Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers each recorded a goal and an assist, leading the Seattle Kraken to a 4-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, halting their eight-game losing streak.
Jordan Eberle and Oliver Bjorkstrand also found the net for Seattle (29-29-13). Eberle’s goal marked the 299th of his career and 17th this season.
Joey Daccord made 12 saves, earning his third shutout for the Kraken, who had gone 0-6-2 in their previous eight games, severely impacting their playoff chances. Seattle also experienced a similar slump earlier this season from Nov. 24 to Dec. 10.
“It’s obviously not been going our way for the last bit. It was a good feeling for everyone to get a good win under our belt,” said Beniers, whose two assists brought his season total to 20. “Not getting those wins, it builds up. With each loss, you lose a little bit of confidence personally and as a team. Getting one win is so big for getting confidence, breaking that streak, and moving forward.”
The Ducks (24-44-4), already out of playoff contention, lost for the ninth time in 10 games. Anaheim goalie John Gibson made 32 saves.
“You could tell they were just hungrier than we were,” Ducks winger Troy Terry said. “It’s unacceptable to start the game like that. Whatever the reasons were, I just thought they jumped out early and kind of dictated the game, which led to us taking too many penalties because they had the puck. Once you get in that cycle, it’s hard to break out of.”
Tolvanen gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 7:50 of the first period. Beniers retrieved the puck from behind the net and found Tolvanen at the top of the crease, where he scooped it past Gibson.
Eberle scored on the power play at 16:51, firing a shot that deflected off Gibson’s stick and into the net. This was the first time in four games the Kraken scored more than one goal, their previous multi-goal game being a 6-2 home loss to Buffalo on March 18.
Bjorkstrand added another power-play goal at 5:08 of the second, and Beniers made it 4-0 at 15:55, converting a 2-on-1 with Tolvanen for his 11th goal of the season. Beniers, Tolvanen, and Bjorkstrand have been playing together on Seattle’s top line since mid-March.
“He’s just a really smart player. He does a really good job of reading the play and reading off me and Ollie and being in good spots,” Beniers said about Tolvanen. “And you saw tonight he makes that play back to me, and he’s got the brains for that.”
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, who criticized his team’s effort after Sunday’s 5-1 loss to Montreal, was much more pleased with their performance against Anaheim.
“That’s what winning does, right? There’s only one way to get to that feeling, and you have to do the work,” he said. “You’ve got to grind through. It’s been a long haul here over the last seven to 10 days.”
On Tuesday, Ducks coach Greg Cronin expressed his frustration with his team.
“They kicked the (crap) out of us — simple as that,” he said. “They wanted the puck more, they outskated us, and they won all the puck battles. We stood around and watched. It was completely unacceptable.”
UP NEXT
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The teams meet again Thursday night in Seattle.
