The Seattle Kraken will look for their fourth straight win and surpass their number of road wins from all of last season against the host Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Kraken are coming off a 5-1 win over the host Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday to improve to 11-4-2 on the road after going 11-27-3 in away games during its inaugural season last year.
Seattle’s Eeli Tolvanen, Vince Dunn, Jared McCann and Matty Beniers all scored in the second period to stake the Kraken to a 4-1 lead before Alex Wennberg capped the scoring early in the third period.
Martin Jones (17-5-3, 2.84 GAA) made 26 saves for the Kraken, who have outscored their past three opponents 14-4. Seattle got outscored 16-9 during a preceding three-game losing streak that included a 6-5 defeat in a shootout to the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 22.
“There’s still another level (for us) to give,” Dunn, who added two assists, said. “Shutting down those teams was great, but (there were) a couple shaky moments (against the Maple Leafs) where (Martin) Jones kept it a close game for us.
“When we are feeling our game, it translates and trickles down to the goalie’s playing style, I think he feels it and feels confident back there, makes the saves he needs. And for the most part we did a good job defensively out there.”
Andre Burakovsky, with 10 goals and 19 assists, has a team-high 29 points, one ahead of Jordan Eberle (eight goals, team-high 20 assists) and Beniers (13 goals, 15 assists). McCann has a team-high 18 goals to go along with eight assists, while Dunn has five goals and 19 assists.
The Senators blanked visiting Columbus 4-0 on Tuesday for their fourth win in the past five games.
Ottawa took control against the Blue Jackets by receiving second-period goals by Derick Brassard, Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson before Austin Watson added an empty-net goal late in the third period.
“We’ve just got to keep chipping away,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “We want to get back in the pack. That’s our big goal. January is a big month for us.”
Anton Forsberg (7-8-2, 2.91 GAA) made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season and the second of his career.
“Feels nice to get the shutout,” Forsberg said. “Good for the confidence.”
Brady Tkachuk has 13 goals and a team-high 26 assists for a team-leading 39 points, three ahead of Batherson (13 goals, 23 assists), Claude Giroux (15 goals, 21 assists) and Alex DeBrincat (13 goals, 23 assists).
Stutzle, who has eight points (five goals, three assists) during a six-game point streak, has 15 goals and 20 assists this season.
“Tim’s one of those guys who has confidence and makes plays that not a lot of players can make,” Giroux, who had two assists against Columbus, said. “Right now, he’s got confidence, so we try to get him the puck and we try to get open for him.”
–Field Level Media