In Seattle, the Kraken doubled up the Arizona Coyotes, 4-2, on Thursday night, and clinched their first playoff berth as a franchise.
“It’s unbelievable, it’s hard to put into words, the excitement, the growth, the steps we’ve taken and the way we’ve come together,” Seattle forward Jaden Schwartz said. “It’s obviously exciting … everyone’s just really fired up that we’re in in the playoffs. It’s a dream come true for us, and to be able to do in our second year is pretty special.”
Seattle moved seven points clear of the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
“This group believed in it and pushed through that finish line, and I don’t believe they’re done yet,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Points are still valuable to us in terms of positioning and how you’re feeling going into the playoffs. We’ll find out who [we play] and then go to work. That’s just what the group does. Go to work.”
The Kraken improved to 44-26-8.
Jared McCann scored in the first period to give the Kraken a 1-0 lead.
Vince Dunn scored 22 seconds into the middle frame for a 2-0 lead to Seattle.
Jordan Eberle pushed the advantage to 3-0 at 5:52 of the second.
Arizona dropped to 27-39-13.
“I don’t think we generated a lot in the first and we took a little bit of time to get our offense figured,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we generated enough in the second and third periods. We had [two] power plays, but we couldn’t score a killer goal at the right time.”
Barrett Hayton trimmed the deficit to 3-1 for the Coyotes with 12 minutes gone i the second.
Seattle’s Matty Beniers scored early in the third period to give the Kraken a 4-1 lead.
“We came together as a team, even when we had some big injuries and guys out of the lineup,” McCann said. “We stuck with it, stuck with the process, and it just show the character that we have. We’re excited.”
The Coyotes’ Laurent Dauphin scored with the 39 seconds left on the game clock for the 4-2 final.
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Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves in the Coyotes loss.
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