Brassard, Flyers cruise past Kraken for first win
Forward has goal, two assists; 11 Philadelphia players score at least one point
Travis Konecny, Joel Farabee and Justin Braun each had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia (1-0-1). Carter Hart made 23 saves.
Hart's diving glove save on Jordan Eberle at 8:25 of the first period provided the Flyers some needed momentum. Seattle was outshooting Philadelphia 6-4, including Joonas Donskoi on a breakaway 1:35 into the game.
Moments after Hart's save on Eberle, Claude Giroux led a breakout and finished a give-and-go with Konecny to put the Flyers ahead 1-0 at 9:18.
"I think it could have been 2-0 for them early on," Giroux said. "Carter made some huge saves for us and gave us momentum. When he made that save on Eberle, you saw the bench, the guys got a little bit more motivated and started playing."
Carson Soucy scored for Seattle (1-2-1). Philipp Grubauer allowed five goals on 20 shots before he was replaced by Chris Driedger, who made six saves on seven shots.
"We had a really competitive start in the first 10 minutes," said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, who was Flyers coach for four seasons (2015-19). "We did have a couple of good scoring chances, we had a good, competitive start. We gave up the first goal from 200 feet away, which was a little bit of a theme tonight. I believe four of their goals we got beat up ice on. After that we got back on our heels and we really didn't have a consistent push."
The Kraken play at the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the first time they will have back-to-back games. After playing three one-goal games to start the season, Soucy said the quick turnaround after the lopsided loss is a good thing.
"Our mind just switches to tomorrow night," he said. "Come out ready to play."
Konecny scored on the rebound of his own shot to make it 2-0 at 12:12, and Brassard made it 3-0 when his shot from the right corner went in off Soucy's left skate at 14:36.
It was Brassard's first goal with the Flyers. His line with Farabee and Cam Atkinson (one assist) combined for six points (two goals, four assists).
"We're just trying to help the team, we're working, we're trying to be on the same page," Brassard said. "Joel is all over the puck every time, same thing for Cam. They're both really hungry to get to the net and they're really talented. For me, it makes my job a lot easier. They're two special talents."
Ryan Ellis scored his first goal with Philadelphia to make it 4-0 at 7:10 of the second period, and Braun scored with a shot from the slot that trickled between Grubauer's pads at 8:49 for a 5-0 lead.
Driedger replaced Grubauer after the goal to make his Seattle debut.
"If I had to do it over, I would have gotten [Grubauer] out of there one sooner," Hakstol said. "Not indicative of his play whatsoever. He's played a lot of hockey for us and been outstanding."
Soucy scored on the rebound of his own shot to make it 5-1 at 17:14. It was the first goal by a Kraken defenseman.
Farabee scored off the rebound of an Atkinson shot at 5:25 of the third period for the 6-1 final.
The Flyers said they felt better about their all-around effort after a 5-4 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks in their season opener Friday. They led the Canucks 1-0 after the first period but allowed four goals in the second and were outshot 34-21 after the first.
"We played a good first period [Friday], but we couldn't capitalize on our chances," Giroux said. "The second period that we had our first game wasn't that great, and that was kind of the message in the room (Monday), just keep pressuring, keep playing the same way, and we're going to be fine."
NOTES: Hakstol was 134-101-42 as Flyers coach before he was fired Dec. 17, 2018. He guided them to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2015-16 and 2017-18 but never won a round. ... Kraken forward Nathan Bastian had 27 minutes in penalties; Seattle had 19 penalty minutes in its first three games. ... It was Braun's first multipoint game since he had three assists against the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 22, 2020. ... Eleven Flyers scored at least one point.
