Kraken 4, Flyers 1 at Climate Pledge Arena

Notable: The Kraken blew Philipp Grubauer’s shutout bid with a minute and a half to go, but won their fourth straight game against the Philadelphia Flyers. There was more scoring in the final three minutes than in the rest of the game combined, as a 2-0 game morphed into a deceptive 4-1 final thanks to multiple empty-net goals.

Grubauer’s last shutout was April 9, 2024 against a team that no longer exists, the Arizona Coyotes. He made 31 stops Sunday night against Philadelphia.

In a fifth straight Kraken game, the teams went into the first intermission scoreless. Grubauer turned aside 10 Flyers shots and weathered two Philadelphia power plays.

Early in the second period, Matty Beniers’ line connected. Beniers dug the puck out along the boards and sent it back to Kaapo Kakko, who drifted into the right position to set up Jordan Eberle. The Kraken captain beat Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (16 saves) high glove side for his team-best 14th goal of the season.

The teams went a full 20 minutes without a scoring change, then Chandler Stephenson added an insurance goal. Eeli Tolvanen was dogged on the puck, pushing it back behind the Flyers net under pressure and coming up with it in order to feed it to trailing Stephenson.

Tolvanen extended his career-high assist streak to six games with the primary helper. He leads the team in assists with 18.

Stephenson paid him back by chasing down the puck and gifting it to his linemate for the first empty netter, almost as soon as the Flyers bench called a timeout and pulled Vladar for the extra attacker.

Grubauer’s teammates took good care of him until the final two minutes, when they let up immediately following the first empty netter. The goal light didn’t come on and the official waved it off, but replays clearly, albeit briefly, showed the puck entering the roof of the net.

Tolvanen scored the second empty netter, too.

Goal of the game: Stephenson’s clean finish gave the Kraken breathing room early in the third period.

Player of the game: Tolvanen (two goals, one assist)

On tap: The Kraken wrap up a back-to-back at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday against the Vancouver Canucks. Their lengthy drought in the second game of back-to-backs, which spanned roughly a season and a half, ended just before the Christmas break in Los Angeles.

________

©2025 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.