In Columbus, Patrik Laine scored with 2:16 gone in extra time to give the Blue Jackets a 2-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night.
“It felt awesome,” Laine said. “It’s always nice to get the OT winner, but here seeing the fans for the first time when I score like this, it was a good feeling.”
The Kraken dropped to 1-1-1 with the loss.
“Obviously, it’s not the result we wanted,” the Kraken’s Brandon Tanev said. “You’re coming into a tough building to play a good team. These are important points early on in the season. You take some good away from that game.”
Elvis Merzlikins made 19 saves to get the win for the Jackets.
“It’s really nice feeling,” Merzlikins said. “We still had our mistakes. We have to keep working.”
Tanev gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead in the middle frame.
“It’s doing anything the team needs, whether it’s blocking a shot, making a big hit or just playing simple,” Tanev said. “It’s moments on the ice and understanding where you need to be that I bring every night.”
Eric Robinson forced the extra session with the tying goal midway through the third period.
“It took us some time to figure it out,” Robinson said. “[Grubauer] was playing really well. We could have done a better job getting in his eyes. Eventually we beat him.”
Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves in the loss.
“We got tired on that one (OT winner),” Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. “We tried to get a guy off the ice, and that turned into the odd-man rush.”
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