Tolvanen scores 20th, 21st goals In Kraken Win

Kraken winger Eeli Tolvanen looked across a victorious dressing room at his Finnish countryman dart buddy knowing he’d outdone him by one at hitting the target.

Granted, new pal Kaapo Kakko had scored the decisive marker of the Kraken’s 4-2 win over Utah HC on Friday night, though Tolvanen still wound up beating him with a pair and surpassed an even bigger 20-goal target in the process. After stalling out at 18 and then 16 the past two seasons, Tolvanen now has 21 with a month of games to play after the two goals notched in this one gave him the team lead.

“I felt like last year I had a good start to the year and then the last 30 or 40 games was awful,” said Tolvanen, who managed just three goals from February onward. “So, it feels better to go and play well the whole season and then when you go into the summer, you don’t have to have the last 40 games in your head.”

Mind you, the Kraken were still intrigued enough by Tolvanen’s goal-scoring prowess to sign the restricted free agent to a two-year contract extension even after his second-half slump. They’ve been tantalized by the winger’s natural ability since he popped 16 goals for them in just 48 games two years ago – and two more for Nashville in games prior – after being picked up on the December 2022 waiver claim.

They’ve wondered ever since what a complete Tolvanen season might look like and whether he could blossom into a top scoring threat beyond a solid, complimentary winger. They’re getting a deeper glimpse this week after he scored against Montreal on Wednesday night and opened this game’s scoring 51 seconds in before closing it out on an empty net with 69 seconds to go.

Throw in an expanded penalty killing role as well and Tolvanen, still only 25, is emerging as a key piece of this team’s future.

So is Kakko, who’d given the Kraken the lead for good about eight minutes prior to Tolvanen’s empty netter, picking up a loose puck at the side of the Utah goal and jamming it home on a wraparound behind goalie Karel Vejmelka.

That gave goalie Philipp Grubauer enough support to pick up his second win in as many outings since his return from a demotion to AHL Coachella Valley that got him more playing time. Grubauer stopped 23 of 25 shots, including eight in a chaotic final period filled with wild scrambles around both teams’ nets.

Brandon Montour scored his third goal in two games for the Kraken to tie things 2-2 late in the second period and extended his team scoring record by a defenseman to 16 on the season. Jordan Eberle also picked up two assists and now has five in two games after recently coming back off pelvic surgery.

Tolvanen gained a new friend and teammate with Kakko’s arrival from the New York Rangers in a December trade for Will Borgen. They sit next to each other in the locker room, have dinners and even to saunas with each other – a huge Finnish pastime -- on days off.

“It’s great to have another Finn here,” Tolvanen said. “We’ve hung out together a lot the past couple of months.”

They also can apparently get mildly competitive with one another in their dart games.

“He beat me yesterday,” Tolvanen said. “But I think the games are 1-1 now.”

Kakko has appreciated having Tolvanen around to help acclimate to his new team, for which he now has seven Kraken goals after scoring four with the Rangers before the trade.

“It’s been helping a lot,” Kakko said. “I’ve been here a while now so it’s kind of easy right now, but especially the first month, I was staying with him…he kind of showed me what to do and how it goes.”

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft feels he’s revived his career in taking on greater responsibilities on a top line with Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz.

“It’s very different – it feels different on the ice,” Kakko said. “Obviously, I have a bigger role over here. I’m playing more. And I feel we have a very good line right now.”

Schwartz almost reached the 20-goal mark alongside Tolvanen about four minutes before Kakko’s decisive strike. But although the red light went on behind the net, a video review showed Schwartz’s shot had hit the crossbar without crossing the goal line.

Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said that, just like Tolvanen, the entire team has taken it upon itself to finish the season in strong and consistent fashion.

“Tolvy has had a strong season,” Bylsma said. “With 21 goals now, he keeps building on it and expanding his role. We see him on the penalty kill and I think that’s critical for his role and for our team to see him keep developing and adding to his game.

“He’s got 21 goals and four more to go to 25,” Bylsma added. “I think he can get to 25 and that would be an exceptional season for him.”

Only one player in Kraken history has ever reached the 25-goal plateau; Jared McCann scoring 27, 40 and 29 in each of his first three franchise seasons.

Surpassing 20 has admittedly taken a load off Tolvanen’s mind for now.

“I made it to 18 goals two years ago and then 16,” he said. “And I feel like it’s been inside of my head to try to get to 20…you start thinking too much.

“So, it’s nice to get it done now. It’s one of those things where you always want to score goals and getting to 20 is a big accomplishment.”