It wasn’t always pretty, but the Seattle Kraken recovered after coughing up a two-goal lead and kept the Philadelphia Flyers’ historic season-opening winless streak alive with a 3-2 shootout victory. While the Flyers fell to 0-5-3, earning plenty of boos from the relatively small home crowd, Seattle won its third straight to start this five-game road trip and improved to 5-2-0 on the season.

“Coming out [of the second intermission], I didn’t like our play until the score was 2-2 in the third period,” coach Lane Lambert said. “So, we’ve got to clean that up, we’ve got to continue to play on our toes. And I thought there were times when we should have been forechecking, and we’re backing up. It’s just not going to work, and it was pretty clear.

“What I did like, very similar to the tying goal in [our 5-3 win at the Washington Capitals on Sunday], I liked our response after that and how we played from there on in.”

Bobby McMann and Ville Ottavainen scored the goals, but Philipp Grubauer stole the show in more ways than one.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken shootout win over the desperate Philadelphia Flyers.

Takeaway 1: Philipp Grubauer goes to war with Trevor Zegras

We’ve seen indications from Grubauer this season that (A.) he is very much on top of his game and (B.) he is no longer willing to take much guff from opposing players. Remember, after several instances of contact between Grubauer and Oilers players in Seattle’s 3-1 loss at Edmonton, Grubauer took out his frustration on Max Jones’ knee and started a big kerfuffle.

Against Philadelphia, you could sense something cooking between Grubauer and Trevor Zegras from early on in an outstanding performance by the German Gentleman, in which he stopped 24 of 26 shots, several of the “10-bell” variety.

There was an interaction in the first period when Grubauer made a save and Zegras poked at it. The two exchanged words, though from afar, it almost looked like Zegras was apologizing to Grubauer. He reached out and touched Grubauer’s shoulder with a gloved hand after the whistle, then calmly skated away.

But if that interaction was cordial, any such niceties went out the window in the second period.

Things began escalating at the 14:00 mark of the frame, when Grubauer dropped to his butterfly to stop a Zegras shot. The whistle didn’t blow right away, giving Zegras hope that the puck might still be loose and leading Grubauer to second-guess himself and start looking around.

Zegras gave a hard poke at Grubauer, and all hell broke loose, with Grubauer taking two huge whacks at Zegras’ shin pads before several Kraken players surrounded the Flyers forward. Somewhat comically, only Zegras got a penalty out of the altercation.

Then, seconds after Zegras came out of the box following a successful penalty kill by the Flyers, he got another look from the top of the right circle. Grubauer calmly gloved it, waited for the whistle, and tossed it toward Zegras in the most petty way imaginable.

Zegras chipped the puck back at Grubauer, then skated to the crease and got right in Grubauer’s face. Grubauer teed off on Zegras, again creating a massive post-whistle hubbub in front of the net.

GRUBI…….. SSSSSSMASH! 💥 Grubauer gloves Zegras’ shot and sarcastically throws it at him, and Zegras shoots it back at him well after the whistle. Trevor Zegras / Philipp Grubauer is the rivalry we never knew we always needed. #SeaKraken #LetsGoFlyers https://t.co/zGn5K6YRyr

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 14, 2026

It didn’t end there, because after Seattle took a 2-0 lead into the third period, Christian Dvorak scored at 6:07 to cut the Kraken lead to 2-1, and then… you guessed it… Trevor Zegras found a quiet space at the top of the slot and tied the game 2-2 just 1:13 later.

I’m not going to plug in all of Grubauer’s quotes here, because I think you need to hear his words directly from him. So, give his spectacular presser a watch below.

Here’s Philipp Grubauer’s explanation of what led to the newfound rivalry between him and Trevor Zegras. #SeaKraken #LetsGoFlyers https://t.co/V7aUwUahNi

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 14, 2026

Grubauer got the last laugh, shutting down Zegras, Tyson Foerster, Porter Martone, and Denver Barkey, while Matty Beniers and McMann converted in the shootout to give Seattle the win.

A beef between Grubauer and Zegras was not something we expected to see when we walked into Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday, but what a treat it was to get to witness it.

Takeaway 2: Bobby Bookends

The start to the season for Bobby McMann has been more or less on par with what we hoped to see from him as a full-time Kraken. He hasn’t gotten on the scoresheet every night the way he seemed to after first arriving in Seattle following last season’s NHL Trade Deadline. But just when you start to wonder if he’s going cold, he suddenly shows up with a quick strike.

In this case, McMann came through with a power-play goal to put the Kraken in front at 7:57 of the first period. Jordan Eberle tried a jam play at the side of the net that got rejected by Simon Benoit, but the puck popped toward the right circle and landed, wobbling, right on McMann’s tape. He didn’t hesitate, instead snapping the puck toward Dan Vladar and beating the Philadelphia netminder over the left shoulder.

MCMANN CAN! 🚨 Eberle’s jam try gets rejected, but the puck pops up and lands on Bobby McMann’s tape. He snaps it home on the power play. 1-0 #SeaKraken https://t.co/ww9haEYojd

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 13, 2026

McMann also finished what he started by breaking through in the fifth round of the shootout. He swung out wide left with speed, then slowed as he approached Vladar. He waited until he saw what he wanted to see from the goalie and calmly chipped it over his blocker.

Takeaway 3: Ville Ottavainen gets his first

Seeing a player get his first NHL goal remains one of life’s great joys. After Ottavainen took a pass from Mackie Samoskevich at the point and fired a perfect shot around a Matty Beniers screen, he flashed the biggest smile we’ve seen from him, then got mobbed by his teammates. He then looked completely out of his element leading the flyby line past the bench.

“It’s like a surreal moment,” Ottavainen said. “Everything kind of freezes for a second after I shot that puck, and then you just see the net go off, and it’s like… I don’t know, it’s a great feeling.”

VILLE SHOTTAVAINEN (still workshopping that one)! 🚨 Ottavainen’s FIRST CAREER NHL GOAL makes it 2-0 #SeaKraken. https://t.co/szYJYVCoF8

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 14, 2026

Long viewed as a player on the cusp of “making it” as an NHLer, Ottavainen took several years to break through but is beginning to show he belongs. He’s been part of the three-man rotation for the bottom defensive pair with Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury, but on this road trip, he seems to be earning more and more trust from Lambert and his staff.

In fact, the 24-year-old rookie has now played three straight games alongside Mahura—all wins for the Kraken—while Fleury has been the healthy extra.

“I feel like I’ve settled in pretty well,” Ottavainen said. “I’ve just tried to play through my strengths. Use my skating, be hard to play against, be physical in our own zone, and just play simple. I mean, make plays when I have the chance, and jump into the play, but try to be reliable.”

Lambert wasn’t yet willing to anoint Ottavainen as having won a full-time spot on the third pair.

“I mean, we’re at Game 7, and in that spot, we’re looking for somebody to step in and make an impact in one way, shape, or form,” Lambert said. “And I think right now, he’s doing a good job. His physical size and his physicality is noticeable out there. There’s lots for him to continue to work on, which we know and he knows. But certainly, I like his mindset, I like how aggressive he is, I like how aggressive he is on his gaps. So, I think that with continued work, he’s certainly playing himself into a pretty good spot right now.and we just have to keep it going.”