Kraken get first win, hold off Predators

NASHVILLE --The Seattle Kraken got the first win in their history when they defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3 at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.

Brandon Tanev scored two goals, Alex Wennberg and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist, and Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves for the Kraken (1-1-0).
"I feel like it's just big for the franchise," Wennberg said. "Obviously, it's so new and to get that first win, I feel like it's a big accomplishment. I don't know if we celebrate it any differently, I think it's just really good for the team and for us as an organization. It's just like, 'Hey, that's the first one.' Hopefully there's many more to come and that's where we're aiming at."
Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists, and Juuse Saros made 22 saves for the Predators (0-1-0).
Wennberg gave Seattle a 3-2 lead at 9:54 of the second period, shooting into an open net at the right post off a pass from Alex Barre-Boulet, who was playing his first game with the Kraken after being claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Tanev added an empty-net goal to make it 4-2 at 18:39 of the third period, but Granlund cut it to 4-3 with 40 seconds remaining after Grubauer couldn't control a rebound.
"[Little details] and energy and the emotion that he brings to our team, not only on the ice, but on the bench as well," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said of Tanev. "Those things are extremely important, so it was nice to see him get rewarded. Right at the end of the power play, scores a big goal for us off of the face-off and then is able to finish it with the empty netter."
Eeli Tolvanen gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 3:18 of the first period following a face-off win by Granlund.
"I thought in the first period we didn't get off to the start we wanted," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "I thought in the second period there were more pockets of how we wanted to be able to play, and then I really liked the third period where we were able to get to our game. So I think there's some things we can take out of the first. The penalties don't help, where you wind up having to kill so much right off the bat."
McCann tied it 1-1 at 15:27 of the first on a wrist shot from the point on the power play, and Tanev scored another power-play goal on a rebound to make it 2-1 at 17:33.
"It's huge," McCann said of the first win in Kraken history. "It's something we'll always remember. We've got the puck right now and are going to do something nice with it. Every guy on this team deserves to be here. I'm just proud to be a part of this."

Roman Josi tied it 2-2 at 4:36 of the second period with a one-timer from the point during a 5-on-3.
Nashville outshot Seattle 13-1 in the third period.
"I feel like we didn't get enough (offensive) zone time," Josi said. "Especially in the neutral zone, we didn't get it in as much as we would like to. Once we were in there, we were in there for a short time and they got back out. I think in the third we obviously got more pressure and was more the way we wanted to play, but I think the first two periods (we) couldn't get in enough in the offensive zone and were playing too much defense."
NOTES:Seattle is an expansion team playing its first NHL season… Predators forward Philip Tomasino was minus-1 and had one shot on goal in 10:34 of ice time in his NHL debut.