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SEATTLE — Matty Beniers got a fortunate bounce. Utah would have liked a few of its own.
The Seattle Kraken forward sent a shot from behind the net and it bounced off Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka and slid past the goal line. That was one of three goals for Seattle in the third period as it pulled away for a 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club Monday at Climate Pledge Arena.
And it was the type of bounce that eluded Utah — especially the Club's much-maligned line of Nick Bjugstad, Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli.
The trio had multiple great opportunities, including a couple of point-blank chances in the second, but came up empty.
"They had good pace, they put pucks at the net, they had opportunities on rebounds," head coach Andre Tourigny said. "Right now, the puck doesn't roll for them."
And it has suddenly stopped rolling for Utah as a whole.
After winning four straight games, Utah dropped the next four. Monday's game once revealed some familiar issues: Utah pressed too much, causing mistakes that led to odd-man rushes and eventual goals.
"I think all night long was a little bit of the same story — we forced the play too much," Tourigny said. "At the end of the day, we were capable of having possession and stuff like that, but we pressed. We are feeling the pressure right now of scoring goals instead of just playing the game and what's in front of us."
That was seen on the game-winning goal in the third period.
Seattle's Kaapo Kakko intercepted a behind-the-back pass attempt by Nick Schmaltz and launched the puck to a streaking Jaden Schwartz, who beat Vejmelka one-on-one for a 3-2 lead.
"It's a bunch of guys that really want to do the right thing," Tourigny said. "They really want to win, they want to get results, but they are forcing it. Right now, we are our own worst enemy."
Beniers got some luck on his goal to make it 4-2 later in the period, but Utah helped putting him in that position. He skated in past three Utah players for a clean look on goal that he fumbled wide of the net. He quickly retrieved the puck and threw it to Vejmelka's pad and into the net with less than 10 minutes remaining.
"They were just getting pucks behind us in the neutral zone there and getting odd-man rushes and breakaways," said Michael Carcone said. "Eventually, they just capitalized on one; and from there, it was a bit of a gong show."
He added that he thought the Kraken was ready to pounce after taking the late lead, knowing that Utah would be pressing for an equalizer.
"They took advantage of it," he said.
Utah, however, couldn't take advantage of an early lead when Logan Cooley tallied his ninth goal of the season on a power play in the first period.
The Kraken scored twice in a matter of 51 seconds in the first period to take a 2-1 lead. Alexander Kerfoot got the score level again late in the second period when he blasted in a rebound.
Then the third period happened.
"We need to just get a little bit more mature and more patient in our game," Tourigny said. "I love the fight in our guys. I love their desire, I love the fact that they want to compete and make a difference."
