"We wanted to challenge ourselves to be a little bit better than we were the other day (in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Predators on Thursday)," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "Just elevate a little bit in some of the competitive areas of the game. We had a really good response."
Tyson Barrie and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for the Predators (36-27-8), who are five points behind the Jets for the second wild card with three games in hand.
Nashville was outshot 39-16, including 13-1 in the first period.
"They were the better team from right off the start," Predators coach John Hynes said. "They just looked faster, more competitive on the puck. … Right from the get-go, you can see when we're going -- the energy, the compete level, the detail which we play with -- and we didn't have that. ... So it was a tough night for us."
Daniel Sprong gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 3:13 of the first period, scoring on a rebound in the crease after Saros stopped Ryan Donato's initial drive to the net. Hynes challenged the play for goalie interference, but the call was upheld. after a video review.
Tolvanen made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 17:37 of the first, scoring with a wrist shot from the right circle over Saros' glove.
"I feel like the last couple of games we struggled a little bit getting shots on net and getting scoring chances," Tolvanen said. "Today we did a pretty good job on the power play. We got shots through and we got some traffic, too."
Barrie cut the lead to 2-1 at 1:43 of the second period, driving to the net and knocking in the rebound of Philip Tomasino's redirection.
Tolvanen responded to make it 3-1 at 17:16. Saros skated out past the face-off circle to beat Bjorkstrand to a loose puck, but the goalie's clearing attempt was intercepted by Tolvanen, whose shot beat Saros back to the net.
"Maybe the biggest play of the game was the 3-1 goal," Hakstol said. "At that point in time, to be able to extend the lead back to a two-goal lead, that was a big one for us. We've come to count on [Tolvanen]."
Duchene scored 53 seconds into the third period to cut it to 3-2, redirecting Barrie's shot.
Adam Larsson made it 4-2 at 3:37 from the right circle, and Beniers pushed it to 5-2 at 8:13 off a give-and-go with Vince Dunn on a 3-on-2 rush.
"I think you see how they got their goals, there was a lot of odd-mans (rushes) and mistakes, things you've just got to cut out of your game," Barrie said. "But I think we just kind of chased it all night from early. That's a team that knows how to play defense. They work hard and you don't want to be chasing against them all night."
