Kokko stops 26 shots in 1st NHL start as the Kraken beat the Flames 4-1

TL;DR

Nikke Kokko stopped 26 shots in his first NHL start, leading the Seattle Kraken to a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames. Matty Beniers scored his 20th goal of the season as the Kraken secured their second consecutive win despite being eliminated from playoff contention.

SEATTLE (AP) — Nikke Kokko stopped 26 shots in his first NHL start and Matty Beniers scored his 20th goal of the season as the Seattle Kraken beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 Saturday night. The Kraken (34-34-1) won their second straight after learning before the game they had been eliminated from playoff contention when the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers 1-0. Seattle had lost six straight games before beating the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday. Kokko, who made his NHL debut Feb. 25 against the St. Louis Blues and was the youngest goalie to do so at the time, started because each of Seattle’s three goalies were out for different reasons. Starter Joey Daccord and backup Philipp Grubauer had lower-body injuries, and Matt Murray is away from the team tending to a personal matter. Calgary (33-37-9) opened the scoring. Hunter Brzustweicz scored his second of the season with 18:49 to play in the second period. Seattle quickly responded with its first of three consecutive goals. Freddy Gaudreau scored his sixth of the season just 54 seconds after Brzustweicz, Chandler Stephenson gave Seattle its first lead of the game with 6:44 remaining in the second, and Beniers increased the Kraken's advantage with five seconds to go before the second intermission. Jordan Eberle rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 18:31 of the third. Kaapo Kakko recorded his 200th career point with an assist on Gaudreau’s goal. Defenseman Abram Wiebe appeared in his first career NHL game for the Flames, who were 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. Logan Cooley stopped 16 shots for Calgary.