*Photo from Kentucky Today*
The Seattle Kraken made Thursday night a pretty memorable one, not just for themselves, but for their fanbase and the NHL. Jared McCann scored, Brandon Tanev scored twice, and the Kraken defeated the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Thursday night.
Entering Friday, the Kraken now have their first regular season win in franchise history, with plenty of more milestones to pass as a brand new franchise. But, for now, they can simply celebrate their first win, and look forward to their home opener in Seattle.
Kraken forward Alex Wennberg said of the first win that "I feel like it's just big for the franchise. Obviously, it's so new and to get that first win, I feel like it's a big accomplishment. I don't know if we celebrate it any differently, I think it's just really good for the team and for us as an organization. It's just like, 'Hey, that's the first one.' Hopefully there's many more to come and that's where we're aiming at."
Eeli Tolvanen scored the first goal of the season for the Predators, giving them a 1-0 lead 3:18 into the game. 15:27 into the opening period, McCann answered with a power play goal, his second goal this season, tying the game 1-1. At the 17:33 marker, Tanev scored his first goal of the night, a power play goal, to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead after one period.
Roman Josi answered right back for the Predators in the second period, scoring his first goal of the season on the power play 4:36 into the period, tying the game 2-2. At 9:54 of the second, Wennberg gave the Kraken the lead right back, with his first goal of the season making it a 3-2 Kraken lead after two periods.
In the 3rd period, there were no goals scored until there was 1:21 remaining in the game, when Tanev scored his second goal of the night, and of the season, to give the Kraken a 4-2 lead as time dwindled. Mikael Granlund scored shortly thereafter for the Predators to cut the deficit to 4-3, but they didn't have enough time to tie it, giving the Kraken their first win.
Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol said of Tanev's two goals that "Little details and energy and the emotion that he brings to our team, not only on the ice, but on the bench as well. Those things are extremely important, so it was nice to see him get rewarded. Right at the end of the power play, scores a big goal for us off of the face-off and then is able to finish it with the empty netter."
Philipp Grubauer got the pleasure of being the first goalie in Kraken history to record a win, and it was deserved. Grubauer played very well, saving 27 out of 30 shots the Predators flung at him, good for a .900 save percentage as he improved to 1-1-0 on the young season.
For the Predators, the Kraken spoiled their season opener, with Juuse Saros taking the loss for Nashville. Saros saved 22 out of 25 shots he faced from the Kraken, posting just an .880 save percentage in his first start of the season, dropping to 0-1-0 this season.
Predators head coach John Hynes said of the loss that "I thought in the first period we didn't get off to the start we wanted. I thought in the second period there were more pockets of how we wanted to be able to play, and then I really liked the third period where we were able to get to our game. So I think there's some things we can take out of the first. The penalties don't help, where you wind up having to kill so much right off the bat."
The Kraken get back in action Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Grubauer expected to draw the start. The Predators face the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, with Saros as the likely starter in goal.
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