In a game where precision and poise went hand in hand, the Seattle Kraken skated past the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 shootout victory, despite a stellar hat trick from the Bruins’ David Pastrnak. Kailer Yamamoto solidified the win for the Kraken, setting the score during the nail-biting shootout yesterday night.
Grubauer's goaltending was particularly key, as the Kraken's netminder saved the day by stopping all three Bruins in the shootout – including the formidable Pastrnak. "He came in way slower than in the game," Grubauer analyzed, "So (he had) a little bit more time to make a move in the shootout. But this guy has so many tricks in the bag. You don't expect them to do the same thing twice," he told CBS Sports.
Scoring for the Kraken were Jordan Eberle, Vince Dunn, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, whose combined efforts twice helped the team to recover from behind to tie the game. The goals were crucial in setting up Yamamoto’s shootout decider, as reported by KING 5.
This hard-fought win comes quickly off the heels of a Kraken home loss to Minnesota, which thrust Grubauer into the spotlight after he was asked to replace Joey Daccord. To seemingly rise to the occasion is just what the team needed. "You get five out of eight points and every game was overtime. It's a tough way to end it. We could have got the win, but unfortunately we didn't," Pastrnak lamented, indicating the sting of coming close yet falling short, in a statement obtained by CBS News Boston.
Despite the shootout loss, Boston did manage to scrape together a point, which tied them with Vancouver for the top spot in the NHL at 82 points. Nonetheless, the Bruins have found themselves in a bit of a rut, with their past nine games spelling out a 2-2-5 record, indicating a trend that the team will be keen, to quickly turn around. The Kraken, for their part, will be looking to build on this momentum as the season progresses.
