Second Coming
As it turned out, Wright did score a second goal just two-and-a-half minutes in the middle frame, taking another masterful pass from Jaden Schwartz, this time beating Dostal with a quick-release, close-in shot. Later in the second period, Wright racked up his third point with a primary assist when he sent a goal-line shot/pass to the Anaheim crease. Matty Beniers, holding his own net-front himself on this night, was right place, right time with the puck ricocheting at a right angle (or is that Wright angle?) to redirect the horizontal pass vertically past Dostal.
100 Points for Beniers
Beniers registered his 100th point with the goal. Fun fact: Beniers has now notched 16 points in eight games against the Ducks, a big reason why Seattle has an all-time record of 8-2-1 against their Pacific rivals.
Post-game, Wright said he didn’t know his assist facilitated Beniers’ 100th point (“It’s cool milestone for sure”). Wright was clearly excited to be playing between Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle, a pair of alternate captains with more 1,700 regular-season NHL games and dozens more playoff games between them (“unbelievable, pretty luck to be playing with them.”).
“Overall, I’ve just playing with confidence, playing a little bit of swagger obviously,” said Wright about his three-game road trip capped by being named First Star of the Game Friday. “I get some great passes from my linemates, they're helped me out quite a bit. It feels great.”
“He was a confident player tonight,” said Dave Hakstol about his young center’s three-point night. “He was confident with the puck. He did an excellent job on the defensive side. It’s what you do with the puck once you get it back.”