Kraken down Coyotes keep pace in Pacific race Kraken still two points back of Kings in Pacific

In Tempe, the visiting Seattle Kraken upended the Coyotes on Monday night, 4-1.The win helped the Kraken keep pace in the race for the third spot in the Pacific Division, Seattle trails the Los Angeles Kings by two points.

Seattle also cracked the 100-point milestone in their second season with a record of 46-26-8.

“[100 points is] a nice marker for our group, and we want them to be proud of that. That’s a [heck] of a number,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “That being said, the group took it in stride. We’ve got [two] more games to go in the regular season, and we’ve got the opportunity to get ready for the first round of the playoffs.”

Philipp Grubauer made 22 saves in the win.

Jack McBain was the lone striker for the Coyotes, his first period goal gave them a 1-0 lead.

“[After that], we weren’t executing very well or making plays, and they’re a good team that takes advantage of [mistakes],” McBain said. “And we didn’t help ourselves.”

Arizona dropped to 28-40-13.

“I don’t think [Seattle] found it tough,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “We didn’t play as well as we can in those games, but we’ll give them credit. They’re tough to play against. They have a lot of pace, and they match a lot of the things we do really well. We’re relentless and apply pressure, but they do as well. It was a tough matchup.”

Seattle tied the game, 1-1, early in the middle frame on a power play marker from Oliver Bjorkstrand.

With about five minutes left in the middle frame, Justin Schultz  put the Kraken ahead, 2-1, on a breakaway.

“We just tried to play our game and get ready for the playoffs, and I thought it was a good effort,” Schultz said.

Just over a minute later, Matty Beniers  pushed the lead to 3-1.

Jared McCann potted his 40th of the campaign, on the power play,  late in the third period for the 4-1 final.

“I just needed a chance. There’s a lot of guys in the NHL who don’t get the opportunity,” McCann said. “Not that they don’t deserve it, sometimes that’s just the way it goes. But it’s obviously something I worked for.”

#PHN, #PHNBSOG, #PHNNHL, #PHNNHL @PROHOCKEYNEWS, #PHNPODCAST, #Prohockeynews, #TEAMPHN, @NHL, @PHN_PODCAST, @PROHOCKEYNEWSIvan Prosvetov made 33 saves in the loss.