SEATTLE — Jordan Eberle did half the damage as the Seattle Kraken turned in a second straight convincing win at Climate Pledge Arena, 4-2 against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.
An Eberle ballet opened the scoring. Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy fished the puck out of a problem area next to goaltender Philipp Grubauer (22 saves). He sent it to Eberle, who took it across center ice, danced around a defender and put a shot on net that squeezed through the pads of Detroit goaltender Ville Husso to make it 1-0.
The Red Wings tied the game 16 seconds before the first-period break. Jake Walman’s shot hit a body on the way through and popped up. As soon as it landed, Pius Suter swung his stick like a golf club and scored Detroit’s only goal of the first 57 minutes.
Kraken star Matty Beniers set up the next two goals. He swung a pass to Eberle for his linemate’s second of the night, then lobbed a puck at defenseman Jamie Oleksiak for a redirection while Seattle was playing 4-on-4. The Kraken led 4-1 heading into the second-period break.
Eberle also had an assist on Oleksiak’s goal for a three-point night.
Seattle’s Eeli Tolvanen added an insurance goal about five minutes into the third period, collecting a puck that hit teammate Daniel Sprong in front of the crease and taking two whacks at it.
The Red Wings got another goal with about two and a half minutes left in the game. They then had the green light to pull Husso for the extra attacker, but barely set up in the Kraken zone and had to work together to tie up Brandon Tanev in his efforts to send in an empty-netter.
Grubauer got a big save out of the way early. He deflected a puck into the netting off the top of his leg pad six minutes in with Dylan Larkin lurking.
At the other end, with Beniers sniffing around near the crease, a rebound caromed off the boards and fell behind Husso. Detroit’s Olli Maatta and Jordan Oesterle closed ranks to keep it from crossing the line. The game stayed scoreless a bit longer.
Grubauer turned in a few more impressive saves in quick succession midway through the third period. He lost his stick and flopped around as the Kraken couldn’t clear the zone and the Red Wings fired at will. The puck whizzed past him several times.
