Grubauer makes 33 saves, Kraken shut out Penguins

SEATTLE -- Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves for the Seattle Kraken in a 2-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

It was Grubauer's first shutout of the season and his 21st in the NHL.

"When you have that type of goaltending, it builds confidence because it erases mistakes,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Mistakes happen all the time in this game, and when a goaltender takes one of those off the board, all of a sudden, it's a little easier to focus on the positive things."

Alex Wennberg had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for the second game in a row for the Kraken (26-22-11), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.

"I think [the third] was our best period,” Wennberg said. “Obviously, there's momentum in the game, but I feel like the third period, we were determined to win this game, and that's all that matters."

Tristan Jarry made 26 saves for the Penguins (27-22-8), whose three-game winning streak ended. Pittsburgh was shut out for the third time this season.

"I think we played two-thirds of the game pretty well,” Jarry said. “We had a really good first period, I thought we had a pretty good second period, and obviously they brought it to us a little bit more in the third. And they were able to capitalize on a weird bounce and one net drive."

Bjorkstrand put Seattle up 1-0 at 12:25 of the first period. Will Borgen’s slap shot from the point hit Wennberg in the slot and deflected into the air, and Bjorkstrand batted the puck in through Jarry’s five-hole from the top of the crease.

“It doesn’t always look pretty,” Wennberg said. “Sometimes you’ve just got to find a puck up in the air, and obviously [Bjorkstrand] has that sense for scoring goals.”

Wennberg made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 15:02 of the third period, finding a loose puck in the crease. Jarry dove and got a piece of Wennberg's shot with his glove, but it tipped up and in under the crossbar.

Seattle held Pittsburgh to five shots in the third period.

“I thought for a lot of the night, we were the better team, we just couldn’t find a way to finish,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “It’s hard to win when you don’t score goals. I don’t think it was from a lack of opportunity. We had a lot of pucks at the net, we just didn’t finish tonight.”

The shutout was Grubauer’s first since April 7, 2022, when he made 29 saves in a 2-0 Kraken win at the Chicago Blackhawks.

“It's been a while for myself, but obviously it's more important to get those points than to get the shutout,” Grubauer said. “It’s huge for the team too, because everybody played their part."

NOTES: Grubauer is 4-0-0 with a .947 save percentage in five games since returning from a lower-body injury Feb. 13. … Bjorkstrand ended a nine-game goal drought in a 4-3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Monday.