Kraken Bounce Back With Third-Period Burst Against Devils
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Seattle Kraken right wing Jordan Eberle (7) celebrates with Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers (10) and Seattle Kraken left wing Jared McCann (19) after scoring an empty net goal during the third period against the New Jersey Devils at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Blake Dahlin-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — After entering the third period at Climate Pledge Arena tied 1-1 against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday, the Seattle Kraken managed to put just four more shots on goal with a goalie in the net.
Luckily for them, two of them went in, as Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton scored 18 seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead by 7:22 of the third period, and while the Devils cut it to 3-2 with a power-play goal less than a minute later, Seattle held on before Jordan Eberle scored an empty-net goal to secure a 4-2 win.
After one of the worst performances of the season against the Anaheim Ducks two days prior, it was a much-needed bounce-back win for the Kraken.
“There was very little ice,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “There wasn’t a lot of opportunities by either side, and it was a little bit of a chess match, and you know, I’m glad that we ended up winning that chess match.”
In his first start since allowing five goals in a 6-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 19, Seattle goalie Joey Daccord made 28 saves for his first win in nearly three weeks.
With the Kraken goalie rotation skewing slightly towards the much-hotter Philipp Grubauer as of recent, Daccord stepped up in a crucial spot. Despite the situation, Daccord said he didn’t feel any extra pressure in Sunday’s start.
“(Grubauer’s) been playing incredible this year. It’s been fun to watch, and when it’s my turn to play, I’m going to go in there and give everything I have for this team,” Daccord said. “And when ‘Grubi’ is in there, I support him and just want the best for the team, right?
“So I think for me, it’s just anytime coach tells me it’s my turn to play, it’s ‘Go in there and give your absolute best, and give everything for the team, and leave it all out there,’ and that’s what I tried to do tonight.”
The 29-year-old netminder made several sprawling saves, including a couple where he used practically every part of his body to keep the puck out. Scrambling for a loose puck in front about five minutes into the third, Daccord wound up laying on top of it to freeze it and preserve the 1-1 score at 5:01.
Just over two minutes later, Beniers pushed the Kraken in front after Eberle won a puck battle in the offensive zone and set up Beniers, who worked his way around New Jersey defenseman Simon Nemec and went under the crossbar with a filthy backhand at 7:04.
Moments later, Chandler Stephenson won an offensive zone faceoff and sent a backhand pass across the crease to Catton, who managed to trickle the puck in off the post to make it 3-1 at 7:22.
“Big goal by (Beniers), and I think our line’s goal is to try and go and keep the momentum in our favor,” Catton said. “(Stephenson) had a good look there, then he made a great play to me, so that was big.”
The Devils scored both their goals on the power play, with the first coming off a one-timer from Dougie Hamilton to put New Jersey up 1-0 at 8:11 of the first period, and the second taking a bounce off Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson to cut it to 3-2 at 8:14 of the third period.
In between, Ryker Evans tied it 1-1 at 7:37 of the second period with a shot through traffic from the point, finishing off a strong possession from the fourth line of Ryan Winterton, Freddy Gaudreau and Jacob Melanson.
“They’ve been great for us all year so far,” Evans said. “Just getting in there and obviously forechecking hard. I think they’re just causing chaos and (I) just kind of threw it to the net, and we were able to get a lucky bounce.”
Aside from the timely goals, several players stepped up with blocks to help out Daccord, with Jaden Schwartz stepping in front of a Hamilton shot with Daccord out of the crease just 17 seconds after Catton made it 3-1.
Coming off an effort that left Lambert “dumbfounded,” the Kraken displayed a higher commitment level on Sunday, which the team will hope to carry forward over the final five games leading into the Olympic break.
“The commitment from the group, honestly, has been outstanding all year,” Daccord said. “We’ve been a little streaky where the results have gone our way and not gone our way, but I think with our style of game, we’re going to have games that are… close games, sometimes they’re going to go our way, sometimes they’re not.
“And tonight, we just found a way.”
