Jeff Carter, Jake Guentzel lead Penguins to rout of Kraken

Like all of his current teammates, Brandon Tanev came from somewhere else.

Such is life for every member of the Seattle Kraken.

In their first season of existence, the Kraken are a menagerie of castoffs from the other 31 incumbent franchises.

For Tanev, a popular forechecking forward, he was jettisoned by the Penguins who left him exposed in the expansion draft this past summer.

Monday’s contest between the Penguins and Kraken, the first meeting between the two franchises, was business as usual for Tanev.

“You have some friends and old teammates on the other team,” Tanev said to media in Seattle following Monday’s morning skate. “But I think at the end of the day, you’re ultimately playing for two points. Once the puck drops, there’s no friends on the ice.”

The Penguins appeared to fully endorse that axiom, as well. Thanks in part to a series of mishaps by former teammates, they routed the Kraken, 6-1, at Climate Pledge Arena.

Forwards Jeff Carter and Jake Guentzel did much of the heavy lifting by scoring two goals apiece, albeit with a bit of good fortune on some occasions.

“Some weird goals tonight,” Carter said. “Both of mine, I didn’t even shoot into the net. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. You just kind of get it there.

“Sometimes, you get lucky.”

That was apparent when the Penguins took a lead only 1:47 into regulation. Under pressure from Penguins forward Jason Zucker, former Penguins forward Jared McCann lost the puck in the defensive zone. Settling the puck above the right circle, Danton Heinen slid a pass low on the right wing for Carter, who forced a pass to the front of the slot for Zucker.

Goaltender Philip Grubauer broke up the pass with his stick but inadvertently deflected the puck over his left shoulder and into the cage. Carter was credited with his sixth goal of the season while Heinen and Zucker had assists.

It became a 2-0 contest at 4:42 of the first period. After Penguins forward Sidney Crosby beat Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz on a faceoff in Seattle’s right circle, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang controlled the puck at the right point and slid a “D-to-D” pass to blueline partner Brian Dumoulin.

From the left point, Dumoulin slipped a pass to the high slot for Guentzel, who whacked a one-timer on net. Former Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak blocked the shot with left skate. The rebound slid towards the goal line and was pushed across on a forehand shot by Crosby for his fourth goal. Guentzel and Dumoulin were credited with assists. For Guentzel, he extended a scoring streak to 13 games while Dumoulin recorded his 100th career point.

The Penguins went up by a field goal only 25 seconds later. Penguins defenseman Marcus Pettersson settled a puck at the left point and slid a pass to the right point for defenseman John Marino. From there, Marino tapped a pass to Heinen in the high slot.

Curling towards the right circle, Heinen lifted a wrister that glanced off the left skate of another former Penguin, forward Riley Sheahan, and fluttered under Grubauer’s glove on the near side. Heinen was credited with his seventh goal off assists from Marino and Pettersson.

Grubauer, possibly for humanitarian concerns, was pulled after allowing three goals on four shots in favor of backup Joey Daccord.

The Kraken got on the scoreboard at 3:43 of the second period. Gaining the offensive zone on the left wing, Schwartz was tripped by Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese but still managed to slip a pass to linemate Jordan Eberle above the right circle. From there, Eberle engaged on a give-and-go sequence with Kraken forward Alex Wennberg that led to Eberle collecting his 12th goal by putting an easy forehand shot past the glove of scrambling goaltender Casey DeSmith. Assists went to Wennberg and Schwartz.

A three-goal lead was restored at 18:31 of the middle frame. After Sheahan overskated a puck in the offensive zone, Penguins forward Evan Rodrigues claimed it in front of the visiting bench and created a two-on-one with Guentzel against Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn. From the left circle, Rodrigues jammed up Dunn with a fake shot then fed a pass to the right circle for Guentzel, who roofed a wrister over floundering Daccord for his 14th goal. Rodrigues and Crosby tallied assists.

Carter scored again only 23 seconds later. Lugging a puck from his own blue line up the left wing, Heinen created a three-on-one rush with Carter and Letang against Oleksiak. Heinen chipped a pass from the left circle to the right circle for Letang who one-touched a forehand shot on net.

Daccord made the initial save but allowed a rebound to hop to the slot. Carter crashed in and backhand jabbed at the puck, causing it to bounce off of Oleksiak’s left calf then flutter over a helpless Daccord’s right leg. Letang and Heinen collected assists.

Guentzel kept rolling and scored again at 8:29 of the third period. After Rodrigues gained the offensive zone on the left wing and veered to the high slot, he moved the puck to the right circle with a backhand pass. Guentzel stopped the puck with his left skate then fired a far-side wrister past Daccord’s right shoulder. Rodrigues and Dumoulin were credited with assists.

Over his past four games, Guentzel has seven goals.

“He’s just doing everything so well, finding different ways,” Crosby said. “You see his second goal of the night, that shot is perfect. He’s doing it all. It’s great to see that and want to keep it going.”

DeSmith, appearing in only his fifth game of the season, made 28 saves on 29 shots and earned his first win of the season, improving his record to 1-3-1.

“It takes a little bit of the pressure off,” DeSmith said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of time left, and they’re a good team. Thankfully, the guys just buckled down and played really hard, did the smart things, made the smart plays and made my job really easy.”