Shane Wright celebrates birthday with go-ahead goal as Kraken beat Flames

Shane Wright celebrated his 22nd birthday with the go-ahead goal early in the third period as the Seattle Kraken defeated the host Calgary Flames 5-1 on Monday night.

Jacob Melanson, Vince Dunn, Freddy Gaudreau and Matty Beniers also scored for Seattle, which extended its point streak to eight games (7-0-1) since a Dec. 18 loss in Calgary. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made a season-high-tying 41 saves.

Adam Klapka tallied for the Flames, who lost their second in a row at home, and Dustin Wolf stopped 23 of 27 shots.

Wright, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 draft, broke a 1-1 tie at 1:57 of the third. Ben Meyers skated the puck down the left wing on a 2-on-1 rush and floated a pass to the top of the crease, where Wright chipped the puck over Wolf.

Dunn made it 3-1 at 5:12. Kaapo Kakko pulled up after skating the puck over the blue line on the right wing and fed Dunn cruising down the middle of the ice. Dunn split two defenders and beat Wolf with a wrist shot from between the hash marks on the faceoff circles.

Gaudreau scored into an empty net at 17:25, and Beniers beat Wolf at 17:39 to clinch the victory.

The Flames opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period, snapping Seattle's streak of eight consecutive games with the first goal. Ryan Lomberg charged down the left wing on a 3-on-2 rush and took a shot that Grubauer saved, but Klapka bunted the rebound out of midair and into the net.

Calgary had a chance to double its advantage as Jonathan Huberdeau was awarded a penalty shot after being hooked by Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson on a breakaway at 9:48. Huberdeau tried to slip a shot between Grubauer's pads, but the goalie made a stick save.

Seattle tied it at 1-1 at 2:17 of the second thanks to its fourth line. Ryan Winterton stole the puck just inside the offensive blue line, skated down the right-wing boards and took a shot that Wolf saved. The rebound bounced right back to Winterton and he sent a pass across the top of the crease to Melanson, who slammed the puck into the open side of the net for his first career NHL goal.

The Flames played without forward Johnny Beecher, who was suspended one game by the league for roughing Nashville forward Michael McCarron in a 4-3 loss Saturday.

--Field Level Media