Kraken throttled by Toronto, 5-1

In Seattle, the Kraken fell to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-1, on Sunday, after taking a 1-0 lead in the game.

Auston Matthews hit for a double in the Leafs win.

“A lot of good things out there for sure,” Matthews said “It always helps to put a couple in the net, but I thought we really were just on the puck tonight. You know, forcing turnovers on the other hand and just staying honest and hungry, so it felt good to kind of get that momentum back, and obviously a big win for our team here starting with the short trip.”

Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves in the Toronto win.

Vince Dunn scored the Kraken’s only goal in the first period.

“Our response to the first goal against wasn’t good enough against a team with good ability,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “Our energy and the start of our hockey game was good. As I said, we have to have a better response. … That goal goes in, we got to be stiffer, not just the next few shifts, with the rest of the period.”

Toronto improved to 37-15-8, off their third straight win.

The Maple Leafs’ Mark Giordano tied the game, 1-1, just over a minute after the Kraken lead.

John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren then scored for a 3-1 lead to the Maple Leafs coming out of the first period.

“They put pucks into the scoring area and they’ve got a lot of good skill, but they’ve also got some heavy guys with hard sticks in there and they put pucks inside of there,” Hakstol said. “For me, there’s some of those struggles where we’re reaching instead of getting in and getting under, being physical at the puck. When you reach against a team like this, you get yourself in trouble.”

Seattle dropped to 32-21-6, off their third straight loss.

Matthews scored his first of the night in the middle frame for a 4-1 lad, and tacked on the second in the third for the 5-1 final.

“I think when you see it go in, I think you just get a little extra pep in your step,” Matthews said. “I thought tonight just as a line, as a team, you give up the first goal, I thought we really just dialed in our game.”