Wright, Beniers Scorching in SoCal

The Kraken finished a four-game sweep of the season series with divisional foe Anaheim Friday night in southern California, posting a 3-1 victory fueled by a pair of goals from 2022 first-round draft choice Shane Wright and a game-winning goal from 2021 top-rounder Matty Beniers. The Kraken are now 32-31-13 coming back to Seattle for the final home games of the season this week before embarking on a four-game Central Division road swing to finish the season.

Philipp Grubauer held down his end with a bunch of early-game saves and 14 stops on the night, facing only five shots in the final 40 minutes. The Anaheim crowd was populated by all sorts of Kraken fans who follow both the NHL team and American League affiliate Coachella Valley, just a 90-minute drive away.

Wright This Way

The Kraken’s leading scorer on the three-game California road trip? American Hockey League call-up Shane Wright, who tallied his second goal of the week during a first-period in which the host Ducks outshot Seattle early but the Kraken rallied to finish up 12 to 9 in the shots on goal column. Wright, parked net-front, redirected a laser shot from Oliver Bjorkstrand past Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal.

Just 24 seconds later, Wright nearly scored his second goal of the game when linemate Jaden Schwartz sent the 2022 first-rounder a masterful pass net-front. Wright fired as soon as the puck reached his stick blade, but Dostal made a Grade-A save on the attempt.

“He was really good, the most dangerous player out there,” said alternate captain Yanni Gourde about Wright’s first-period performance during a first-intermission interview with ROOT Sports’ Piper Shaw. “He was in slot and in the right spots.”

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.”

Wright On

After the third goal, Wright received a significant amount of time on ice to seek a hat trick and/or up his NHL career-high three-point into something more. He finished the first 40 minutes with a team-high six shots on goal. The young center, who has notched 20 goals and 23 assists at AHL affiliate Coachella Valley this season, might have impressed Dave Hakstol and his coaching the most with a vital third-period shot block (sprawling out on the ice) with the Kraken protecting a two-goal lead.

“He’s been great offensively and defensively,” said Beniers about Wright play on the road trip. “He’s been making quick plays off his tape and, obviously, he is able to finish.”

Wright fired off five shots in his first five shifts and looked more confident each time over the boards. AHL affiliate Coachella Valley head coach Dan Bylsma said earlier this season that Wright was developing fast as a player who holds on the puck more when the situation calls for it, which showed in second-period sequence during which Wright took the role of playmaker, sending deep-offensive zone pass between his legs to linemate Jordan Eberle, which the alternate captain nearly converted for his 18th goal of the year.

Kartye Continues to Be Unfraid

On a night when Kraken players of the present and future were on display against a bunch of Anaheim first-and second-round draft choices (former WHL Everett Silvertips star Owen Zellwegger was playing in his 21st NHL game), undrafted Tye Kartye continues his stellar rookie season in all zones.

When veteran Brandon Tanev was leveled at mid-ice by Ducks veteran D-man Radko Gudas, Kartye was the first teammate in to challenge Gudas. While Gudas went off for tripping, Kartye was getting attention from Kraken trainers on a bench, cotton applied to nosebleed like so many scenes of actor Sylvester Stallone in the “Rocky” movies.

Kartye finished the night with seven hits on the night, which moved him past the 200 mark for the season to 204, which leads the team in the category.

Defense Rises in Absence of Dunn and Larsson

Both top-pair defenseman Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson did not suit up Friday. Rookie Ryker Evans was getting plenty of reps, second only in time on ice to Jamie Oleksiak. Cale Fleury, a steady and influential blue-liner with Coachella Valley, notched more the 14

minutes as an emergency call-up after notching a primary assist on the insurance goal for Coachella Valley Thursday in a 3-1 home win for the Western-Conference leading Firebirds.