Joonas Donskoi had scored in the shootout before for the Kraken.

That was in the first shootout in franchise history Dec. 1, when they lost in Detroit. On Monday, in a 2-2 game where Ryan Donato had just given Seattle the shootout lead, he had the chance again, but this time, to win it.

Without a single goal in regulation — or overtime — this season, there haven’t been many celebratory moments for Donskoi. With a win to snap a nine-game losing streak, their first victory since Dec. 14, sealing a rare victory was a good time to find his shot again.

“That felt really good,” Donskoi said. “It hasn’t gone our way lately, and we’ve been losing a lot of games. Everybody wanted to win, everybody has been wanting to win for a long time now. … You could feel everybody wanted to get that win out of the way.”

Donato put the Kraken ahead in the shootout after Jordan Eberle had missed. Philipp Grubauer, who allowed only two goals for the first time since Nov. 24, stopped two Blackhawks shots, then Donskoi had his chance to make an impact.

“Usually I like to try to go around the goalie, but watching him he was staying pretty deep,” Donskoi said about his approach against Blackhawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. “So I was trying to get it high and thankfully that worked.”

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Donskoi has generated looks the past few games but hasn’t even picked up an assist in 11 games despite being tied for the team lead with 14 assists. On Dec. 11 against the Blue Jackets, he appeared to have scored but they later credited it to Jaden Schwartz.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said he identified Donskoi and Donato as guys they want to use in the shootout and “there’s always a plan” going into games for shootout opportunities. On Monday, still without a true goal in the boxscore, Donskoi still got to have a moment where he was a reason the Kraken won and snapped their franchise-long losing streak.

“He’s had some looks and some opportunities,” Hakstol said. “He’s done it before in a shootout, the goal he scored tonight looked like a lot of poise and confidence. Hopefully that continues to translate and carry forward for him.”

The goals column will stay at zero for Donskoi; shootout goals don’t count as real goals in the boxscore. But the checkmark in the ‘W’ column means that much more for the Kraken, and it was off the stick of Donskoi that clinched the game that ended a month-plus of misery.

Kraken add Kuhlman

The Kraken claimed Bruins right wing Karson Kuhlman off waivers before the Blackhawks game Monday. Kuhlman, 26, was waived by the Bruins after the emergence of young winger Oskar Steen and saved them $1.5 million in cap space.

Kuhlman has produced 15 points in 75 career games, all with the Bruins. He scored a goal in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019, his lone playoff goal.

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The Kraken placed forward Morgan Geekie on injured reserve to make room for Kuhlman on the roster. Geekie has missed the past three games and has been wearing a sling on his left arm.

“He’s a real good two-way player,” Hakstol said of Kuhlman. “He plays with a lot of good pace, really good detail to his game. And you know, he’s like I said, he’s been a real reliable two-way, checking player that has some offensive ability.”

Kuhlman has one goal and one assist in 19 games with the Bruins this season. He was not yet in Seattle for Monday’s game but was officially on the team’s roster.

Dunn plays 300th

In his 300th NHL game, Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn scored the first goal of the night for Seattle, the 36th of his career.

“It’s obviously very exciting. I’m very fortunate to play as many games as I have already,” Dunn said. “I just take each game for what it is and don’t look at them differently. For me it’s just another day to try to improve, take it all in. It’s very exciting every NHL game you get to play in.”

He also took two minor penalties, including the one that led to the second Blackhawks goal in the second period.