Kakko has 3 points, Kraken score 6 to cruise past Panthers

SEATTLE -- Kaapo Kakko had a goal and two assists for the Seattle Kraken in a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.

Bobby McMann, Berkly Catton, Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton and Jamie Oleksiak each had a goal and an assist for the Kraken (31-26-9), who won their second straight game following a 5-2 victory at the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday after losing their previous four. Joey Daccord made 23 saves.

“We need everybody. That's the way it's going to be,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “And certainly we needed everybody on a second night of a back to back with a rested team here waiting for us. Joey played well right off the start, and then our fourth line stepped up and got us going with some energy, so huge [win] for us. But we’re a four-line hockey team, and that's what we need out of them.”

Eetu Luostarinen and Vinnie Hinostroza scored for the Panthers (33-30-3), who had won three in a row. Daniil Tarasov made 19 saves.

“They were fast ... they won more battles, I think, at both ends,” Luostarinen said. “I think that’s what stood out (the most).”

Meyers gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 5:28 of the first period. Frederick Gaudreau’s snap shot from the top of the right circle got tipped by Winterton and bounced off Meyers at the top of the crease before trickling over the goal line.

“It almost hit (Meyers’) face,” Winterton said. “So, I would have been sorry, but I knew it went off him (and wasn’t my goal).”

Catton extended it to 2-0 at 11:52. Kakko took a feed from Oleksiak and stickhandled down the slot. Tarasov stopped two attempts from Kakko, but Catton chipped the second rebound over the prone goalie.

“(Oleksiak and Kakko) made two great plays and I just shoveled it in, basically,” Catton said. “That was a really great play by Kaapo, and luckily enough it just popped out in the right spot.”

Hinostroza scored 15 seconds later off a 2-on-1 rush to cut it to 2-1. He hustled to the left post and redirected Luke Kunin’s cross-slot pass into an open net behind Daccord.

“I feel like he’s flying out there,” Luostarinen said of Hinostroza, who was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on March 6. “He’s a really good player and it looks like he’s having a lot of fun.”

Winterton made it 3-1 at 18:24, finding the loose puck at the left side of the net and sweeping it into an open net behind Tarasov. Meyers’ initial shot off the rush hit the right post and caromed to Winterton in the crease.

“It hit me in the chest, so just right place, right time, I guess,” Winterton said. “I was lucky enough to bang it in.”

Kakko pushed it to 4-1 at 3:20 of the second period. He took a feed from Vince Dunn below the goal line before pushing to the front of the net and sweeping it around Tarasov.

“(Kakko has) shown a lot more confidence,” Lambert said. “He’s owning pucks, doing things down low. He’s been really, really good, and it’s good to see those guys get rewarded tonight.”

McMann scored a power-play goal with a wrist shot from the slot past Tarasov’s glove to make it 5-1 at 10:07 of the third period.

“That’s what Bobby can do,” Lambert said. “Bobby releases the puck well, and that’s a goal-scorer’s goal right there.”

Oleksiak extended it to 6-1 at 14:37 with a one-timer from the slot through Tarasov’s five-hole off a feed from McMann, who has three goals and two assists in two games for the Kraken since being acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 6.

Luostarinen found a rebound and swept it in with two seconds left for the 6-2 final.

“We’ve got to own it and deal with it because it was no good,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “The coach was lousy, the players were equal. So, we’ve got to be a better hockey team (at Vancouver on Tuesday).”

NOTES: Seattle moved one point ahead of the San Jose Sharks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. … McMann became the first Kraken player to record multiple points in each of his first two games with the team. He also became the third Kraken player to score in each of his first two games, joining Daniel Sprong (three games from March 22-28, 2022) and Jared McCann (two games from Oct. 12-14, 2021).