Kraken grab 4-3 shootout win over surging Canadiens

MONTREAL, Quebec – Finishing off a grueling five-city road trip against a rebounding squad full of energy wasn’t the easiest way for Philipp Grubauer and the Kraken to end a weeklong winless stretch.

Despite languishing in the NHL’s basement, the Montreal Canadiens have been a changed club under new coach Martin St. Louis the past dozen games and showed why for much of this Saturday night affair in front of a mostly full Bell Centre with COVID-19 capacity restrictions newly lifted. But Grubauer stood tall in his net when it mattered and the Kraken, who bent without breaking completely, squeaked out a 4-3 victory via a shootout on a night they were often out-skated and beaten to loose pucks by a more energized-looking team.

“They’ve been playing really well of late since the coaching change,” Grubauer said. “Especially in the first period, they put everything it felt like they had towards me. Second opportunities, screens in front … it was definitely a challenge for us. But we played our game and found a way to sustain their pressure.”

Grubauer made a couple of tough glove saves in overtime to keep the Kraken alive, the biggest off Ben Chiarot from point-blank range with nobody between them.

“From there, it’s just like guessing because he was so close,” Grubauer said with a laugh. “He comes in at, like, the hashmarks, so it was a reaction save for sure.”

There’d be plenty more saves to come for Grubauer in three standard shootout rounds and then four more of the sudden death variety before Marcus Johansson scored on the backhand to win it for the Kraken. The victory snapped a stretch of four consecutive Kraken losses on the trip and was only their second win in the past 13 games.

“You don’t want to go home without a win,” Grubauer said. “And that was a hard-earned win for sure.”

Deserved results haven’t always gone the way of either of these teams, perhaps explaining why they remain close to one another at the bottom of the standings. The Kraken moved five points ahead of Montreal and two up on Arizona in the battle to stay out of last place overall in the league, but have played three more games than both.

It seemed the Kraken, despite continually being pressured by their opponents, had finally taken charge when Jared McCann scored a power play marker late in the second on a quick wrist shot that put their team up 3-1 heading into the final frame.

But Canadiens defenseman Alexander Romanov cut the lead to 3-2 on a slapper from the left point just 1:04 into the third, with Grubauer flopping around frantically in his crease with pucks flying his way from all angles. Then, with just 2:12 to play in regulation, Adam Larsson tried to intercept a cross-ice pass by Nick Suzuki in front of his net and inadvertently tipped the puck past Grubauer for the tying goal.

McCann said players on the bench told Larsson “(stuff) happens” and to shrug it off.

“It’s just the way it goes,” McCann said. “He tried to make a play and everybody saw that. So, we were there for him. He’s done a lot of great things for us this year, so we stuck with him.”

Up until that turn of events, the Kraken had puck luck mostly bouncing their way.

Yanni Gourde, playing in front of family and friends in his home province, was credited with opening the scoring while shorthanded in the first period after Montreal defenseman Chris Wideman inadvertently backhanded the puck into his own net. The Kraken nearly made it 2-0 killing that same penalty, only to have a Mason Appleton goal overturned by an offside call for the second straight game.

Not surprisingly, the video review decision was a momentum-turner, as the Canadiens kept pressing and tied it later in the period when Michael Pezzetta got off a quick snapper that beat Grubauer over his glove.

But the Kraken caught a break fewer than two minutes later. A Johansson shot missed the net but the puck caromed off the end boards and right out to Ryan Donato, who buried it for a 2-1 lead before Montreal goalie Sam Motembeault could react.

The Canadiens had been 7-5-0 since St. Louis took over as coach from the fired Dominique Ducharme, consistently playing the type of fast-paced game that gave the Kraken fits at times in this one. Montreal nearly won the game early in overtime, with Ben Chiarot getting in alone and Grubauer making a point-blank save with his glove.

But given the way this season has gone, the Kraken will gladly take two points over style points.