SEATTLE – Buoyed by 17 Philipp Grubauer saves and some Matty Beniers magic the Seattle Kraken remained unbeaten in preseason play with a 4-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.
Beniers scored his second goal in as many preseason games, Alex Wennberg scored a goal and added two assists, and Yanni Gourde scored twice. Grubauer has yet to allow a goal in the preseason. Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko played well in the loss and allowed three goals on 25 shots.
“I think the closer we get to the end of camp, I think there’s a lot of excitement,” Oliver Bjorkstrand, who had an assist, said. “I feel like a lot of guys have gotten a few games done at least. So, you start feeling better and chemistry starts developing. Now you just start getting ready for that first game.”
Grubauer previously stopped 10 shots in a 3-0 win against the Calgary Flames in a Sep. 10 games. As a team, the Kraken have not allowed a preseason goal at home this year. After allowing a pair of power-play goals to the Canucks on Thursday, Seattle held the Canucks to 0-for-2 Saturday.
“Tonight is a difficult game for a goaltender to play,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Grubi had two real good saves that for me, that’s a goaltender doing his job and doing it well.”
The Kraken improved their preseason record to 4-0. Saturday was the last preseason home game with the club finishing the preseason on the road starting Monday, Oct. 3 in Calgary against the Flames.
Winning preseason games is of course important but the real key is that the team starts to gel and to do that, coach Dave Hakstol deployed a lineup filled with most of his NHL regulars. Those veterans were mixed in with two promising rookies in Beniers and Shane Wright.
“We’ve got work to do,” Hakstol said. “We’re positive with a lot of things that we’re doing but tonight we didn’t play a complete game. I wouldn’t expect that at this point in time. Of the lines out there tonight we were four for four in terms of new combinations. That’s gonna take some time and we’ve still got some competition. We’re gonna have some difficult decisions to make as we move through the next week.”
How the goals were scored
After the two teams played a scoreless first period, Matty Beniers opened the scoring at 6:42 of the second period when he fired a wrist shot from the slot that beat Demko in the top corner of the goal. Andrey Burakovsky and Adam Larsson each picked up assists on the play. It was the second goal for Beniers in as many games this preseason.
Video: VAN@SEA: Beniers buries a shot from the high slot
The Kraken extended the lead to 2-0, 58 seconds into the third when Oliver Bjorkstrand took the puck behind the net and slid it to Wennberg who was parked in front. He beat Demko with a quick one-time shot.
Video: VAN@SEA: Wennberg scores in 3rd period
Gourde made it 3-0 at 7:15 when he took a pass from Wennberg and broke in alone to beat Demko for his first of the preseason.
Video: VAN@SEA: Gourde breaks in and buries a shot
Gourde scored on an empty net at 17:15 to finish the scoring.
Matty Beiers continues to shine
He still has yet to turn 20 years old but the 2021 first-round pick of the Kraken continues to impress and excite. The shot that he scored his goal on was elite and made a good goalie like Demko freeze in his crease.
Beniers played on a line with free agent signee Andre Burakovsky and last season’s leading scorer Jared McCann and were pushing the pace for most of the night. The rookie keeps taking a step and plays older than his age suggests.
Shane Wright strides forward
Playing in his third straight game, Seattle’s first pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was active all night. He played on the power play Vince Dunn, Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann. They had two great looks in the first period but were turned away by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.
Wright ended with two shots in a game that may have been his best to date in the preseason despite not getting on the scoresheet. He played with Brandon Tanev on one wing and Daniel Sprong on the other.
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