*Photo from The Athletic*
On opening night, we saw the first regular season rendition of the Seattle Kraken, and they played admirably. Instead, the second youngest team in the NHL had the last laugh. Max Pacioretty scored twice, Chandler Stephenson scored the game winning goal, and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken 4-3 on Tuesday night, on NHL opening night.
Vegas captain Mark Stone said of the season opening win that "Things didn't end well for us last year in the playoffs. We did a little bit of soul searching this summer and we wanted to be ready for opening day of camp, opening day of the season. It's about being consistent for 82 games."
Pacioretty scored the first goal of the season for Vegas, tallying goal number one at 3:10 of the first period off the pass from Stone, who finished with 3 assists and a +3 plus/minus. Jonathan Marchessault then scored his 3rd opening night goal with Vegas, scoring 6:36 into the first period, off an assist from William Karlsson.
In the second period, Pacioretty turned it into a 3-0 lead for Vegas, depositing the pass from Stone and putting it in the back of the net 6:43 into the period. Then, Ryan Donato scored the first regular season goal in Kraken history on a netfront scramble 11:32 into the second period. Seattle then cut it to 3-2 when Jared McCann scored 12:44 into the second.
7:58 into the 3rd period, Morgan Geekie capped the comeback for Seattle, scoring on an assist from defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, tying the game 3-3. 35 seconds later, however, Stephenson struck, giving Vegas the 4-3 lead on assists from Pacioretty and Stone, potting the game winning goal.
Vegas coach Pete Deboer said of the win that "I thought our top two lines were exceptional, and we needed them to be. We were essentially shorthanded tonight with the lineup we dressed, we had to really lean on the big guys."
Robin Lehner picked up the win for Vegas on opening night, saving 28 of 31 shots from the Kraken, posting a .903 save percentage. It's a rock solid effort for Lehner, who is in his first season as the true number one goalie in Vegas after Marc-Andre Fleury was traded to the Blackhawks over the offseason.
Philipp Grubauer, the headline free agency signing for the Kraken, was saddled with the loss, but he still performed well, saving 26 of 30 shots faced from the potent Vegas offense, posting a .867 save percentage in the first professional hockey game for a Seattle team since 1975.
Donato talked about team chemistry, saying that "We just came together. We obviously hadn't been in that situation before, but we've all played on different teams and been in that situation on other teams. We knew as soon as we got one, the others would come."
The Golden Knights hit the road to face the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night, with Lehner likely to start in goal. The Kraken take on the Nashville Predators on Thursday, with Grubauer once again the likely starter.
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