Seattle Kraken lose to Golden Knights, who clinch Pacific Division

The Kraken eased up late in their penultimate game of the 2025-26 season, falling to the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-1.

The home victory allowed Vegas to clinch the Pacific Division, and a first-round matchup with the Utah Mammoth. The Golden Knights won the division for the fifth time in their nine-year history. They're aggressively seeking another title, having replaced Bruce Cassidy with John Tortorella as head coach with just eight games to go. They were in a playoff spot at the time, but had won only three of their previous 10 games.

Shane Wright scored the Kraken's only goal in his return to the lineup. He missed eight games with an upper-body injury sustained March 28 in Buffalo.

Forward Jani Nyman, who was just recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, sent the rebound off a Jamie Oleksiak point shot toward the crease and Wright flipped the puck past Carter Hart (22 saves). Wright hadn't scored in 16 games before the injury, since the last game before the Olympic break.

He said at one point, he wasn't sure he'd be able to return before the season ended.

It always sucks, missing some time like that," Wright said. "It's just a good feeling to be back, good to be out there with the guys."

Wright made it 1-0 Kraken early in the second period.

"And then we started making stupid plays," coach Lane Lambert said.

The Golden Knights went 0 for 2 against the NHL's worst penalty kill, but Reilly Smith scored his second of the night on a delayed penalty late in the third period. Shea Theodore and Mitch Marner nabbed Vegas' first two goals.

Nikke Kokko made 22 saves in his third straight start for the Kraken. The 22-year-old prospect is holding down the fort while the Kraken's usual three goalies are out for various reasons. Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer are injured and Matt Murray is away due to a family matter.

Seattle was going for the series sweep, having won its first three games against Vegas this season. The Kraken beat the Golden Knights in overtime and in a shootout at Climate Pledge Arena. The other matchup at T-Mobile Arena was close as well, a 3-2 Seattle victory on Jan. 31.

This time, though, the Kraken had very little on the line and it showed.

"I don't understand why our hockey team can't sustain a 60-minute game. It's got to change," Lambert said. "We refuse to move the puck up quickly. We take it back into our zone, and we turn it over. It's over and over again, and this is why we have to defend so much.

"So I can say there's a lot to think about here.

Many outside the locker room were probably rooting for a loss. Heading into the game, Seattle sat sixth in the draft lottery order. They could have moved up to fifth with a Toronto Maple Leafs victory, but Toronto fell 3-1 in Ottawa.

They have nothing on the line standings-wise during Thursday night's season finale. They're locked into those sixth-best draft lottery odds regardless of the result against the Colorado Avalanche. According to Tankathon, they have a 7.5% chance of winning the first overall pick, and slightly better odds at No. 2 (7.7%) and No. 8 (9.1%). Their best odds are at the No. 6 (34.1%) and No. 7 (41.4%) overall picks.

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