Kraken score four goals in second period, surge past Red Wings
Meyers has three points, Gaudreau scores twice for Seattle
By Dave Hogg
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
DETROIT -- Frederick Gaudreau scored twice in a four-goal second period for the Seattle Kraken, who won 6-3 against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Friday.
Gaudreau's linemates, Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton, assisted on both of his goals, with Meyers adding a goal of his own.
“It’s huge to be feeling some chemistry with our line,” Gaudreau said. “We’re the fourth line, but we don’t think that way. We think we have a solid line that can contribute.”
Vince Dunn and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for the Kraken (3-2-0), who won the opener of a five-game road trip. Brandon Montour had two assists, and Philipp Grubauer made 37 saves.
“It’s great to play a game like this at the start of a long trip,” Grubauer said. “We know we can play this well, but now we have to do it again against some tough teams.”
Viktor Arvidsson scored, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and William Wallinder each scored his first NHL goal for the Red Wings (1-3-0) in the finale of a season-opening four-game homestand.
John Gibson allowed five goals on 15 shots before being pulled following Seattle’s final goal of the second. Daniil Tarasov made eight saves on nine shots in relief in his Detroit debut.
“Anytime you pull a goaltender, it says something about how you think he played,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “But this was a 30-man loss -- the coaches, the goaltenders, the defensemen and the forwards. We all had a part in it.”
Arvidsson scored a power-play goal for the third straight game to give Detroit a 1-0 lead at 9:19 of the first period. Lucas Raymond’s shot from the right face-off dot got through Grubauer’s pads, and Arvidsson tapped it over the line.
Detroit was outshooting Seattle 16-3 when Berkly Catton tied it 1-1 at 14:52 on the rush. Catton got a pass from Kaapo Kakko as he cut through the Red Wings zone before beating Gibson with a backhand.
“They really came at us hard in their building,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “But we weathered the storm, because our goaltender was really good. I thought the game was more evenly matched after that, and we took advantage of our opportunities.”
Wallinder gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 4:00 of the second, scoring on a point shot through traffic.
“I was surprised because I didn’t see it go in,” he said. “I thought someone had tipped it, but it is great to score an NHL goal.”
The Kraken, however, responded with three goals in a span of 3:05.
Gaudreau scored the first at 14:39 to tie it 2-2, knocking in a Winterton pass from the front of the net.
Samoskevich gave Seattle a 3-2 lead at 6:59, taking advantage of a Wallinder turnover to put in a Jared McCann pass.
Gaudreau’s second goal of the period extended it to 4-2 at 7:44 when he took another pass from Winterton and beat Gibson with a wrist shot from the left face-off dot.
“We know that (Gaudreau) can put the puck in the net, and we’re trying to get him into position to do that,” Winterton said. “I barely had to do anything for those two assists. He’s the one scoring the goals.”
Meyers pushed it to 5-2 at 14:05, scoring 12 seconds after coming out of the penalty box. Gibson, who allowed four goals on nine shots, was then replaced by Tarasov.
“I really liked our start, but we didn’t get rewarded for it in the way we hoped,” McLellan said. “We got loose and impatient instead of sticking with it. Then the puck is going into our net and we’re chasing the game.”
Dunn made it 6-2 on the two-man advantage at 11:53 of the third.
Brandsegg-Nygard, a first-round pick (No. 15) by the Red Wings in the 2024 NHL Draft, then scored at 15:27 for the 6-3 final.
“A lot of mixed feelings there,” Brandsegg-Nygard said. “Obviously, it is great to get my first goal, but we were down four at the time.”
NOTES: Wallinder became the 35th player from Sweden to score for the Red Wings, a list topped by Henrik Zetterberg (337 goals). Brandsegg-Nygard became the first Norwegian player to score for Detroit. … The Kraken scored six goals in a game for the third time this season, tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the most among all teams. … Jordan Eberle had his season-opening point streak of four games, which tied a Kraken franchise record, come to an end (two goals, two assists).
