Tolvanen scores twice, Kraken win 4-2 over Utah

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 14: Eeli Tolvanen #20 of the Seattle Kraken celebrates his goal during the first period against the Utah Hockey Club at Climate Pledge Arena on March 14, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - Eeli Tolvanen reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career thanks to a pair of goals on Friday night against the Utah Hockey Club in a 4-2 Seattle Kraken victory.

Tolvanen's two goals bookended the Kraken effort as his empty-net tally with 1:09 left to play clinched the win for Seattle and gave Tolvanen his 21st goal of the season and a three-point night.

Brandon Montour also matched his career-high with his 16th goal of the year, Kaapo Kakko also scored, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 21 of 23 shots in his second start since returning from AHL Coachella Valley.

Tolvanen passed his previous career-high of 18 goals in Seattle's Wednesday night victory over the Montreal Canadiens. He didn't waste any time cracking the 20-goal barrier, scoring on his first shift of the night against Utah.

Olli Määttä missed a connection with defensive partner Sean Durzi as Tolvanen picked up the loose puck in the Utah zone. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka allowed a big rebound off a shot from Chandler Stephenson with Tolvanen in position to toss the rebound into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Utahans tied the game up before the end of the first period. Freshly out of the penalty box, Kevin Stenlund led a rush as he outflanked Shane Wright into the Seattle zone. A pass across the slot to Nick Schmaltz was buried past Grubuaer to make it a 1-1 game.

Stenlund then scored himself to give Utah the lead. A turnover in the neutral zone gave Utah the advantage on a rush chance as Stenlund tapped the puck by Grubauer off a nifty move and pass from John Marino for a 2-1 Utah advantage.

This time it was Seattle's turn to find the tying goal. Eberle picked up a cross-ice pass from Tolvanen and tried to find Montour's stick in front of the net. Instead, Marino checked Montour in the back, which happened to perfectly spin Montour around where a deflection off his right skate slipped by Vejmelka to level the game at 2-2.

The Kraken appeared to re-take the lead with just under 12 minutes to play on a rebound chance that mirrored the opening goal by Tolvanen. Jaden Schwartz was in position to shoot a rebound off Vejmelka created by a Matty Beniers shot. However, a review by the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto determined the puck went off the crossbar and didn't cross the goal line.

A fluky play then allowed Seattle to take the lead with less than 10 minutes to play. Under forechecking pressure from Kakko, Mikhail Sergechev tried to send the puck around the end boards behind the Utah net. Instead, he misfired the puck straight into the side of the goal. Kakko managed to control the puck while avoiding the stick check try from Vejmelka and beat him for a wraparound goal for a 3-2 lead.

Eberle then grabbed a loose puck off a defensive zone face-off with an empty Utah net at the opposite end of the ice. Tolvanen skated free and scored the empty-net goal for a 4-2 Kraken victory.

Eberle had five assists in Seattle's last two games after adding a pair of helpers on Friday night.

The Source: Original FOX 13 Seattle reporting.