Final Buzzer: Rally Reversed

• Maple Leafs 24-year-old superstar Auston Matthews scored his first of three goals on a power play just over three minutes into the game. Kraken's Carson Soucy responds two minutes later to even the score. Toronto builds 3-1 lead but Kraken roar back to tie it on second-period picture-book shorthanded goal by Colin Blackwell from Yanni Gourde.
• Game is as even as it gets after two periods, with teams tied for high-danger chances (6) and within one for scoring chances (15 SEA, 16 TOR) and shots on goal (21 SEA, 22 TOR). Toronto has scored third-most goals in NHL, only two conference leaders have more.
• Kraken go up 4-3 early third period on Jaden Schwartz deflection. But a night that looks like a highlight win turns Toronto's way on goals from Matthews and Mitch Marner 40 seconds apart. Matthews added an empty-net goal for a hat trick and 6-4 Toronto win.

TORONTO - The Kraken found a way to live more than a few lives here Tuesday. They got over superstar Auston Matthews scoring in the first three minutes. They came back from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead on Jaden Schwartz's first goal since returning from a 10-week, 25-game layoff.
They matched the potent Toronto attack (third most goals in the NHL) scoring chance for scoring chance through two periods. But the magic dimmed in a 40-second interval during the third period when Matthews scored his second goal and Mitch Marner added his 23rd goal of the year.
Matthews completed his hat trick with a late empty-net goal to seal the 6-4 win. It was his sixth career hat trick and he now has a league-leading 43 goals this season. Marner notched a goal and assist for 39 total points since Jan. 19. Matthews has 36 points in the same span, making them the two hottest scorers in the league.
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol was straightforward in his post-game remarks, responding to a first question about whether he could point out positives in Tuesday's game.
"I look at a 60-minute hockey game and we were incomplete," Hakstol said. "You know I am not going to be disingenuous and pick out bits and pieces that were good.
"There's good stuff in there ... but at the end of day, bottom line is this: We have 11 or 12 minutes in a hockey game against a team that played last night, playing on a back-to- back. They had shown tired legs in the first 10 minutes of the third period and we're there with a one-goal lead and gave that up much too easily."
Hakstol said other recent games his squad have "played our tails off and been hard to play against, we weren't hard enough to play against tonight." The coach acknowledged Toronto can put teams in tough situations, but his squad had "too many unforced mistakes" Tuesday.

Not 'Special' Enough

Toronto leads the NHL in power-play conversion with a season average of roughly 30 percent. The Maple Leafs were three-for-six on the night.
"On the PK [penalty kills] we didn't complete them," Hakstol said. "Whether it is finishing with a clear [from the defensive zone], doing the job off faceoffs or finding a save when we need it."
Seattle did get one goal of their own - on the PK with a shorthanded playmaking goal from Colin Blackwell with an impressive assist from Yanni Gourde.
Philipp Grubauer finished the night with 26 saves. When Hakstol was asked about his goaltender's performance, he answered, "same as our hockey team."

Down, Then Up

This game did not start out promising for Kraken fans. Matthews, he of Scottsdale, Ariz., rifled his 41st goal of the year, beating Grubauer on a power play in the first three minutes. The NHL's top-rated power play appeared ready to roll on.
But the rout was not on.
After Toronto built a 3-1 lead, including a second power-play goal, the Kraken didn't flinch. Instead, the Marcus Johansson-Alex Wennberg-Jordan Eberle line worked a symphony of passes that started with Johansson getting the puck quickly out of the defensive zone (the coaches will love that on video study).
The finishing moves in the offensive zone featured Eberle getting the puck to Johansson, who skated it deep into the zone before sending a cross-ice, near-net pass to Wennberg. The Swedish center converted his countryman's feed to make it 3-2. Wennberg has scored three goals in four games.

When captain Mark Giordano was whistled for his second penalty of the middle period, Kraken fans couldn't be blamed for dreading another Toronto power-play goal perhaps putting this game out of reach. Instead, Gourde turned the tables, racing a loose puck into the Leafs' zone and then holding-holding-holding onto it until goalie Jack Campbell had to commit to a potential Gourde shot. Gourde slipped the puck to penalty-kill mate and linemate Blackwell for the tying goal.

Soucy Ties Dunn in Goals

But just over two minutes later, Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy tied matters at 1-1 in the first period with assists from Morgan Appleton and Blackwell. The play started with Gourde forechecking the puck out of Toronto control, then Appleton emerged from a scrum along the side wall to pass the puck to Blackwell.
Blackwell hurried the puck to Soucy, who consistently puts pucks on net. This particular shot hit bodies net-front and bounded back to Soucy, who followed with a quick-release wrister that zipped just under Campbell's crossbar. It's Soucy's seventh goal of the year, tying him with Vince Dunn for most goals by a Kraken defenseman.