Montour scores twice in 6-2 Kraken win over Sharks

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 30: Brandon Montour #62 of the Seattle Kraken reacts after scoring a goal during the second of a game against the San Jose Sharks at Climate Pledge Arena on January 30, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Christopher Mast / NHLI / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken scored four goals on five shots in just under six minutes of play in the second period en route to a 6-2 romp over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

Brandon Montour snapped a 20-game drought with a pair of goals, Eeli Tolvanen scored for a fourth straight game, and Chandler Stephenson delivered a three-point night with a goal and two assists in the victory for Seattle.

Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jaden Schwartz both scored as well to carry the effort for the Kraken. Joey Daccord delivered 26 saves on 28 shots for Seattle in goal.

The Kraken capitalized on an early San Jose defensive miscue that left Stephenson free for a breakaway. Stephenson snapped a shot by Askarov for a 1-0 lead just under four minutes into the game.

San Jose answered before the end of the period with a lucky bounce in their favor after a Seattle turnover in their own zone. Carl Grundstrom's pass attempt looking for Will Smith in front of the Kraken net deflected off the skate of Shane Wright and over the shoulder of Daccord with three minutes left in the period.

But the Kraken offense roared to life early in the second to seize control.

Seattle scored on each of their first three shots in the second period, which chased San Jose goalie Yaroslav Askarov from the game. Askarov allowed four goals on 11 shots before being replaced by backup Alexandar Georgiev for the rest of the night.

Bjorkstrand swatted a puck out of the air by Askarov that had deflected into the air off the leg of Stephenson two minutes into the period to extend Seattle's lead to 2-0. It was

Less than a minute later, a turnover from Walker Duehr allowed Shane Wright to set up Montour for a hard wrist shot that rang off the left post into the net behind Askarov to push the Kraken lead to 3-0.

A tripping call against Schwartz gave the Sharks a prime chance to claw back into the contest. The ensuing power play saw San Jose with three shots on net and several more chances that missed wide as the Kraken couldn't get the puck out of their zone. However, the defense held for Seattle to kill the penalty and Jamie Oleksiak found Schwartz right after coming out of the penalty box for a breakaway chance as he snapped the puck through the legs of Askarov for a 4-0 lead and a goalie change for San Jose.

Montour then scored on a power play chance for Seattle to make it a 5-1 game. Montour ripped a one-time over the glove of Georgiev off a pass from Jared McCan for his 10th goal of the season, which ties Vince Dunn for the team lead among defensemen.

Tyler Toffoli clawed one back for San Jose eight minutes into the third period, catching Daccord off-balance with a delayed shot to make it a 5-1 game, but Tolvanen restored the four-goal lead minutes later. Tolvanen beat defenseman Cody Ceci 1-on-1 and snapped a hard wrist shot by the glove of Georgiev for the final goal of the game.

Schwartz leads Seattle with 18 goals on the season. Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen are tied for second with 15 a piece.

What's next:

The Kraken will host the Calgary Flames at 6 p.m. on Sunday night for their second meeting of the season. Seattle earned a 2-1 victory over the Flames in overtime in October. Calgary just completed a trade Thursday night to acquire forwards Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, and two future draft picks.

The Source: Original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.