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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