Freddy Gaudreau’s two-goal night helped turn Little Caesars Arena into Seattle’s place on Friday, as the Kraken snapped Detroit’s five-game run against them with a 6-3 win.
The game flipped hard in the second period. Seattle buried four goals in the frame, with Gaudreau scoring twice and Ben Meyers and Mackie Samoskevich adding the others. By the time the dust settled, the Kraken had gone from chasing the Red Wings to controlling the night.
Vince Dunn added a third-period power-play goal, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard answered for Detroit, but the damage had already been done. The win also gave Seattle its first regulation victory at LCA. Its two previous wins there both came in 2023 and both ended 5-4 in overtime.
Detroit had opened the scoring on the power play in the first period. Viktor Arvidsson finished the play after a Lucas Raymond shot slipped through Seattle goalie Philipp Brubauer, and Arvidsson reached behind him to push the puck over the line.
Seattle answered later in the period when Berkly Catton snapped a backhand that bounced over the outstretched pad of Red Wings goalie John Gibson.
William Wallinder then put Detroit back in front early in the second, but that lead didn’t last long. The Kraken scored three times on four shots over a 3:03 stretch, ripping the game away and turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Detroit defenseman Faulk was on the ice for all three goals against.
The second-period surge was the whole story. Gaudreau scored both of his goals in that stretch, and Seattle never let the Red Wings recover.
There was some notable milestone work mixed into the loss for Detroit. Wallinder’s goal was the first of his NHL career, and Brandsegg-Nygard also scored his first NHL goal.
Alex DeBrincat picked up an assist on that goal for his 600th NHL point. Red Wings defenseman Justin Faulk was also honored for reaching 500 NHL points, a mark he hit in Tuesday’s win over Ottawa.
Gibson was pulled with 5:55 left in the second period after allowing five goals on 14 shots, with Daniil Tarasov taking over in net. Detroit was also missing defensemen Axel Sandin-Pellikka, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Andreas Englund as healthy scratches. Sheldon Dries skated as the fourth-line left winger while Detroit went with a traditional 12 forwards and six defensemen.
The Red Wings actually outshot the Kraken 18-5 in the first period, but Seattle made its chances count once the game opened up.
Arvidsson’s early power-play goal was his third on the man advantage this season. He had four in 69 games for the Boston Bruins last season, and his career high is 10 power-play goals in 2022-23 with the Los Angeles Kings, when his coach was current Red Wings coach Todd McLellan.
Detroit heads out on the road for the first time this season on Saturday, visiting the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and Tarasov is expected to make his Red Wings start in goal.
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