In Pittsburgh, the Seattle Kraken’s Brandon Tanev hit for what proved to be the game-winner with just over three and half minutes left in regulation on Saturday to give the Kraken a 3-2 win over the Penguins.
“Great for me, but I think it’s more important that the team got all six points on this road trip,” said Tanev. “That’s the mindset and the goal we had setting out to this road trip and the three games we played. We beat three good teams. That’s the idea we wanted to do.”
The Pens’ Jake Guentzel had tied the game, 2-2, in the third.
Martin Jones made 36 saves in the Seattle win.
The Penguins have gone 0-5-2 in their seven-game skid.
“At the end of the day, you lose and that stings because these guys are competitive guys,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “They care. When we don’t live up to the expectations that we have for each other, and we don’t get the results more consistently than we have as of late, these guys take it to heart. We all do.
“I know how much they care. We’ve just got to dig in a little bit more. We’ve got to become more determined. We’ve got, I think, to be more vigilant in some of the critical moments of the game.”
Seattle improved to 7-4-1.
Sidney Crosby scored his sixth of the season in the fist period for a 1-0 lead to Pittsburgh.”It’s tough. It’s difficult,” Crosby said. “We did a lot of good things. … You look at the game as a whole and we did a lot of good things, but we’re making a few mistakes. When you’re losing, that’s magnified even more. So that’s the situation we’re in. We just have to try to build off it, continue to play good hockey and trust that we’ll get rewarded.”
Seattle’s Vince Dunn tied the game, 1-1, in the first period.
“This group, they’re a pretty tight group,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “That’s always a great place to start. Tonight, third game in a road trip, there were pieces here that weren’t all that pretty. But there was never a point in the hockey game where you felt our group was rattled.”
Yanni Gourde, who set up the game-winner, scored just as a Seattle power play was ending to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead.
“We’re playing as a team. Everybody is contributing,” Gourde said. “It’s really fun to play that way. All four lines, all [three defense pairs]. ‘Jonesy’s’ been unbelievable in net. It’s been really team wins.”
Tristan Jarry made 25 saves in the Pens loss.
“We stick all together,” Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang said. “It is what it is. We have to get out of it. It’s got to happen in our room. We have to stay together, pick each other up. It’s a tough time.”
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