*Photo from Knights on Ice*
Another milestone in this young team's history has been reached. Andre Burakovsky scored two goals, Adam Larsson added two assists, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-2 victory on Friday night in Vegas.
The Kraken took this matchup in a battle of the two newest franchises in the NHL, the first time they've beaten Vegas in their existence. The Kraken are on a roll as of late, having won 4 straight and 8 of their last 10, and are second in the Pacific Division. Who are they trailing? Vegas.
Burakovsky said of the win that "It's obviously a huge win. They're ahead of us. We want to chase them down," Burakovsky said. "It was an important game. We lost last time against them so we were hungry for the win today. It was good to get it done. Obviously, it's always nice to help the team get on the board."
With the win against Vegas, the Kraken have points in 9 of their last 10 games for a 8-1-1 record. They have a 12-5-3 record this season, a far cry from their inaugural season where they stumbled out of the gate and never recovered. They are now winless against only 8 teams with the win on Friday.
Ryan Donato struck first for the Kraken, giving them a 1-0 lead 2:38 into the game on his 3rd goal of the season. Burakovsky added his 6th goal of the season to double the Kraken lead to 2-0. With a power play chance, Nicolas Roy converted for Vegas, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Phil Kessel scored at the 12:50 mark of the first to make the score a 2-2 deadlock.
In the second period, Burakovsky struck again, with the Kraken retaking the lead on his second goal of the night, assisted by Jamie Oleksiak and Justin Schultz. With the net empty and 1:14 left on the clock, Matty Beniers assisted on Jordan Eberle's game sealing goal, making it 4-2 on his 6th goal of the season.
Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said of Burakovsky's game that "His second goal of the game was a big one. That was a nice play off the entry. He found a way inside. He found the extra step to get into a better shooting spot. He found the short side. It was a good night for him."
Getting the start after a lengthy stint on IR for the Kraken was Philipp Grubauer, who picked up the win in his first game back. Grubauer stopped 20 of 22 Vegas shots on goal, recording a .909 save percentage to improve his record to 1-1-1 on the season.
The Golden Knights sent Adin Hill to the net in his most recent start, getting tagged with the loss. Hill saved 24 out of 28 shots he saw from the Kraken, good for a .857 save percentage as his record drops to 5-2-1 in 8 starts.
Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said that "They were quicker than us. They won a lot more races, one-on-one battles. They executed better than us. They were just the better team. Let's call it what it is, from start to finish, they outplayed us. We can look at different areas and why and what, but we weren't ready to play, that always falls on the coach. I got to get the guys ready to play. We didn't come out of the gate ready to play."
Up next, Vegas gets back in action with a Saturday night home matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, with Logan Thompson getting the start. Martin Jones is projected to start for the Kraken when they face the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.
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