Jordan Eberle scored a goal and provided an assist as the Seattle Kraken rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, Jayden Schwartz, and Matty Beniers also found the net for the Kraken, who secured consecutive wins for the first time since March 7. Martin Jones made 14 saves, with the Canucks managing a season-low 16 shots.
“That’s a character win down the stretch here when there’s not many games left, and two points mean much more,” Tanev said.
Elias Pettersson and Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Canucks, who dropped their fourth straight game. Collin Delia stopped 23 shots.
Coach Rick Tocchet suggested that some players might view the season’s final games as meaningless with the team out of contention.
“Some guys are maybe getting tired. … A lot of people in and out of the lineup. Maybe that’s it, I don’t know,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is you can’t think that way. We have to be strong mentally.”
The Canucks took a 2-0 lead in the first period but managed just nine shots over the final 40 minutes.
“At the end of the first, we kind of just let up the play, let them take over,” Pettersson said. “The power play wasn’t good again. We’ve got to, first off, bury the chances we create. But just be more disciplined or work harder.”
Pettersson opened the scoring 4:31 into the game with a dazzling goal, pulling the puck behind his back before tipping it into the net for his 37th goal of the season. Vancouver doubled their lead when Beauvillier scored off a no-look pass from Conor Garland with 6:51 left in the first.
Gourde got Seattle on the scoreboard late in the first period, sending a shot through the legs of Vancouver center Nils Aman and past Delia’s stick side with 3:02 remaining.
An ugly second period proved to be Vancouver’s undoing. Despite a prime opportunity with 55 seconds of 5-on-3 play early in the period, they failed to capitalize. Instead, Tanev tied the score with a short-handed goal 5:07 into the period.
“That was definitely a momentum swing for us,” Eberle said. “Our kill has been doing a really good job and then chipping in offensively, too, which you don’t expect. Those are key moments in games where you can swing the game’s momentum, and we’ve been able to do that.”
Seattle took the lead with 9:20 left in the second period when Eberle scored off a Canucks turnover. A power-play goal extended Seattle’s lead to 4-2 after Pettersson was called for interference. Schwartz tipped in a shot from Daniel Sprong for his 20th goal with 3:46 left in the second.
Beniers capped the scoring with an empty-net goal from deep in Kraken territory with one minute left in the third.
Season Series Split
Both teams took two wins in their four-game season series. Vancouver won 5-4 in Seattle on Oct. 27 and 6-5 in a shootout at home on Dec. 22. The Kraken secured their first franchise win over the Canucks on Jan. 25.
Kuzmenko’s Milestone
With an assist on Pettersson’s goal, Andrei Kuzmenko reached 70 points (37 goals, 33 assists) for the season, joining Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane as the third player to hit the mark in his first NHL season.
Up Next
- Kraken: Host Arizona on Thursday night.
- Canucks: Host Chicago on Thursday night.
