The Flames were the stingiest NHL team last season in terms of goals allowed and the Kraken learned why Monday. Calgary started strong, absorbed a pushback from the Kraken and that was enough for goaltender Jakob Markstrom who made 21 saves and allowed one power-play goal.
Christopher Tanev, Michael Stone, and Noah Hanifin each scored to build a lead and provided all the offense that Markstrom needed.
Matty Beniers scored a goal and Martin Jones made 21 saves for the Kraken who lost for the first time in the preseason.
Seattle had its chances prior to the Beniers goal. The Kraken had a glorious chance on a give-and-go Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle. The rookie Wright slid a pass to Eberle whose shot from close hit the crossbar and out of play.
How the goals were scored
Tanev opened the scoring to give Calgary a 1-0 lead at 7:44 of the first period after his initial shot was blocked by Beniers. The rebound came back to Tanev and he flung a wrist shot past Jones.
The Flames doubled the score 2-0 at 5:33 of the second period with a power-play goal from Stone who blasted a shot from the point.
Hanifin made it 3-0 Flames at 15:49 with a point shot that beat a screened Jones. The Seattle goalie was unable to see the shot until it was past him.
Beniers scored on the power play to cut the lead to 3-1 at 2:22 of the third period.
Blake Coleman would make it 4-1 at 9:32 to reestablish a three-goal lead when he got in low and threw the puck on net where it squeezed through Jones.
Jaden Schwartz
Schwartz was back in the lineup Monday after sitting out the previous two preseason games. He played on a line with Beniers and Andrey Burakovsky. Earlier in training camp, coach Dave Hakstol said that Schwartz was the type of player who improved any line he was on. He was good Monday, despite being held off the scoreboard. Schwartz was strong on the forecheck freeing up pucks and extending possession. He goes to the so-called ‘dirty’ areas and plays a tough, hard game. All in all he played over 15 minutes and was credited with two shots on goal. When he was on the ice, the Kraken had their most dangerous chances.
Injury concerns
The Kraken were already playing without Michael Kempny and Joonas Donskoieach of whom are out day-to-day with upper body injuries, but they were also missing Yanni Gourde who Hakstol said was out with a non-Covid illness. Morgan Geekie and Matty Beniers had scares on Monday. Beniers blocked Tanev’s shot and was temporarily hobbled in the first period but did not miss a shift. Geekie was hit skate to skate in the second period and had to go to the dressing room to be looked at. He missed the rest of the period but was back to start the third period.
Beniers scores again
Beniers scored his third goal of the preseason and he’s never scored a goal in a preseason game. After being selected by the Kraken with the second overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Beniers chose to return to the University of Michigan for one final year, which meant he did not play in the preseason and joined the Kraken for the last 10 games of the season. He tallied 9 points in those games and is off to an equally hot start in the preseason.
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