Kraken beat Flyers in OT to tie franchise-record points streak
A scuffling Kraken offense getting talented winger Andre Burakovsky back three weeks after his latest injury was only half the battle in Friday night’s final game of the calendar year.
With Burakovsky taking a regular fourth-line shift for the first time since playing just nine minutes of a Dec. 7 return game from a prior injury, the Kraken then had to solve the visiting Philadelphia Flyers’ suffocating defensive system. That latter hurdle proved formidable until the latter stages of a 2-1 overtime win at Climate Pledge Arena in which Kraken chances were few until the final period, yet they still closed out 2023 riding an eight-game points streak that equals a franchise record.
Justin Schultz scored 2:35 into the extra session, redirecting an Oliver Bjorkstrand pass behind onetime Everett Silvertips star goalie Carter Hart to deliver a fourth straight Kraken win and improve their record to 6-0-2 during the points streak.
Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn, who’d had an opening Flyers’ goal deflect in off his skate, atoned for that in the third period when he finally got his team on the board with a blistering power play slap shot from the left point on the power play just five minutes in.
Kraken netminder Joey Daccord was his usual stonewalling self, but he couldn’t stop the night’s opening short-handed goal. That came after a thwarted a 2-on-1 rush when Travis Konecny scored from behind the net by banking the puck in off Dunn’s skate as he raced back to defend the goalmouth.
Daccord earlier had robbed Sean Couturier by diving across his crease to stop a puck headed for an open left side of the net. And he thwarted Joel Farabee on a breakaway chance after a neutral zone giveaway by Burakovsky, who is prone to such mistakes at the best of times.
The Flyers entered with the eighth fewest goals per game allowed at 2.71, owing in large part to a defensive system installed by coach John Tortorella — appearing in his 1,500th game behind an NHL bench. And that was not what a Kraken team barely scoring two goals per game these days needed as it awaits Burakovsky rounding into playing shape as well as Jaden Schwartz and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare returning from long term injuries next month.
The Kraken have scored nine goals total in their four consecutive wins, prevailing by 2-1 counts in three of them. But they captured all four mostly because Daccord and Chris Driedger allowed just five markers between them.
Still, the team’s 2.67 goals per game entering Friday scored ranked fifth worst in the league and offensive production has grown visibly worse in light of all the injuries to forwards. In their prior 16 games, they’ve scored more than three goals just twice and two or fewer on nine occasions.
That’s required the goaltending of primarily Daccord to be unyielding just to keep the Kraken within reach of a playoff spot. His last seven starts entering play Friday, Daccord had a 4-1-2 record and a league-leading 1.71 goals against average and .944 save percentage.
But that will only take the Kraken so far if they don’t start scoring more often. The return of Burakovsky should help with that as those prior nine minutes were all he’d played since suffering an upper body injury on Oct. 21 against the New York Rangers that later required surgery.
Burakovsky has just three assists in eight games after Friday’s contest but had been leading the team in points last February when lost for the season after tearing a groin muscle.