Kraken vs. Red Wings: Frederick Gaudreau's Two Goals Fuel a Four-Goal Second Period in Detroit

For about 25 minutes, the Detroit Red Wings were doing almost everything right. They had peppered Philipp Grubauer, outshot Seattle 16-3 at one point, and just watched William Wallinder score his first NHL goal for a 2-1 lead. Then the Seattle Kraken's fourth line decided the night belonged to them.

Frederick Gaudreau scored twice in a four-goal second period, Ben Meyers had a goal and two assists, and the Kraken beat the Red Wings 6-3 on Friday night at Little Caesars Arena. According to the AP, it was Seattle's first regulation win in Detroit.

Detroit's Fast Start, Grubauer's Big Saves

The Red Wings came out flying. Per the AP, they put eight shots on Grubauer in the first seven minutes, and he had to be sharp just to keep the game scoreless. The power play finally broke through after Jordan Eberle went off for slashing. At 9:19, Lucas Raymond's shot from the right dot squeezed through Grubauer's pads, and Viktor Arvidsson tapped it over the line. That was Arvidsson's third goal of the season and, per the NHL, a power-play goal in a third straight game.

Seattle could barely generate anything. Then, with Detroit up 16-3 in shots, Kaapo Kakko hit Berkly Catton in stride through the Detroit zone, and Catton flipped a backhand over John Gibson's pad at 14:52. Just like that, it was 1-1.

"They really came at us hard in their building," Kraken coach Lane Lambert said, per the NHL's recap. "But we weathered the storm, because our goaltender was really good."

Wallinder restored the Detroit lead at 4:00 of the second with a point shot through traffic, assisted by Alex DeBrincat and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. "I was surprised because I didn't see it go in," Wallinder said. He would not get to enjoy it for long.

The Turning Point: Three Goals in 3:05

Thirty-nine seconds after Wallinder's goal, Ryan Winterton set up Gaudreau in front of the net, and Gaudreau knocked it in to tie it 2-2. At 6:59, Wallinder turned the puck over, Jared McCann slid it into the middle, and Mackie Samoskevich buried it for a 3-2 Seattle lead. At 7:44, Winterton found Gaudreau again, and this time he beat Gibson with a wrist shot from the left dot.

Three goals in 3:05, and according to the AP, they came on Seattle's next four shots. A game Detroit had controlled was suddenly a 4-2 Seattle lead.

Winterton was happy to hand out the credit. "I barely had to do anything for those two assists. He's the one scoring the goals," he said of Gaudreau.

Meyers, the third member of that line, then turned a penalty into a punchline. He went to the box for tripping at 11:53, came out two minutes later and scored 12 seconds after his release at 14:05, with Catton and Brandon Montour assisting. That was it for Gibson, and Daniil Tarasov came on for his Detroit debut.

Vince Dunn made it 6-2 on a 5-on-3 power play at 11:53 of the third after Keegan Kolesar and Ben Chiarot were called 61 seconds apart. Brandsegg-Nygard then scored unassisted at 15:27 for his first NHL goal, giving Detroit two first-time scorers on the same night.

Seattle's Fourth Line Feels Like a First Line

Gaudreau finished with 2 goals in 15:36, his second and third of the season. "We're the fourth line, but we don't think that way," he said. "We think we have a solid line that can contribute."

Meyers had a goal and two assists with three hits, and Winterton set up both Gaudreau goals. That line combined for seven points.

Montour logged 26:03 with two assists and three blocked shots, and Catton added a goal and an assist.

Grubauer made 37 saves on 40 shots, and the early ones mattered most. "It's great to play a game like this at the start of a long trip," Grubauer said.

For Detroit, Wallinder became the 35th player from Sweden to score for the Red Wings, per the NHL, but his turnover also led to a Seattle goal. Brandsegg-Nygard, a first-round pick by Detroit in 2024, had a goal, an assist and four hits, and the NHL notes he became the first Norwegian player to score for the franchise. His reaction summed up the night. "A lot of mixed feelings there," he said. "Obviously, it is great to get my first goal, but we were down four at the time."

Gibson allowed five goals on 15 shots before being pulled, and Tarasov stopped 8 of 9 in relief.

Stats That Matter

• 40-24: Detroit's shot advantage. Shot volume and scoreboard did not agree.
• 3:05: The span of Seattle's three straight second-period goals.
• 12 seconds: How long Meyers was out of the box before he scored.
• 22: Shots blocked by Seattle.
• 3: Six-goal games for Seattle this season, tied with Colorado for the most in the league, per the NHL.

What It Means

Seattle improves to 3-2-0 and opens a five-game road trip with a win, bouncing back from a 6-2 home loss to Vegas. The Kraken visit Washington on Sunday.

Detroit drops to 1-3-0, closing a season-opening four-game homestand with just one win. Coach Todd McLellan did not single anyone out, though he acknowledged the message behind the goalie change. "Anytime you pull a goaltender, it says something about how you think he played," he said. He was sharper about the collapse after the strong start. "We got loose and impatient instead of sticking with it," McLellan said. The Red Wings play at Montreal on Saturday night, with no time to sulk.

Closing Take

Detroit spent the first 25 minutes building a house, then left the front door open for three minutes. Seattle's fourth line walked right in, rearranged the furniture and left with the deed. The Red Wings got two first NHL goals and 40 shots out of this one. They also got a reminder that how much you outshoot a team is a stat, not a result.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and game notes as reported by NHL.com.