Seattle Kraken center Chandler Stephenson (9) celebrates his goal against the Buffalo Sabres with teammates Oliver Bjorkstrand (22) and Andre Burakovsky (95) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Seattle. (Lindsey Wasson / The Associated Press)
Kraken 6, Sabres 4 at Climate Pledge Arena
Notable: The Kraken won for the third time in the past four games with six different goal scorers. The two most noteworthy belonged to John Hayden and Jamie Oleksiak who both scored within one minute of Buffalo goals. Hayden's goal came early in the first period and Oleksiak's late in the second after Buffalo pulled even at 3-3. The Kraken also received goals from Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, Adam Larsson and an empty-net goal from Jared McCann. McCann was responsible for setting up the goals from Oleksiak and Larsson and had his first three-point game since Oct. 17.
Quotable: "Not just him, but his line finding the offense is big. We want to be deep through our team, throughout our scoring and Jared is a big part of that, and just that line in particular tonight. We've seen the Matty Beniers line in the last little bit, we've seen Chandler's line in the last little bit -- Chandler scores again and he's on the score sheet -- and to get rounded off with [Shane Wright's] line and Jared scored the empty-netter, those goals and those assists are big to see us rounding out as 12 guys and any given guy can add to the score sheet." -- Kraken coach Dan Bylsma.
Goal of the game: For all the talk about the Kraken needing to start on time, Hayden's response goal was vitally important. The equalizer came just 27 seconds after Buffalo took a 1-0 lead.
Player of the game: While the trio of Beniers, Kaapo Kakko and Jaden Schwartz has become the top line during the past stretch, the Kraken need McCann contributing. He had seven multi-point games in his first 16 games; Monday was just his third in the past 32 games.
On tap: The Kraken homestand continues on Thursday night with a visit from Alex Ovechkin and the surging Washington Capitals.