National Hockey League
Montreal 5, Seattle 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 24, 2024
Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
Referees: Garrett Rank, Corey Syvret
Linesmen: Trent Knorr, Jonny Murray
Attendance: 17151

Alex Newhook scored twice and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists as the visiting Montreal Canadiens routed the spiraling Seattle Kraken 5-1 on Sunday night.

Nick Suzuki added a goal and an assist and Mike Matheson also scored for Montreal (26-32-12, 64 points), which snapped a four-game winless streak (0-2-2) and won for just the second time in its past eight games (2-4-2). Goaltender Cayden Primeau made 36 saves.

Jordan Eberle scored for Seattle (28-29-13, 69 points), which matched a season worst with an eight-game winless stretch (0-6-2), essentially knocking the Kraken out of the Western Conference's wild-card race.

The Canadiens scored four unanswered goals on six shots in the opening 18 minutes, knocking Seattle's starting goalie, Philipp Grubauer, from the game. Joey Daccord stopped 10 of 11 shots the rest of the way.

Guhle opened the scoring at 4:18 of the first. His slap shot from the blue line went off Eberle's stick and trickled toward the net, with Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak inadvertently tipping it past Grubauer just before the goalie could cover the puck with his catching glove.

Newhook made it 2-0 at 6:22, redirecting Guhle's high shot from the left point inside the near post.

Suzuki extended the lead at 17:33 on a two-on-one rush, beating Grubauer with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle.

Newhook scored his second goal at the 18-minute mark, taking a drop pass from Brendan Gallagher and sliding a shot between Grubauer's pads from the left faceoff circle.

Eberle got the Kraken on the board 56 seconds into the second period, putting a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle into the roof of the net.

Seattle appeared to pull within 4-2 on a power-play goal by Matty Beniers just under five minutes into the second, but Montreal assistant coach Trevor Letowski challenged the call, and a video review determined the Kraken were offside when entering the offensive zone.

Matheson, a defenseman, scored on a short-handed breakaway at 13:16 of the second to make it 5-1.

The Kraken wore their Winter Classic uniforms that honored the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, who beat the Canadiens to become the first U.S. team to claim the Stanley Cup.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Seattle
Kaiden Guhle 3 Points Jordan Eberle 1
Alex Newhook 2 Goals Jordan Eberle 1
Kaiden Guhle 2 Assists Will Borgen 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
Mike Matheson 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Cayden Primeau .973 Save Percentage Joey Daccord .909
Cayden Primeau 36 Saves Joey Daccord 10
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 17 5 0-2 4-4 8 29
Seattle 37 1 0-4 2-2 4 26
Upcoming Games
  • Seattle will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Kraken have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .333 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Colorado. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .231 after a win and .455 after a loss.