Saros makes 43 saves, Predators hand Kraken 3rd straight loss

SEATTLE -- Juuse Saros made 43 saves for the Nashville Predators, who rallied from a two-goal deficit with four unanswered goals to hand the Seattle Kraken their third straight loss with a 4-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Tyson Jost and Reid Schaefer scored, Jonathan Marchessault had two assists, and Ryan Ufko scored his first NHL goal for the Predators (29-27-8), who have won two of their past three.

“We just played to our identity [in the second period],” Schaefer said. “We got pucks deep, we were smart with it, had the puck protected down low, and we got to the net, and it was a fun game, honestly.”

Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers scored for the Kraken (29-25-9). Joey Daccord made 23 saves.

“I thought we came out well, and then… our team hasn't been in this position [fighting for a playoff spot] for a couple of calendar years,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “And we're showing it a little bit right now. We have to sustain for 60 minutes.”

Kakko put the Kraken up 1-0 at 2:14 of the first period. Shane Wright’s shot from the right face-off circle bounced off Saros’ right pad into the slot, and Kakko lifted the rebound into the net.

“On the first goal, Wright made a nice play to pass it off the pad, basically,” Lambert said. “And Kaapo was there. There's a couple times in third period we’d like to see him around the net a little more, but I thought he was competing hard.”

Beniers made is 2-0 at 9:46 when he roofed a shot over Saros' left shoulder from a sharp angle below the right circle.

“I just saw a little spot up top and didn't really have too many other options, so just decided to fire it,” Beniers said.

Jost cut the deficit to 2-1 at 4:14 of the second period. Marchessault caught Fedor Svechkov in stride into the offensive zone, and Svechkov then sent a cross-ice pass to Jost in the left circle, where he beat a sprawling Daccord with a wrist shot to the blocker side.

“Obviously, the first period wasn’t very good,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We weren’t up to pace, we were a little sleepy, but we dug in in the second, and I thought we had the better of them the rest of the game. ‘Juice’ was big in key moments, our kids made some big plays, and we live to fight another day here.”

Wright appeared to put Seattle up 3-1 at 9:46, but Ryker Evans' skate caught a piece of Predators defenseman Nick Perbix and Evans slid into Saros just before the puck went in.

“I think we saw pretty quick that it wasn’t a goal,” Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson said.

Schaefer tied it 2-2 just 33 seconds later at 10:19. Matthew Wood drove past Seattle forward Ryan Winterton and slid the puck to the top of the crease, where Schaefer tapped it into an open net.

“Obviously, me and ‘Woody’ have played together [with the Milwaukee of the American Hockey League] before," Schaefer said. "He’s a very skilled player, and it’s fun to play with him. I thought he was going to shoot it, and then I looked back, and he’s doing his thing. I just found the back door and he fed me. It was a pretty easy goal for me.”

Ufko put Nashville ahead 3-2 at 14:25 with a highlight-reel goal. Following a face-off win in the left circle by Ryan O'Reilly, Marchessault collected the puck and fed it to Ufko at the blue line. Ufko danced through the Kraken defense before going backhand-forehand and tucked the puck around the left skate of Daccord.

“I felt like I had some space, kind of made that first move and saw I had a lane to the net,” Ufko said. “[O’Reilly] did a good job of tying up the D-man, which gave me that lane. I just looked off the goalie and made a move, and it worked out.

“It’s just an, ‘Oh, wow’ moment. You dream about it as a kid, playing hockey in the NHL. And to be able to do it here with these guys and to be out there with those superstars, it’s pretty special.”

Ufko, 22, was playing in his fourth NHL game and was recalled from the AHL on March 5 along with Schaefer and Svechkov.

“That’s pretty special, honestly,” Schaefer said. “I’ve seen that maybe twice in Milwaukee where he does the little shimmy shake and goes down and pots one, but I haven’t seen that move where he does three little shimmy shakes and scores. That’s a beautiful goal, and he’s a special player.”

Steven Stamkos scored an empty-net goal at 19:55 of the third period for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: Ufko became the fifth defenseman in Predators history to have his first NHL goal be a game-winner. ... Wood has four points (three goals, one assist) in a three-game streak. ... Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games.