Buffalo Sabres at Seattle Kraken

Thompson, Ostlund, Benson score as Sabres beat Kraken 3-1 for 3rd straight win

Alex Tuch had two assists and Alex Lyon made 23 saves for the Sabres.

Chandler Stephenson scored for Seattle, and Joey Daccord stopped 20 shots. The Kraken have lost eight of their last nine games (1-7-1).

Ostlund opened the scoring on a 2-on-1 alongside Josh Norris with 2:51 to go in the first period. Ryker Evans failed to intercept two passes between the Sabres skaters.

Not long after a successful penalty kill by the Sabres, Thompson doubled Buffalo’s lead with 9:52 left in the second. Payton Krebs set him up for the shot with a short pass close to the net, as the two were left unguarded by Seattle. It was Thompson’s 16th goal of the season.

Stephenson put the Kraken on the board with 7:36 left in the middle period. The goal came 6 seconds into Seattle’s second power play of the night.

Benson added an empty-net goal with 46 seconds left.

Despite the recent win streak, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams entered this season on the hot seat and there are concerns owner Terry Pegula could shake up his front office sometime this week. Adams is in his sixth season as GM and the Sabres are once again near the bottom of the standings and already in jeopardy of extending their NHL record playoff drought to a 15th season.

Up next Sabres: Host Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Kraken: Host Colorado on Tuesday night.

BUF leads series 1-0