Marner reaches 400 career points, Leafs top Kraken 6-2
SEATTLE (AP) - Mitch Marner made sure to collect all the gear he could after joining some rare company.
Marner scored once and added two assists to reach 400 career points, and the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night.
Marner became the second player from the 2015 draft to reach 400 career points, joining Edmonton's Connor McDavid. It came on Marner's 17th goal of the season that gave Toronto a 4-1 lead. He also assisted on Michael Bunting's power-play goal in the first period and helped on David Kampf's short-handed goal early in the third period with a beautiful drop pass on a breakaway.
'œIt's pretty cool achievement,'ť Marner said. 'ťObviously got to thank my parents and a lot of people around me. Without them, this isn't possible. So it's a moment I can get to share with them and got the puck, stick and stuff like that to be able to give to my parents and stuff like that to enjoy. It's just a cool moment.
Marner had an eight-game points streak snapped in Calgary last week in Toronto's first stop on a three-game trip, but has 22 points in the last 11 games.
Bunting had a goal and assist and Auston Matthews added a pair of assists for Toronto. Jack Campbell made 23 saves.
Seattle's Calle Jarnkrok scored his ninth goal of the season midway through the first period off a turnover in Toronto's zone. Jared McCann added a power-play goal in the third period, setting a career-high with his 20th goal of the season.
'œIt's obviously very special. It's something I've worked very hard for,'ť McCann said.
The Maple Leafs showed their potency on the power play going 2-for-2 with the man-advantage after entering the day with the best power play in the NHL, converting on 30.5% of their chances.
Ondrej Kase scored on the power play in the first period, redirecting Bunting's shot past Seattle starting goalie Philipp Grubauer. Marner's power-play goal came at 9:15 of the second period off a rebound.
'œI thought we were elite on special teams. I thought we had a real advantage, potential advantage coming into the game today and it played out that way. ... The execution of the players just was at a really high level today, especially the power play.'ť Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Alexander Kerfoot opened the scoring for Toronto at 3:56 of the first period, beating Grubauer up high on the blocker side after going the previous 12 games without a goal. Jake Muzzin capped the scoring with his second of the season at 18:19 of the third.
'œYou always want to score and contribute,'ť Kerfoot said. 'œI mean, I guess it's always in the back of your mind, but it's not like I was losing sleep over it or anything like that. You just want to contribute.'ť
Grubauer stopped eight of 11 shots in the first period before being pulled, with some bad luck on Bunting's goal as it deflected off Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn and caught Grubauer moving the opposite direction. Grubauer was replaced by backup Chris Driedger, who made 11 saves in the final two periods.
Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said he made the goalie switch hoping to shift the momentum.
'œAt that point, you're at a point where you give up another one and now you're in a real deep hole. So really just wanted to change the momentum and try to push the other way,'ť Hakstol said.
WELCOME BACK
Seattle's home building, Climate Pledge Arena, is built on the original site and under the original roof of the Seattle Center Coliseum that was constructed for the 1962 World's Fair. And the first hockey game ever played inside the building was an exhibition on Sept. 30, 1964, between the Seattle Totems of the Western Hockey League and the reigning Stanley Cup champion Maple Leafs. Toronto won the exhibition game 7-1.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Toronto returns home to host Pittsburgh on Thursday.
Kraken: Seattle opens a three-game road trip at Winnipeg on Thursday.
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