Kraken top Avalanche for first three-game winning streak in their history

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Kraken won three straight games for the first time in their history, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday.

Matty Beniers had an assist for his fourth point in his fourth NHL game, and Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves against his former team for the Kraken (26-44-6).
"Guys are working hard, especially in this building, in front of the fans that have been here through thick and thin for the last six, seven months," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "Because they're working hard, they're working together all night tonight. We got off to the start that we needed. To be able to play with the lead is really important against Colorado, and we were able to do that."

Cale Makar scored his 27th goal, and Pavel Francouz made 26 saves for the Avalanche (55-16-6), who remained tied with the Florida Panthers for the most points in the NHL (116).
"Even after we got more competitive and got more desire in our game, I thought we had a lot of guys fighting the puck," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We just didn't handle it well, we didn't handle their pressure well, we didn't execute when we had time, and we certainly didn't execute when they took our time and space away."
Kole Lind gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 1:12 of the first period when he scored on a backhand after picking the puck off the end boards.
"That was a really great way for him to get off to a good start," Hakstol said. "It was a little bit of a broken play. But for him, it was just building speed and pushing on possession and being able to finish that. A great way for him to be able to start the game, but his two-way game was good, and he played a good, confident game."
Jordan Eberle made it 2-0 at 5:23 off a pass from Beniers, scoring over Francouz's shoulder.

Yanni Gourde extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:44 when Jared McCann's shot from the wall hit Bowen Byram and rebounded off Gourde and into the net.
"Honestly, anytime you go up 3-0 early, it's a bonus," Eberle said. "At the same time, against these guys, you understand that they have the firepower to build and can easily come back from that. But I thought we did a good job, for the most part, limiting their chances and trying to help [Grubauer] out as much as we could, and when things broke down he was there to make the save. We've had storylines like that throughout the year with guys beating their old team. It's good to see him get that."
Makar cut it to 3-1 at 17:37 off a pass from Nazem Kadri from behind the goal line.

Artturi Lehkonen pulled Colorado within 3-2 at 16:40 of the third period when he knocked a bouncing puck through Grubauer's legs.
Kadri played for the first time since March 31. He had an assist and four shots in 21:28 of ice time after missing eight games with an upper-body injury.
"Well, he's got some work to do yet," Bednar said. "As expected, he's had some time off here now. I didn't think it was his best performance, wouldn't expect it to be, so he's going to have to dig in here and get back into speed."
NOTES: Beniers became the first rookie to debut with an expansion team in its inaugural season and get a point in his first four games since Bernie Johnston in 1979-80 (four games, Hartford Whalers). The longest streak is six, by Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers in 1979-80. … Makar moved within two goals of tying Brent Burns (29 in 2016-17) for the most by an active defenseman in a single season. … Forward Victor Rask played his 500th NHL game and 12th with the Kraken. He played 339 games with the Carolina Hurricanes and 149 with the Minnesota Wild. … McCann had an assist for his 200th NHL point.