kraken created the looks they were hoping to find, but they eventually arrived.

McCann got the chance that perhaps Campbell drew up on a cross-ice pass, only to see Joel Blomqvist make a terrific sliding save to stop. But McCann was able to retrieve the loose puck and find Dunn for a rising slap shot that Blomqvist couldn’t get his glove to.

Dunn’s goal was his first in 11 games.

In consecutive games, fans at Climate Pledge Arena got to see two of the greats of the game find the back of the net. Alex Ovechkin inched closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record with an empty-netter for the 875th goal of his career on Thursday.

On Saturday, it was Crosby scoring for the 606th time early in the second period to pull Pittsburgh even at 1-1. Beniers and Ryker Evans were both late rotating to Crosby as he was left alone in front of Daccord.

But that was the only time Daccord was beat, although he was twice helped by shots that hit the post or crossbar. With a back-to-back coming on Monday in Edmonton and Tuesday at home against Anaheim, it’s expected that Philipp Grubauer will go back in net for the first time since Jan. 12 at Detroit. The question is which one.