The veterans stepped up and willed the Seattle Kraken to their first win of the season in a shootout over the Minnesota Wild.
The veterans stepped up and willed the Seattle Kraken to their first win of the season in a shootout over the Minnesota Wild.
Captain Jordan Eberle scored twice and reached the 300-goal plateau. His two goals erased a 2-0 Wild lead and changed the trajectory of the game.
Kirill Kaprizov regained the Wilds' lead before Tye Kartye tied things up just over a minute later. Ryan Hartman scored the Wild's fourth of the game before another veteran forward stepped up and tied the game. Jared McCann found the back of the net with less than four minutes remaining.
In the shootout, Eberle and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored to secure the Kraken win. Joey Daccord stopped two of the three attempts he faced.
With the win, HC Dan Bylsma recorded his first NHL win in 2,747 days, on April 5, 2017. Bylsma's emotions were high as he was seen emphatically celebrating the Kraken's win.
Shane Wright and Matty Beniers will likely have multiple games this season where they take over and almost single-handedly win them games. There will be other times when producing points will be hard to come by. In those moments the veterans will need to step up and tonight they did just that. Eberle finished with two goals and the shootout winner. McCann recorded a goal and an assist, Andre Burakovsky registered two assists, and Montour and Dunn picked up assists. Montour also fired five shots on goal and finished a +3.
McCann and Eberle have been as consistent as they come in their Kraken careers and is why they are huge parts of the team's leadership group. Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz and Burakovsky haven't clicked at even strength yet but Burakovsky found a way to contribute on the power play and when the Kraken were chasing the tying goal.
The Kraken will be travelling to Texas to take on the Dallas Stars in a tough matchup. The Stars have started the season with two wins and are one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup. They'll need a team effort from both the young stars and the veterans, as well as the Philipp Grubauer who is slated to make his second start of the season.
Puck drop is at 5:00 P.M. PST at American Airlines Center.
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