SEATTLE — Kailer Yamamoto scored early in the third period and the deciding goal in the eighth round of a shootout, lifting the Seattle Kraken to a 4-3 win over the reeling New York Islanders on Thursday night, Nov. 16.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jordan Eberle also scored in the shootout for Seattle, which snapped a three-game losing streak. Philipp Grubauer stopped Noah Dobson to seal the victory after Yamamoto’s score.
The Kraken ended a streak of six consecutive shootout losses, dating to the start of last season. They had gone scoreless in their previous five shootouts.
“It was awesome tonight,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Guys loosened up. And as soon as one went in for us, you can feel some of that tension go.”
Matty Beniers, Alex Wennberg and Yamamoto scored in regulation for the Kraken, all on power plays. Seattle went 3 for 4 on the power play after going a combined 0 for 7 in its previous two games.
Yamamoto tied it at 3 at 4:50 of the third. The Spokane, Washington, native received a pass from Jaden Schwartz and scored on a backhanded move for his third goal of the season.
“To get that win is huge for us,” Yamamoto said. “Just be able to contribute to the team and the team’s success, it feels really good.”
Grubauer made 21 saves in regulation and overtime.
The Kraken rebounded from blowing a late two-goal lead in an overtime loss at Edmonton on Wednesday night.
“That was a disappointing loss, because we felt like we did so many really good things there,” Hakstol said. “But true to the group in here, we addressed a couple of things that we felt like we could do better and then we just said, ‘Let’s turn the page.’
“Our guys found a way through it, and that’s real credit to them.”
Anders Lee, Casey Cizikas and Dobson scored in regulation for the Islanders, who lost their seventh in a row. It marks their longest losing streak since dropping 11 straight early in the 2021-22 season.
Bo Horvat and Oliver Wahlstrom scored in the shootout for New York. Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots in regulation and OT.
“It’s frustrating, for sure,” Lee said. “But there’s no quit in this team. There’s no quit in the group. We’re playing good hockey. It’s just not getting the results.”
After Lee scored on a power play 3:46 into the game, Beniers answered with a power-play goal midway through the first. He fired a wrist shot from the left circle for his second on the season.
Wennberg added another power-play goal with 1:31 left in the first, one-timing a feed from Bjorkstrand to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead. It was Wennberg’s second in as many games after opening the season with a 16-game scoreless streak.
Cizikas tied it at 14:25 of the second with his third of the season and 100th of his career. Dobson then gave New York a 3-2 lead 1:48 into the third, scoring on a power play for his fifth.
Up next
Islanders: At Calgary on Saturday in the finale of a four-game trip.
Kraken: At Vancouver on Saturday night.
