Bjorkstrand scores twice for Kraken in win against Bruins

SEATTLE -- Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two goals for the Seattle Kraken in a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, and Shane Wright had two assists for the Kraken (15-14-2), who have points in five of their past six (4-1-1). Philipp Grubauer made 33 saves.

“Great game for [Grubauer],” Bjorkstrand said. “He obviously kept us in it. I mean, he played really well all game, so you build momentum off that when you have times in the game where they're pushing hard. We relied heavy on him tonight, and he did really well.”

Grubauer has won consecutive starts after making 32 saves in a 7-5 win against the New York Rangers on Dec. 8. He had lost his previous six starts.

“I think they only had like two or three chances there in the slot,” Grubauer said. “We played tight, kept them to the outside, and they had a high volume of shots, but I don’t think they had that many high-quality shots.”

Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins (15-13-3), who lost 8-1 to the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday and have dropped consecutive games after winning four straight. Joonas Korpisalo made 16 saves.

“After the first six minutes of the game where we were short-handed [three times], I thought our 5-on-5 game started to come around,” Boston coach Joe Sacco said. “We generated, we had some opportunities, we had some looks. It just didn’t go in the back of the net for us tonight.”

Bjorkstrand gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 24 seconds into the first period, tipping a Matty Beniers snap shot from the left circle through Korpisalo’s five-hole as he fell to the ice.

“I think [the power play] is connecting well out there,” Bjorkstrand said. “Guys are on the same page, I think we’re moving it around. We’re not really too set in our positions, so we feel like we have a little freedom, and we’re able to read off each other.”

Jaden Schwartz pushed it to 2-0 at 5:14. He took a pass in the left corner, drove to the net, and lifted a backhand over Korpisalo’s right shoulder from a tight angle below the left circle.

“The second goal, I thought, was equally important [to the first],” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “It came right after our third power play there in the first period and wasn't a power-play goal, but you're only going to get so many opportunities on the power play in a game.”

Marchand cut it to 2-1, converting on a penalty shot at 10:28 of the second period after Brandon Montour dove on a loose puck in the crease. Marchand drove into the zone with speed and slipped a backhand between Grubauer’s pads, scoring the seventh penalty shot of his NHL career to tie Pavel Bure for the most in League history.

“Sometimes they go in, sometimes you have more confidence on [penalty shots] than others,” Marchand said. “I felt confident in that situation and got lucky.”

Vince Dunn made it 3-1 at 3:07 of the third, batting in a rebound from the bottom of the left circle after McCann’s shot was blocked and looped high into the air.

Bjorkstrand pushed it to 4-1 at 9:16, taking Wright’s feed at the top of the slot and sending a snap shot off the post and in past Korpisalo’s left skate.

“I think we’re playing strong defensively,” Bjorkstrand said. “We are letting shots through, but they’re not always the most dangerous shots. When they come, we have goaltenders that can stop the puck, so that’s nice. But I think we’re scoring with the shots that we create, but at the same time, we can also find a way to get more shots on net and be more dangerous that way.”

McCann added an empty-net goal at 18:06 for the 5-1 final.

NOTES: Bruins forward Elias Lindholm left the game at 12:13 of the second period with an upper-body injury. “I’m going to get an update on Lindholm, I’m not sure [of his status] yet,” Sacco said. “I was just told that he wasn’t going to be available.” … Wright had an assist on Schwartz’s goal, factoring in on his fourth game-winning goal this season. The only Kraken player to play a part in more this season is Montour (five).