Ducks remain hot with road win at Kraken
Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov each had a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the host Seattle Kraken 4-2 Friday night.
Ryan Poehling and Chris Kreider also scored for the Ducks, who won their sixth game in a row. Goaltender Lukas Dostal made 20 saves.
Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz scored for Seattle, which has lost seven of its past nine games. Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 of 30 shots.
The Ducks took a 2-0 lead in the first period while outshooting the Kraken 12-3.
Gauthier opened the scoring at 1:02 after Mintyukov forced a turnover as Seattle was trying to enter the offensive zone. Jeffrey Viel picked up the loose puck and fed Gauthier, who charged past defenseman Vince Dunn down the right wing and beat Grubauer with a wrist shot from the bottom of the faceoff circle.
Gauthier has five points over the past three games (three goals, two assists) following a four-game pointless drought.
The Ducks doubled their advantage on Poehling's short-handed breakaway at 15:24. It was the fourth time in the past five games the Kraken have allowed a short-handed goal.
McCann made it 2-1 at 1:55 of the second, taking a drop pass from Jordan Eberle on a 3-on-2 rush and putting a wrist shot into the upper left corner of the net from between the top of the faceoff circles.
The Ducks restored their two-goal advantage at 4:00 of the period, as Kreider scored on a rebound with the man advantage.
The Ducks had a chance to extend their lead to three but Grubauer's poke check thwarted Jansen Harkins' penalty shot at 8:00 of the second.
Seattle pulled within 3-2 at 1:54 of the third as Shane Wright got the puck between the top of the faceoff circles and sent a pass to Schwartz for a tip-in at the left post.
Mintyukov clinched the victory with an empty-netter at 18:48.