Kraken score 4 in 3rd, pull away from Predators

NASHVILLE -- The Seattle Kraken scored four goals in the third period of a 7-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann, Adam Larsson and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (2-2-0). Joey Daccord made 30 saves.

“Obviously, the first road trip is always nice to bring the guys together,” Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson said. “When you play a team on the other side like Nashville that is a good all-around team, to get one like that on the road and to finish off the [road trip] 2-1 is big.”

Juuse Saros made 28 saves for the Predators (0-3-0).

“We’re trying to play fire wagon hockey here, and we’ve kind of lost a little bit of our identity with how we’re supposed to play,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’re kind of playing how we want to play a little bit. I think there’s still, again, a lot of summer hockey in our game and a lot of trying to be cute and make plays instead of being direct.”

Schwartz gave the Kraken a 4-3 lead at 1:19 of the third period on a forehand-to-backhand move that beat Saros glove side.

Jordan Eberle made it 5-3 at 2:40 with a wrist shot off a pass from McCann, who pushed the lead to 6-3 at 11:57 off a pass from Matty Beniers in the crease.

Larsson scored into an empty net at 17:56 for the 7-3 final.

“Playing quick,” Bjorkstrand said. “We’ve got to have that mindset. Whenever we turn the puck over or get the puck from the other team, play quick and go north. I think we were able to do that tonight, and it helped us a lot offensively.”

Ryker Evans gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 3:37 of the first period on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.

Bjorkstrand made it 2-0 at 7:07 of the first period, finishing a 3-on-1 rush off a pass from Stephenson.

“The whole play is an infectious play,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “Going right back to the start of it with breaking the puck out, coming out of the [defensive] zone, the wall play from [Schwartz] and [Stephenson’s] speed, and then [Bjorkstrand], it was a tough one to catch over there and he made a great play.”

Michael McCarron cut it to 2-1 at 14:47 of the first period with a backhand from the slot off a pass from Juuso Parssinen.

Tommy Novak tied the game 2-2 at 17:00 off a cross-ice pass from Mark Jankowski.

Brandon Tanev put Seattle back in front 3-2 at 19:27, redirecting Brandon Montour's shot from the point.

Brady Skjei responded for the Predators to tie the game 3-3 at 17:17 of the second period, scoring with a wrist shot from the left circle during 4-on-4 play. It was the defenseman’s first goal with Nashville since signing a seven-year, $49 million contract ($7 million average annual value) on July 1.

“We’ve got to move past this and get on the other side of it as fast as possible,” Skjei said. “We don’t want to keep this feeling going. Obviously, you’ve got to have a short memory. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes, and then the nice thing about this league is that you’ve got two days and you’re usually playing again. We’ve got to learn from this, move past it and then get in the win column next game.”

NOTES: Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn returned to the lineup after missing one game because of an upper-body injury. He had three shots on goal in 19:24 of ice time. … Stephenson had two assists, his first points with the Kraken since he signed a seven-year, $43.75 million contract ($6.25 million AAV) on July 1. … Predators forward Steven Stamkos moved to center after playing left wing in the first two games of the season. He had two shots on goal in 17:52 of ice time. … Parssinen made his season debut after being a healthy scratch the first two games. He had an assist but was minus-3 in 5:54 of ice time.