In Seattle, the Florida Panthers juggernaut hit a snag on Sunday night. Mason Appleton scored 25 seconds gone in the third period to snap a 3-3 tie and help send the Kraken to a 5-3 win.
Calle Jarnkrok ice the win with an empty-net goal with 19 seconds left in the frame.
“We scored a winning goal on attacking with possession and getting in the zone and being able to make a play off the rush,” Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol said. “Loved our poise there and presence to read that situation and know there was an opportunity there and enter the zone with possession and make a play. That was a difference maker.”
Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves in the Kraken win.
“I thought we did a good job of managing the puck tonight,” Appleton said. “That’s a big reason why you end up on the right side of the scoreboard. Especially when you play an explosive team like Florida, you play run-and-gun with them, that’s when you lose a game.”
Seattle improved to 13-24-4.
“The biggest thing [about Grubauer] that I see, is being able to shrug off a goal against and move on to the next save, and that’s really important,” Hakstol said. “That’s what it takes to win in the League, you need those saves. When you add it up at the end of those nights, you see those saves.”
Anthony Duclair staked the Panthers to an early 1-0 lead in the first period.
Seattle replied with three straight goals.
Marcus Johansson, Yanni Gourde, and Colin Blackwell made it 3-1 before the Panthers rallied.
Gourde and Blackwell scored 17 seconds apart.
“We were much more predictable tonight,” Gourde said. “When a team is committed to playing like that, we’re tough to beat for 60 minutes. ‘Grubi’ was excellent. Everyone was committed to winning this game. That’s what we did tonight, and we have to do that every night.”
Florida posted two goals from Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov to knot the game, 2-2, before the end of the middle frame.
“Not our best game, obviously,” Barkov said. “We didn’t play the way we want to. “It was really close until the end and we had chances, but it just didn’t go our way. I don’t think we deserved to win this game, but I think we had chances to tie this game at least.”
The Panthers dropped to 28-9-5.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves in the Florida loss.
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