Kraken win two straight

 

It’s been a quiet season for veteran Seattle Kraken forward Jordan Eberle with only one goal and five assists in the first 18 games of the season. But there’s something about facing the Vancouver Canucks.

With a goal and two assists, Eberle led the Kraken to a 4-3 victory over the Canucks last night at Rogers Arena. Eberle, who began his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers back in 2010, now has 24 goals in his career against the Canucks, the most of any active National Hockey League player.

With the victory, the Kraken improve to 7-8-4. Vancouver’s 12-5-1 and last night’s loss marked the Canucks’ first regulation loss on home ice this season.

It was Eberle’s assist that accounted for the game winner. After defenseman Jamie Oleksiak dumped the puck into the left corner, Eberle intercepted a clearing pass by Canuck defenseman Tyler Myers (another Kraken nemesis) and centered a pass to Matty Beniers in the slot, who sent home his third goal of the season.

“We’ve been in almost every game, with the exception of a few in which we haven’t played well,” said Eberle. “This group has a lot of character, guys who care. You look at how many shot blocks we had tonight. Guys are paying a toll.

Vancouver’s J.T. Miller opened the scoring with a first period goal that was originally waved off by the officials. Defenseman Will Borgen appeared  to make a goal-saving clear after the puck squirted past Kraken goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer. But replays showed that the entire puck had indeed crossed the goal line.

The Kraken deadlocked the game at 5:43 of the second period. Oleksiak, coming off the bench, took a pass from Beniers and fired home a slap shot. Then it was back to the replay booth.

With Seattle pressuring on the power play and a wild scramble in front of the net, Eberle batted a shot home. Vancouver requested a replay claiming that Eberle hit the puck with his stick over his shoulder which would disallow the goal. On the replay, it was hard to see the puck after Oliver Bjorkstrand’s shot went off Canucks’ defenseman Filip Hronek and the goal stood. It didn’t count as a power play goal however, as the Canucks’ penalty expired a second before the score

Vancouver would deadlock the game before the second period expired thanks to a goal by offensive-minded defenseman Quinn Hughes. With Ilya Mikheyev providing a screen in front of Grubauer, Hughes fired from the top of the right circle. Miller, Hughes and Elias Petterson lead the NHL in scoring with 28 points apiece.

The Kraken took the lead for good at 4:19 of the third period. Yanni Gourde took a centering pass from Borgen and lifted a shot past Canucks’ goalkeeper Thatcher Demko while falling to the ice. After Beniers goal, the Canucks’ Nils Hoglander made it 4-3 with 11 seconds left, but then the clock ran out on a Vancouver comeback.

Tye Kartye picked up a penalty midway thru the period but the Kraken received yeoman penalty killing, particularly from Oleksiak and Adam Larsson on defense. Larsson twice got his stick into passing lines to thwart any kind of Vancouver scoring chance.

Yamamoto shines in OT victory

On Thursday night, the Kraken played one of their most entertaining tilts of the season, besting the New York Islanders in the eighth round of the shootout. The final score went into the record books as a 4-3 Seattle win. Kailer Yamamoto, the first Kraken player born in the state of Washington, notched the game winning shootout tally. It was Yamamoto’s power play goal at 4:50 of the third period that would send the game to an eventual overtime period.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, as the third Seattle shooter, scored to keep the shootout alive. Jordan Eberle also had a shootout goal. The Kraken led 2-1 after the first period on goals from Matty Beniers and Alex Wennberg, but the Islanders took a 3-2 lead on defenseman Noah Dobson’s goal.

Yamamoto, who grew up in the Spokane area, admitted it’s special to score in his home state. “When I was finished with junior hockey, I was thinking I’d never play in the state of Washington again.”

The Kraken return to Washington state for a busy Thanksgiving week. Seattle hosts Calgary tomorrow (Monday) with contests against San Jose on Wednesday and Vancouver on Friday- a string of four consecutive Pacific Division games.

Scoring Summary

First Period

V- J.T. Miller (Tyler Myers, Philip DiGuiseppe) 5:43.

Second Period

S- Jamie Oleksiak (Matty Beniers 7, Jordan Eberle 6) 5:43. S- Eberle 2 (Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz) 13:04. V- Quinn Hughes (Filip Hronek, Elias Petterson) 15:48.

Third Period

S- Yanni Gourde 3 (Will Borgen 5, Eeli Tolvanen 9) 4:19. S- Beniers 3 (Eberle 7) 6:48. V- Nils Hoglander (Myers, Ilya Mikheyev) 19:49.

Shots on Goal- Seattle 26, Vancouver 24.

Hits- Seattle 24, Vancouver 33.

Penalty Minutes- Seattle 4, Vancouver 6.

Faceoffs- Seattle 55.1%, Vancouver 44.9%.

Referees- Trevor Hanson, Pierre Lambert. Linesmen- Ryan Galloway, Ben O’Quinn.

 

 

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