SEATTLE — Noah Hanifin had four assists and the Calgary Flames beat the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Saturday for their fourth straight victory.
Blake Coleman, Trevor Lewis and Michael Stone scored off primary assists from Hanifin. He also had a secondary assist on Tyler Toffoli’s short-handed, empty-net goal to cap the scoring, and Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves. Karson Kuhlman scored for Seattle, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 25 shots.
“Before we came on the road we weren’t really happy with where we were,” Hanifin said. “The last week at home, the last couple of games, we didn’t play our best. I think just getting out of Calgary, going on the road, getting kind of some fresh looks was good for our team. And, obviously, these were big points for us tonight.”
Coach Daryl Sutter said Calgary was looking for a little respect, and it’s 4-0 run up the coast should provide a little.
“You know it was a tough game today,” Sutter said. “It’s was the fourth game in the past five and a half days. There’s a lot of work involved in that.”
The teams will conclude the home-and-home series Tuesday night in Calgary, which is 3-0 against the Kraken this season. Seattle has lost four of its last six.
Coleman opened the scoring 3:55 into the first period, deflecting Hanifin’s shot from the blue line past the screened Grubauer. Kuhlman tied it 1:05 later, one-timing Morgan Geekie’s pass from behind the net over Markstrom’s stick.
Hanifin made a deep run late in the first and found Trevor Lewis camped out in the crease with a quick pass that Lewis buried with 16.5 seconds left in the period for a 2-1 lead.
“That’s a tough goal to give up,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’ve got to be – I use the word stiffer – just plain and simple. We can’t give that goal up.”
Stone made it 3-1 with a power-play goal at 8:39 of the second period. Hanifin hit Stone with a cross-ice pass that he buried with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle.
Calgary iced the game late in the second by killing three Seattle power plays, including 54 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage.
“We get down by a couple, and from that point on the guy in net became the difference in the hockey game in my opinion,” Hakstol said of Markstrom.
NOTES: Kuhlman has two goals in his last four games. … Calle Jarnkrok (illness) was a game-time scratch for the Flames, who acquired the forward from Seattle at the trade deadline. He would have been the first former player to suit up against the expansion franchise.
UP NEXT: Flames and Kraken meet again on Tuesday, this time at Calgary.
