Jones gets 27th career shutout, Kraken beat Canadiens 4-0
MONTREAL (AP) – Vince Dunn and Eeli Tolvanen each had a goal and an assist, Martin Jones stopped 21 shots for the second game of the season as the Seattle Kraken beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Monday night for their fifth straight win.
Daniel Sprong and Matty Beniers also scored, and Yanni Gourde had two assists in his return to his home province of Quebec. The Kraken are now 4-0 on a seven-game road trip to open the new year and have outscored opponents 26-8 during their overall winning streak.
“It’s a rough month, isn’t it?” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “You’re going to get into those rhythms where you’re going to be busy and play a lot of hockey, so it’s good that we’ve been able to get it off to a good start. This feels good.
“Probably one of the strengths of our group has been to enjoy the moment for a while and then turn the page.”
Jones had six saves in the first period, nine in the second and six in the third to record his 27th career shutout.
Samuel Montembeault had 37 saves for Montreal, which snapped a seven-game hitting streak with a 5-4 win against St. Louis. Louis on Saturday.
“After a big win like that, I don’t know, it seemed like we had it too easy, we thought it might be an easy night,” said Nick Suzuki of the Canadiens. “There are no easy nights in this league and especially with a team like this. A lot of guys are playing to prove something, they’ve been playing really well lately and we dug a big hole in the first half.”
The surging Kraken jumped out of the starting blocks, outscoring Montreal 19-6 and taking a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Seattle opened the scoring at 6:54 of the opening period when Dunn found Tolvanen with a cross-ice pass through the slot. The striker scored the fifth goal of the season.
Sprong doubled the Kraken’s lead on the power play with a heavy shot from the point just past the midway point of the period. It was his 13th.
Dunn also hit a slap shot from the point to give Seattle a 3-0 lead with 5:40 left in the first.
The Kraken shut down Montreal’s offense, blocking a total of 18 shots. Jones made an impressive save on Nick Suzuki with 3:03 left in the third to preserve his shutout.
“I was just trying to read as best as I could, obviously they were putting pressure on at the end being 3-0 with three minutes left,” Jones said. “I was able to make that save and, really, the guys did everything else.”
Montreal pulled Montembeault, but Beniers sealed the victory for Seattle with a layup with 1:03 left.
ROAD WARRIORS
The second-year Kraken have won five straight on the road and are 13-4-2 on the road season.
“We’ve had a pretty busy schedule, so the team bonding moments have been there, but I think maybe when we’re on the road it’s just about hockey,” Dunn said. “It’s not distractions, maybe with family visiting town or things like that. It’s always good to be at home, but I don’t know why we’re so good on the road.”
ZERO SENSE
The Canadiens lost their fourth straight game in their contrasting retro uniforms, falling to 0-4-0 while being outscored 18-5 in their light blue jerseys.
EMERGENCY RECALL
The Canadiens announced a few hours before the game that goalkeeper Jake Allen suffered an upper body injury. The team recalled Cayden Primeau from Laval of the AHL and he was the backup against the Kraken.
NEXT
Kraken: At Buffalo on Tuesday night in the fifth of a seven-game road trip.
Canadiens: Host Nashville Thursday night in the finale of a three-game homestand.
