It was far from a masterpiece, but the Seattle Kraken managed two huge standings points Thursday by coming from behind to get an overtime win. A goal from Vince Dunn with just over three minutes left sealed a crucial 2-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center.

“Just fortunate I think,” Dunn said. “[I was thinking] just get it on net and try not to turn it over. If you miss that shot wide it can turn the other way and it’s an odd man rush the opposite way. For me, just give myself a chance. I think it was a fortunate goal for me, kind of caught them on the change.”

Dunn was the offensive hero, but this game was won on the back of goalie Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer was a rock and ended the night by kicking away 31 shots and was only scored on via a penalty shot by San Jose rookie William Eklund.

“The end result is extremely important, we got the two points,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “I really liked our first two periods… I said it before the game, this is going to be a tight, hard-fought game. They skate, they check, and I don’t know if anyone noticed the skill that they have. We knew it was going to be that kind of game that we have to push it through 60 minutes.”

Seattle has been stymied by Sharks goalie James Reimer, who had shut out the Kraken for over 149 minutes before Oliver Bjorkstrand tied the game in the third period with his 15th of the season.

Bjorkstrand added an assist to his goal, and Yanni Gourde, Jared McCann, and Adam Larsson each had assists as well for the Kraken (38-23-7), who snapped a three-game slide and avoided a fourth loss in a row, something they have done all year.

“I think they’re a really fast team even though they aren’t playing for anything right now,” Grubauer said. “Especially in the first period, I think they had some really good chances there. Tight game, they didn’t give us too much, we needed everybody on board tonight.”

Eklund scored for the Sharks (19-36-14), who earned an overtime point in the second straight game.

The game started as a classic goalie duel as both Reimer and Grubauer were looking unbeatable. It wouldn’t be until the third period that either guy flinched.

At 1:18 Eklund got behind the Seattle defense and was in alone. He was hooked as he took the shot and was awarded a penalty shot, the first of his career. He glided in and took a quick shot that beat Grubauer to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.

The goal gave the game an uneasy feeling and even though the Kraken were outshooting the Sharks at the time, it felt like they weren’t going to score.

“I wasn’t really worried about it,” Grubauer said. “It was just a matter of time before we would find the back of the net.”

They would.

At 7:03 Yanni Gourde sent a seeing-eye lead pass over 100 feet to a streaking Bjorkstrand. He took the pass clean and was behind everybody, and a quick shot tied the game at 1-1 and changed the feeling of the game.

Overtime started with some trepidation as Alex Wennberg broke his stick on the opening face-off, and Seattle had to deal with a shift where they were essentially down a player. The Kraken got through it.

Then at 1:58, it would be Bjorkstrand whose stretch pass found Dunn. The defenseman fired a wrist shot after a few strides that beat Reimer through the five hole and gave the win to Seattle.

“There was a will to [Dunn] tonight that you could see,” Hakstol said. “His confidence, offensively with the puck he was, I thought, in control of some of the play, and it’s maybe fitting that he was the guy who made the play on the winning goal.”

Huge points

The Kraken are in the space where every point matters. The night would have been positive just getting into overtime, but the extra point earned with the win was meaningful.

“Points are very important right now,” Dunn said. “They don’t always have to be pretty but we just have to find a way to get two. Every point really matters right now.”

Seattle kept pace and stayed one point behind the Edmonton Oilers for third place in the Pacific Division. More importantly, with Nashville losing, the Kraken are eight points ahead of the Predators and seven ahead of the Calgary Flames, who are the ninth-place team in the West.

Tentacle Tales

• Dunn extended his point streak to a career-best 11 games.
• Dunn leads all NHL defensemen in scoring since Jan. 1.
• He became the third Kraken defenseman to score an overtime winner in franchise history, joining Justin Schultz and Adam Larsson.
• Eklund is the youngest player in Sharks history to score on a penalty shot.