Final Buzzer: Kraken Fall, 5-2

• The season's most talked-about trade acquisition, Jack Eichel, scores the first two goals of the game and former Seattle Thunderbirds star Shea Theodore builds it to a 3-0 lead going into second intermission. It's Theodore's second goal in the two-game set.
• Rookie goalie Logan Thompson continued his impressive run since manning the Vegas net with No. 1 goalie Robin Lehner sidelined. Thompson posted his first NHL career shutout Wednesday night and followed it with a 5-2 win Friday.
• Looking to jumpstart his teammates, Kraken co-leading scorer Jared McCann drops the gloves to fight Vegas forward Michael Amadio right from a faceoff about a minute after the VGK third goal. Late second period, the Kraken's other co-leading scorer, Yanni Gourde, goes toe-to-toe in a scrap with Vegas forward Ben Hutton.

The Kraken couldn't solve a rookie goalie for five-and-a-half periods over the last two games. The goaltender is one in the same American Hockey League call-up Logan Thompson in net for Vegas, who made 26 saves for his seventh win in his first 11 NHL starts.
Kraken center Alex Wennberg broke the scoreless string mid-third period with assists from Jared McCann and Will Borgen. McCann, who brawled in the second period, is now tied with Yanni Gourde for the team lead in scoring (goals and assists).
"Frustration," said McCann, when asked what led him to fight, admitting it is not the strongest part of his game. "I'm obviously not very good at it."
His teammates appreciated McCann's performance on all levels, clear from the banging of sticks against the boards at the Kraken bench.
"To see a guy like 'Canner' do that, he has such a great heart," said rookie forward Kole Lind, who scored his first NHL goal late in the third period. "I can watch and learn from him.
"Guys competed hard throughout the hockey game," coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought it was important to get that push in the third."
Hakstol said Vegas' second and third goals were results of Kraken mistakes, including defenseman Jamie Oleksiak falling while clearing the puck near Seattle's net. If you take out those mistakes, he said, the game looks more competitive than the final score. Hakstol added he thought his squad cut down significantly on turnovers from Wednesday's loss.
"It's cliché," McCann said post-game. "We just have to stay positive. It's been a tough year, we have to grind it out and play for each other."
Seattle efforts to get the margin down to a one-goal deficit were hampered by an inadvertent delay-of-game penalty on alternate captain Adam Larsson with less than six minutes remaining, though fellow D-man Carson Soucy did fire off a wicked wrist shot on a shorthanded attempt that challenged the rookie Thompson.
Vegas 27-goal scorer Jonathan Marchessault tallied his second empty-net goal in the two-game set to make it 4-1 at the 17:44 mark of the third period.
Not a squad to quit, playing to the end, Seattle answered back with the rookie Lind scoring his first NHL goal at 18:22 of the third period to make it 4-2. Skating and wheeling to the slot with time and space, Lind ripped a quick-release snap shot that he has been flashing since his recent call-up from AHL Charlotte.
Vegas forward William Karlsson scored a second empty-net goal with 31 seconds remaining to make it a 5-2 final.

Playoff Pointers

Vegas entered the night one standings point out of the second wild-card game in the Western Conference, trailing the Dallas Stars. The victory over the Kraken puts Vegas into the coveted second wild-card spot.
But Dallas has two games in hand, playing at San Jose Saturday night and here in Seattle Sunday. Vegas travels to Vancouver for a Sunday matchup.

Eichel Scores Two, ex-Thunderbird Star Extends to 3-0

Philipp Grubauer, back in net after two straight starts for Chris Driedger, was strong early. He made a net-front save on Vegas forward Evgenii Dadonov a minute-and-a-half into the game, avoiding any letdown by the team or crowd. Instead, a resounding "Gruuuuuuu" chant enveloped Climate Pledge Arena.
But mid-period, Jack Eichel, headliner of the NHL's most talked about trade this season, scored his eighth goal for Vegas in 21 games to open the scoring. He benefited from stellar playmaking by defenseman Zach Whitecloud and Chandler Stephenson (former top-line center now on wing with Eichel).
Stephenson started with the puck away from the Kraken net and slipped a pass to Whitecloud. Stephenson exited the offensive zone, to loop back toward the goal with speed. Whitecloud fed Stephenson, who found veteran defenseman Alec Martinez joining the play near the right side of Grubauer's crease.
Martinez, just recently back in the VGK lineup, shot/passed a puck net-front that Grubauer couldn't handle cleanly and Eichel was there to blade the first goal of the game. Grubauer saved seven of eight shots in the first 20 minutes, including four Grade-A chances.
Trouble is, Thompson was even better during the opening 20 minutes. He posted his fourth straight scoreless period against the Kraken. He would reach five-and-a-half periods of zeroes before Wennberg ended the spell.