NHL: Kraken test Lightning's perfect record in Seattle as wild-card race heats up

For the Seattle Kraken to be effective, they need all four lines rolling, and Sunday’s game showed exactly why. The team’s third and fourth lines did most of the damage in a 6-2 victory against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.

The Kraken, who moved past San Jose into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, aim for their third straight win when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.

“We need everybody. That’s the way it’s going to be,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “Certainly, we needed everybody on a second night of a back-to-back with a rested team waiting for us. Our fourth line stepped up and got us going with energy. It’s a huge win for us. But we’re a four-line hockey team, and that’s what we need out of them.”

Kaapo Kakko scored a goal and added two assists, while Berkly Catton, Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton, newly acquired Bobby McMann, and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak each contributed a goal and an assist. Kakko and Catton play on the Kraken’s third line, with Meyers and Winterton on the fourth. Those two lines combined for all three of Seattle’s first-period goals Sunday.

“A good start is something we need, and we talked about it pregame,” Kakko said. “Freddy (Gaudreau’s) line got us going early. Our line has been playing together for a while now. We feel a lot more where each other are on the ice.”

McMann has three goals and two assists in his first two games with the Kraken after being acquired from Toronto at the NHL trade deadline. He had to wait more than a week for his Seattle debut due to visa issues.

“Where we’re at in the playoff race, whenever someone comes into the lineup—whether via trade or rotation—you’re looking for a spark,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said. “Bobby certainly provided that. He did what we talked about at the trade deadline: His size, speed, getting to the net, shot, and physicality. That’s exactly what he delivered.”

The Lightning have struggled since the Olympic break, going 3-7-0, including a 4-2 loss Saturday at home against Carolina that dropped them to second place in the Atlantic Division.

Tampa Bay allowed two first-period goals Saturday, then tied the score in the second before giving up two more in the third.

“I thought we had a terrible start. You can’t give that up,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We turned it into a 40-minute game, down 2-0 with two periods left. I thought we did a great job coming back and gave ourselves every chance to win.”

Former Kraken Yanni Gourde scored one of Tampa Bay’s goals.

“We’ve got to be more effective and move the puck quickly,” Gourde said. “When we do that, we’re a good team. We’ve done more of it in the last two games, but we have to keep trusting the process.”

Tampa Bay opens a four-game road trip that includes stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. The Lightning are 7-0-1 all-time against the Kraken, including a perfect 4-0-0 record in Seattle.

—Field Level Media/Reuters