Playing their initial season in the NHL, the Seattle Kraken have the opportunity to record `firsts’ in every game. Last night at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken recorded plenty of firsts as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2.
Jordan Eberle was the star of the game with a three-goal hat trick and Seattle has more than its share of fans who were aware of the tradition of throwing hats on the ice when a player records three goals in a game. Eberle was joined in the spotlight by linemate Jaden Schwartz, who also had a three-point night including an assist on two of Eberle’s goals. Schwartz has six assists on the season and points in his last five games. Goalie Philipp Grubauer even had a first – a scoring point for a Kraken goalkeeper when he was awarded an assist on Schwartz’s empty-net goal with 1:40 remaining.
Eberle’s hat trick was a `pure hat trick,’ three consecutive goals. The biggest goal came at 18:25 of the second period, only 26 seconds after Buffalo’s Kyle Okposo gave his team a brief 2-1 lead. Eberle scored that goal directly in front after taking a centering pass from Schwartz who was battling behind the net..
“I had some nice passes from my linemates,” said Eberle, who has four career hat tricks. “Earlier in the season I was getting a lot of good looks, but wasn’t getting the goals. It’s an honor to get the first Kraken hat trick, especially in this building. That’s pretty special.”
Talking about his game-tying goal, Eberle said, “you look at the scoreboard and we’re up 25-8 in shots on goal and we’re trailing 2-1. That’s frustrating.”
The Kraken (now 4-6-1) have been in all but one game, a 6-1 loss at Philadelphia, but last night was the first time they dominated for long periods of time. Seattle had four partial breakaways in the first eight minutes of the game including a shorthanded bid from Brandon Tanev, who was hit by an errant puck in the pre-game warmups and had a half dozen stitches over his right eye. Buffalo goalie Dustin Tokarski – who played junior hockey in Spokane – was solid in the nets making 28 saves in just the first two periods.
Seattle also had four power play opportunities they were unable to capitalize on, a recurring problem with the team (they’re 30th out of 32 teams in scoring with the man advantage). However, their first goal came moments after a Buffalo penalty had expired in the first period. Alexander Wennberg (two assists) set up the goal when he found an opening in the Buffalo defense and slid a pass across to Morgan Geekie, who scored from the right circle. It was Geekie’s first goal, and point, since the first Kraken game of the season.
Buffalo (5-4-1) dropped its third consecutive game after a promising start to the season, but got back in the game with two second period scores. Tage Thompson, the Sabres’ 6-7 center, scored at 6:27, and Kyle Okposo added a power play marker at 17:59.
The third period belonged to the Kraken. Eberle’s second goal at 1:52 made it 3-2. Eberle took a pass from Wennberg and came in from the right side to score. Schwartz set up Eberle’s third goal at 8:36. Coming out of his own zone, Schwartz avoided a check along the right wing boards, brought the puck up ice and hit Eberle with a stretch pass on the left wing. Eberle hesitated for a brief moment and that was enough to wrist a 20-footer into the net.
“We really needed this game,” said Eberle. “And the two points in the standings. Maybe you start pressing when you’re not getting goals, but it’s when you’re not creating chances is when you should worry.”
The Kraken face the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow night in Phoenix. With an 0-9-1 record, the Coyotes are the only team in the league without a victory.
GAME NOTES
* Forward Jared McCann was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game because of the league’s COVID-19 protocols. McCann played a lot early in the year on a line with Eberle and Schwartz.
* The Kraken announced Tuesday that goalie Chris Driedger has been activated from the injured reserve list and placed on the 23-man active roster. Driedger was out with a knee injury, although NHL teams use the more general term `lower body injury.’
Goalie Joey Daccord, who played Monday night in Edmonton, has been re-assigned to American Hockey League affiliate Charlotte. He appeared in two games for Seattle, a 4-2 loss in New Jersey (one empty net goal) and the 5-2 defeat in Edmonton.
Driedger was the first netminder to sign with the Kraken on the day of the expansion draft. At that point, the figuring was he’d be Seattle’s starting goaltender this season. But then the Kraken had an opportunity to sign Grubauer who was a Vezina Trophy finalist a year ago.
* Buffalo head coach Don Granato is the older brother of Kraken pro scout Cammi Granato. Brother Tony played for the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Black Hawks and entered the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020; he now coaches the University of Wisconsin.
* The Sabres made news hours before they took the ice last night. A long expected trade came to fruition yesterday as the Sabres traded their best player Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forwards Peyton Krebs, Alex Tuch, a top 10 protected first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The Golden Knights also received a third-round pick in the 2023 draft.
Eichel, who hasn’t played since March 7 of last season became embroiled in a contentious disagreement with the Sabres on how to treat a herniated disk in his neck. Eichel’s medical team had recommended an artificial disk replacement surgery while the Sabres refused approval of the procedure and recommended he complete the more well-known fusion surgery, He was stripped of Buffalo’s captaincy Sept. 23 after he failed his physical at training camp and was placed on injured reserve. Shortly after the trade was announced, Golden Knights’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon said the team will allow him to have the disk replacement although no previous NHL player has had the procedure.
“I understand that there’s no NHL player that’s done it, but with that being said, I feel like it’s the best opportunity for me and I really appreciate the Vegas Golden Knights organization giving me the opportunity to move forward with what I want to do and just get back to playing hockey and doing what I love,” Eichel told ESPN.
Eichel will miss a minimum of three months after the surgery’s completed. A second-overall pick by the Sabres in the 2015 entry draft, Eichel’s best season came in 2018-2019 when he had 28 goals and 54 assists for 82 points. The following year Eichel had 36 goals despite missing 14 games.
* For those attending games at Climate Pledge, the goal horn has gotten louder as the season’s progressed. That’s because the electrical kit for the Washington State ferry horn was still in the box on opening night and because there wasn’t time to install it there was no audio system to plug into (that, too, wasn’t installed until after the opening-week events). The goal horn sound for Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn‘s historic first goal at Climate Pledge Arena was recorded and amplified on the public address system.
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
S – Morgan Geekie (Alex Wennberg, Vince Dunn) 15:42.
2nd Period
B – Tage Thompson (Rasmus Asplund, Rasmus Dahlin) 6:27.
B – Kyle Okposo (Jacob Bryson, Ryan Cozens) power play, 17:59.
S – Jordan Eberle (Jason Schwartz)_ 18:25.
3rd Period
S – Eberle (Wennberg, Jeremy Lauzon) 1:32.
S – Eberle (Schwartz) 8:06
S – Schwartz (Jamie Oleksiak, Philipp Grubauer) empty net 18:43.
Goals/Saves – Buffalo: Dustin Tokarski 4-33. Seattle: Philipp Grubauer 2-19
Penalties – Buffalo: 7-17. Seattle: 5-13.
Referee – Tom Chmielewski, Pierre Lambert. Linesmen – Kiel Murchison, Vaughan Roddy.
Attendance – 17,151.
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