Jordan Eberle notched a goal and two assists, leading the Seattle Kraken to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Jamie Oleksiak, Yanni Gourde, and Matty Beniers also scored for Seattle (7-8-4), which secured back-to-back wins for the second time this season. Philipp Grubauer recorded 21 saves.
“More often than not, we’ve been losing games in the third periods, so it was nice to finally secure a win against a very strong team that’s been formidable at home,” Eberle said. “Hopefully, this sets us on the right path.”
J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, and Nils Höglander scored for Vancouver (12-5-1), which has now dropped two consecutive games. Thatcher Demko made 22 saves.
Miller and Hughes are tied with teammate Elias Pettersson for the NHL lead in points with 28 each.
“We all know we have a strong team here,” Hughes said. “We’re going to win lots of games this season. You can’t expect 10-game winning streaks all year.”
Eberle assisted Beniers’ goal at 6:48 of the third period, putting Seattle ahead 4-2.
Höglander added a goal with 11 seconds left, tipping in an airborne puck.
“Our line changes were awful. Long shifts— that’s .500 hockey. You can’t win that way. It wasn’t good enough,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Awful changes and long shifts led to this outcome.”
Gourde put the Kraken ahead 3-2 at 4:19 of the third. Eeli Tolvanen sent a cross-ice pass to Will Borgen, who set up Gourde for a tap-in.
“That’s the way you have to win on the road. We found a good level and played hard for 60 minutes,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “Special teams were good, goaltending was good, and that’s how you win on the road.”
Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko returned to the lineup after leaving Wednesday’s win over the New York Islanders following a slap shot to the chin from Miller.
“Sometimes you lose games in a better fashion than others. We had an opportunity to salvage something, but we got outworked,” Miller said.
UP NEXT
- Kraken: Begin a three-game homestand Monday against Calgary.
- Canucks: Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
