Kraken score 3 second-period goals to pull away for 5-2 win over Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Alex Wennberg, Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers scored second-period goals and the Seattle Kraken pulled away for a 5-2 over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night, their seventh consecutive win.

Yanni Gourde and Vince Dunn also scored for the Kraken and Joey Daccord made 36 saves.

“We went through a couple games losing and we had a little talk that we had to do something and we responded well and obviously right now you’re riding the wave,” Wennberg said.

Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch scored for the Sabres while Devon Levi made 21 saves.

“I think it was the mistakes we made, simple as that,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “I don’t want to discredit them obviously, good hockey team and a team that came in here hot, confident … but they’re in a stretch where they’re very confident and we made mistakes that, we pressed.”

Skinner opened the scoring 4:57 into the game when he was left all alone in the right circle and put a shot through Daccord’s legs to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead.

Gourde evened the score with 6:05 left in the first, finishing a rebound in front of the Buffalo net following a Sabres turnover.

Dunn gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead on the power play with 1:10 left in the first. Following a nice passing sequence, Dunn fired a wrist shot from the left circle to put Seattle ahead.

The teams quickly traded goals to open the second period. Tuch scored 50 seconds into the second, redirecting a shot from Skinner for his 11th goal of the season to tie it at 2. Wennberg scored on a breakaway two minutes later to restore Seattle’s lead, beating Levi with a backhand shot.

The Kraken then took control of the game, slowing the pace and capitalizing on Buffalo’s mistakes.

Schwartz made it 4-2 on a redirection with 8:26 left in the second. Schwartz was making his return to the ice after missing 16 games with an upper-body injury.

“You always want to chip in,” Schwartz said. “Each night you see different guys chipping in and each line or the defense chipping in with game winners. That’s what makes it fun, having everyone involved and everyone excited for each other.”

Beniers increased Seattle’s lead to 5-2 with 3:47 left in the second on a shot to the glove side. Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin smashed his stick onto the Buffalo net in frustration after the goal went in.

UP NEXT

Kraken head to Washington on Thursday night for the second game in a six-game road trip.

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KRAKEN 5, SABRES 2

Seattle 2 3 0—5

Buffalo 1 1 0—2

First Period—1, Buffalo, Skinner 17 (Mittelstadt, Tuch), 4:57. 2, Seattle, Gourde 7 (Bjorkstrand, Tolvanen), 13:55. 3, Seattle, Dunn 8 (Burakovsky, Tolvanen), 18:50 (pp).

Second Period—4, Buffalo, Tuch 11 (Skinner, Mittelstadt), 0:50. 5, Seattle, Wennberg 6 (Dumoulin, Schwartz), 2:08. 6, Seattle, Schwartz 9 (Borgen, Tanev), 11:34. 7, Seattle, Beniers 6 (Borgen), 16:13.

Third Period—None.

Shots on Goal—Seattle 15-5-6—26. Buffalo 19-8-11—38.

Power-play opportunities—Seattle 1 of 1; Buffalo 0 of 1.

Goalies—Seattle, Daccord 10-5-8 (39 shots-36 saves). Buffalo, Levi 8-6-2 (26-21).

Referees—Michael Markovic, Kelly Sutherland. Linesmen—Julien Fournier, James Tobias.