Jamie Oleksiak and Justin Schultz returned on the blue line for the Seattle Kraken following a suspension and an injury. Having the core six of defensemen intact would be just one of the factors heading into Sunday evening’s tilt against the Winnipeg Jets, a club that came in having won five consecutive road games.
Philipp Grubauer got the nod in net for the Kraken against a Jets team that won a game Saturday night in Vancouver 5-1 against the Canucks.
Early Deficit
An unfortunate theme lately for the Kraken has been falling behind early in games. It would happen again in the first period of this one with Mark Scheifele scoring on a 5-on-3 power play at the 8:26 mark.
Play was fast and fluid with few whistles in the first period. Seattle would go 0-for-1 on their lone power play of the first and find themselves in a 1-for-19 drought on the man advantage.
Kraken Goal Scorers:
2nd Period
1-1 Tie – Even Strength – Jordan Eberle (8) from Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn, 8:43
Eberle went top shelf with a blind backhander on a spinorama from the left wing circle.
3rd Period
2-2 Tie – Even Strength – Ryan Donato (6) from Yanni Gourde and Andre Burakovsky, :16
A beautiful tip-in on a high slapper from Gourde retied the game just seconds into the 3rd period.
3-2 Kraken – Even Strength – Jared McCann (14) from Justin Schultz, 15:28
Off a Jets turnover and a diligent Kraken forecheck, McCann went top shelf from the right wing circle.
Tired Rivals
The Kraken came out flying to start the period, showing some of the confident intensity we saw during their seven game win streak. Chances began to mount against a Jets team that was playing its third game in four nights and in the second half of a back-to-back.
Jets goalie David Rittich kept his team in the hockey game with some key saves. Seattle out-shot Winnipeg 35-17.
Seattle’s true nemesis in this game: Its specialty teams. The Jets scored both their goals on the power play and finished 2-for-3, while the Kraken man advantage failed again in the third period and with the 0-for-2 they slipped to 1-for-20 over the last seven matches.
The Kraken improved their season record to 17-10-and-3.
Kraken 3 Stars:
1) Jordan Eberle – His beauty backhander got the offense kickstarted. Led the team with five shots on goal.
2) Adam Larsson – An assist, three shots on goal, three hits, three blocked shots and 23:35 in ice time.
3) Will Borgen – The D-man got a lot done in just 14:18, with two shots on goal, five hits and three blocked shots.
