Kraken score 3 straight in 3rd, rally past Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- Jamie Oleksiak and Eeli Tolvanen scored 50 seconds apart, two of three straight third-period goals for the Seattle Kraken in a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday.

Oleksiak carried the puck to the left face-off circle for a wrist shot, tying it 2-2 at 8:04. Tolvanen put Seattle in front 3-2 at 8:54 by tapping in a pass from Shane Wright just outside the crease for his 11th goal.

“I think it was a good team effort,” Oleksiak said. “I think we stuck with it. Worked well as a five-man unit and we had success doing that. It was a good showing for us.”

Kaapo Kakko scored an empty-net goal at 18:57 for the 4-2 final.

Joey Daccord made 31 saves, and Chandler Stephenson scored for the Kraken (19-23-3), who had lost five of six (1-4-1).

Bryan Rust and Philip Tomasino scored, and Tristan Jarry made 14 saves for the Penguins (18-20-8), who have lost three in a row and seven of eight (1-4-3).

“If I had the answer, I'd fix it,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “We simply have to do a better job defending in our end zone. That falls on me. I've got to do a better job coaching these guys on our play in our own end, defending away from the puck and making sure that we're on the same page there."

Stephenson put Seattle ahead 1-0 on its second and final shot on goal of the first period, scoring short-handed at 2:12 with a wrist shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1. Daccord started the rush with an outlet pass to Jared McCann for the secondary assist and his first NHL point.

“Anytime you can get the first goal, it just kind of builds a little bit of momentum,” Stephenson said.

The Penguins have allowed two short-handed goals in the past three games after giving up one in the first 43.

Tomasino tied it 1-1 at 9:19. Drew O'Connor tipped a point shot from Kris Letang, leaving it sitting in the crease as Tomasino held off Adam Larsson to whack at the puck with one hand on his stick.

Pittsburgh outshot Seattle 16-2 in the first. It outshot the Tampa Bay Lightning 14-2 in the first period of a 5-2 loss Sunday.

“We clearly had to weather the storm in the first period,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “Played a lot of D-zone, as a result. Joey was excellent on numerous occasions. ... We’ve talked about a mindset of staying with it and playing a full 60 (minutes). Games look different, all over the map. You have to be able to play the game you’re in and stick with it for 60.”

Rust gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead during a delayed penalty at 4:42 of the second period, scoring his 17th goal on a wrist shot from below the left circle off a pass from Erik Karlsson.

“You see (the) game tonight. It's two periods, we play the better game,” Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin said. “And then (in the) third period, we did not defend hard. If we want to take two points, we have to play 60 minutes. It's a hard league, and again, everybody, every line needs to play hard, block shots.”

Sidney Crosby was shoved to the ice, initially drawing the penalty, and went to the locker room before returning after about two minutes.

“A lot of the games, probably, (we) came out of it feeling like we do tonight,” Crosby said, “where we felt like we did a lot of good things, but found ways to lose. So, got to turn that into finding ways to win. Regardless of if you outshoot teams, or whatever, we need to find a way to win games.”

NOTES: Bylsma coached in Pittsburgh for the first time since March 5, 2017, with the Buffalo Sabres. He was coach of the Penguins for 401 games from 2009-14, winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. ... Malkin had an assist and played 18:00 of ice time after missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Pittsburgh forward Michael Bunting returned from missing a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, when he was involved in an auto accident outside of the arena. He was held without a shot on goal in 16:28. ... Daccord is the second goalie to record a point with the Kraken, joining Philipp Grubauer (three).