Timo Meier scored the fourth hat trick of his career but the San Jose Sharks couldn’t overcome their own mistakes or slow down the Seattle Kraken, who scored two goals less than a minute apart early in the third period to help earn an 8-5 win on Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena.
With the game tied 4-4 after an Alexander Baranbanov goal, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jaden Schwartz scored goals 59 seconds apart to give the Kraken a 6-4 lead.
Meier, with goals in both the first and second periods, completed the hat trick as he tapped in a pass from Kevin Labanc at the 8:58 mark of the third period to cut Seattle’s lead to 6-5.
But the Kraken got that goal back as Matty Beniers beat goalie Kaapo Kahkonen on an odd-man rush for his sixth goal of the season with 4:44 left in regulation time, helping to hand the Sharks their third loss in the last four games. The eight goals allowed by the Sharks were a season-high.
Logan Couture had a goal and an assist and Tomas Hertl added two assists for the Sharks, who now return home for two games, as they play the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.
Meier scored a power-play goal off a nifty assist from Erik Karlsson at the 18;53 mark of the first period, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead. Karlsson now has 30 points this season, as he became the 11th defenseman in NHL history to record 30 points in 22 games or fewer.
But the Kraken elevated its play in the second, as Vince Dunn, Ryan Donato and Jamie Oleksiak all scored even-strength goals past Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to give Seattle a 4-2 lead.
Meier scored his second of the game and his 11th of the season with 6:21 to go into the second.
Couture’s points came in the first period, as he redirected a Nick Cicek shot past Kraken goalie Martin Jones for a 1-0 Sharks lead 4:11 into the first period.
After Andre Burakovsky tied the game 1-1 at the 9:44 mark of the first on a Kraken two-man advantage, the Sharks scored a power-play goal of their own.
After the Sharks snapped it around on a 4-on-3, Karlsson took a pass from Couture and sent the puck cross ice to Meier, who one-timed it past Jones for a 2-1 Sharks lead.