Montour Makes NHL OT History; Nyman's First In The NHL; Kraken Rally To Stun Canadiens

3/12/2025

(Seattle, WA)

Seattle came fresh off a 1-2-0 road trip that included the Kraken winning a Saturday afternoon tilt in Philadelphia before losing in the nation’s capital the next day. Seattle last time out against Montreal, trounced the Habs 8-2, with Brandon Montour recording his first career NHL hat trick. The evening marked the first home game for newly acquired Kraken, Michael Eyssimont in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Wednesday night also marked the NHL debut for forward Jani Nyman from Coachella Valley. Montreal tabbed goaltender Jakub Dobes with the start for Montreal with a 6-3-1 record coming in with a 2.49 GAA and a .913 save percentage. The Kraken started Joey Daccord for a third straight game.

The Kraken pounced on a miscue from Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes at 4:54 of the first. Dobes vied to clear a Seattle dump in. Jordan Eberle however, used his back pressed to the wall to keep the puck in. He quickly dished to Brandon Montour who wired a blast past Dobes to put the Kraken up 1-0 early. For Montour the goal was his fourth goal of the season against the Canadiens.

Seattle went on the power play late in the opening frame after a holding penalty on Arber Xhekaj. Seattle would hit the post on twice on the power play. The first from Jani Nyman and the second by Vince Dunn. Although the Kraken did not score on the man advantage, the pressure was much needed for a Kraken power play that had been cold. Seattle led at the end of 20 minutes with 1-0 lead and a 12-5 lead in shots on goal.

Jordan Eberle’s impact has been felt since his return from injury. Just like the first goal, Eberle helped keep an attempted clear from Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes from leaving the attacking end. Eeli Tolvanen sniped a blitzer past Dobes at 4:47 of the second with Chandler Stephenson earning an assist with Eberle. Seattle led 2-0.

The penalty kill would be important for the Kraken if they were to find success. After a Brandon Montour tripping call, Patrik Laine tallied his 15th of the season. Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson earned credit for the helpers at 7:11 of the middle period. The spark the Canadiens needed.

With both teams playing with a skater aside, Patrik Laine set up Alex Newhook for his 13th of the season. Laine’s pass found the tape of a parked Alex Newhook to postmark the pass to the top corner of the net. The goal came at 11:21 of the middle stanza to tie the game, with Laine recording his second point of the game. Montreal’s momentum only continued. After Jakub Dobes made a pair of sprawling saves on Eeli Tolvanen and a third from Cale Fleury, the Habs responded. The Canadiens countered with Cole Caufield setting up Juraj Slafkovsky for his 13th of the year at 14:04 of the period. The goal marked three goals in 6:53 for Montreal. The Canadiens turned a 2-0 deficit to a 3-2 lead.

Seattle went into the period with a lead in shots on goal at 28-20, but trailed where it counted 3-2. Montreal responded to Seattle taking a 2-0 lead with three of their own to lead at the end of 40 minutes.

The third period began with Jordan Eberle ringing the crossbar, the fourth the Kraken had hit in the game. Montreal subdued Seattle’s momentum off a tipped goal by Juraj Slafkovsky for his second of the game. Jayden Struble who took the shot, earned credit with the helper while Nick Suzuki tallied his second assist of the game. The goal at 7:18 of the third was reviewed by the NHL, with the ruling being upheld.

Arber Xhekaj took his third penalty of the game with 9:33 left. An opportune chance for the Kraken to build a rally. Jani Nyman in his first NHL game, snapped a shot off a feed from Captain Jordan Eberle for his first National Hockey League goal. Nyman’s power play goal with 9:07 left in regulation brought his parents to tears to the tune of a thunderous roar from the fans at Climate Pledge Arena. Nyman’s parents had flown in the night before from Finland to watch their son’s first NHL game, and in the end record his first NHL goal. Nyman about hit first NHL goal was at a loss for words not knowing what to say.

The Kraken found a break when Montreal defensemen David Savard took a tripping penalty with 2:33 left in the game. With the power play under the microscope, now was Seattle’s time to rally. The Kraken pulled goaltender Joey Daccord for the extra attacker to start the power play. Matty Beniers tipped a Vince Dunn blast to tie the game with 2:12 left. Beniers’ tip sent Climate Pledge Arena into a frenzy. The goal was the tenth the Kraken have scored with an extra attacker this season. Sudden death three on three overtime was needed to decide it.

Off the faceoff, Brandon Montour wasted no time. Off a set play from fellow trade acquisition Chandler Stephenson, Montour screamed past the Montreal defense and zinged a scorcher past Jakub Dobes for the overtime winner four seconds into overtime.

The goal was the fastest overtime goal in NHL History and tied the record for the fastest goal to begin any period.

Brandon Montour in the postgame interview said, “That was Chandler, to be honest. He came up with it…I told Chandler just to make sure he was staying back, just in case anything went south. I saw he bumped it up, and we went for it, so it was nice to see.”

Head Coach Dan Bylsma when remarking about the game winner said, “I thought the overtime goal was brilliant…They set up three across, and Chandler took the opportunity to go forward and spring ‘Monty’ for the game winner.”

For Brandon Montour, the overtime winner marked his fifth goal of the season against the Canadiens.

Joey Daccord made 21 saves off 25 Montreal shots in the win. Jakub Dobes accounted for 30 saves on 35 Kraken shots in the overtime loss.

With the win, Seattle records their eighth multigoal comeback which is tops in the National Hockey League.

Up Next: The Kraken continue their three game home stand with a Friday night tilt against the Utah Hockey Club with puck drop scheduled a little after 7pm. The Utah Hockey Club defeated the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night to put Utah two points out of a playoff spot. The Kraken stand 11 points out of a playoff spot with sixteen games left in the regular season.