On Wednesday, Dec. 10, the Seattle Kraken hosted the Los Angeles Kings for their first game of the 2025-26 NHL season. The first 20 minutes saw no change in the score, despite each team having an extra-man advantage. The Kraken changed that with a power-play goal early in the second from Jared McCann. The Kings answered back, though, with a shorthanded goal just five minutes later.
Late in the third period, Kevin Fiala gave the Kings their first lead of the game with a power-play goal off of Ryker Evans’ double minor. However, it was Matty Beniers in the final seconds of the third with a power-play goal to tie the game. In overtime, the Kings took yet another penalty. The Kraken capitalized on this early, and Vince Dunn scored the heroic overtime goal for the Kraken to win 3-2.
Dunn Recorded Another New Achievement
Dunn not only scored the overtime winner, but he also recorded an assist on both goals in regulation and earned a new personal record.
On McCann’s goal to open the scoring, he recorded the primary assist. Dunn got the puck off the faceoff and passed to McCann in the center of the ice. McCann sent a blast into the top corner of the net to open the scoring.
As the game neared its end, Dunn gained control of the puck at the blue line. He sent a pass to Eeli Tolvanen, who took a shot. Matty Beniers was up in the front and tipped the puck into the net to tie the game.
Related: Kraken News & Rumors: Oleksiak, Injury Report, & More
Of course, Dunn was also the overtime hero. As the Kraken had a 4-on-3 thanks to Adrian Kempe’s slashing penalty, Tolvanen passed the puck to Dunn in the center of the ice. He shot a bomb through traffic, which bounced off the crossbar and into the net to win the game for Seattle.
Dunn is now the second player in Kraken history to record 200 points with the franchise, just behind McCann. He is now also the fourth-fastest active defenseman to record 200 points with his team, just behind the likes of Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Adam Fox. Dunn just celebrated his 300th NHL game with the Kraken and recorded his 300th NHL point the game after.
Dunn has been an excellent defenseman for the Kraken this season, but even more so, his offensive power has been showing through the cracks more this season as well. He continues to be a strong player for the team, and on the top defense pairing alongside Adam Larsson, he is finding his stride more this season than he has in the past four.
Kraken Finally Found Success on the Power Play
All three of the Kraken’s goals were scored on a power play. This has been something Seattle has continued to struggle with throughout the season, but this game was a difference maker.
However, it was the battle of the worst special teams in the league. The Kraken hold the worst power play in the NHL, while the Kings currently hold the worst penalty kill. Seattle had a 50% success rate last night, scoring on three of their six power-play opportunities. Unfortunately, they couldn’t score on their 5-on-3 chance, but they made the most of the power plays that they could.
Seattle’s power play improves to 19.5% for the season, which shouldn’t feel like a success, but it is. As long as the Kraken can keep up the performance they had in this game with special teams, they can try and find a way to stay in the win column.
Kraken Cannot Afford More Injuries
In the final minutes of the final frame, McCann tripped on Anton Forsberg’s goalie pad and fell onto the ice hard. He managed to skate off on his own power, but he was in clear discomfort and needed help down the tunnel to be evaluated. He just missed 17 games after an injury sustained at the beginning of the season. The Kraken cannot afford to lose McCann again.
Beniers also did not come out for the three stars of the game celebration, in which the team throws a stuffed fish out to the crowd. Hopefully, it is nothing serious.
These two players are a strong part of the Kraken’s top-six forward group and were a major part of the offense in this game. The team cannot afford to lose any more players, especially not these two at the same time.
Kraken Hit the Road
The Kraken will hit the road for a one-off trip to take on the Utah Mammoth on Friday, Dec. 12.
