The Seattle Kraken, fighting for their playoff lives, got out to a strong start at home on this late Saturday night. Nashville pushed back, however, getting some shots on Philipp Grubauer and then drawing a penalty–thanks to deadline acquisition Anthony Beauvillier–but no luck with the advantage itself, as the Kraken produced a strong penalty kill.
Not too long after the teams returned to even strength, though, Tommy Novak managed to bank a shot in, getting the Preds on the board at 15:36. The Kraken responded, making their way into the Preds’ zone and forcing Juuse Saros to make some saves before the period came to a close.
The Preds got another power play early in the second, as Luke Evangelista drew a tripping penalty from Ryker Evans during an offensive-zone sequence. Again the Kraken put out a good penalty kill, but this time the Preds had some better puck movement and Evangelista almost managed to convert. A fantastic shorthanded chance late in the power play led to some excitement in the Seattle arena, but the Preds escaped consequences.
Almost right after, the Kraken got their first power play of the game, as Michael McCarron headed to the box for interference. Oliver Björkstrand had a great shot, and Saros an even better save, as part of the Kraken’s opportunity, but the Preds got it killed off. The teams traded possession sequences as the period continued–not shot for shot, but more like shift for shift, with the flow going back and forth across the ice.
The Preds got the better of the flow as the period continued, with a particularly good shift from Evangelista and company that really made Grubauer work for it, but were unable to score again, and with just over half a minute left in the period Jeremy Lauzon took a holding penalty and the Preds were shorthanded again.
A minute and change into the third, with six seconds left on the Seattle power play, André Burakovsky tied the game 1-1. Yanni Gourde took a penalty at 3:50, giving the Preds a chance of their own on the power play, and Roman Josi took only nine seconds to restore Nashville’s lead, 2-1 at 3:59.
Again the teams traded chances, but before this period could stretch out like the last had, Josi scored his second of the night at 9:03, almost right off the faceoff as the game resumed after a TV timeout. Nashville continued to attack from there, pressing the advantage and crowding the Seattle net. With a few minutes remaining, the Kraken pulled Grubauer for the extra skater, and Filip Forsberg sealed the game with a smooth empty-net goal.