Final Buzzer: Kraken Win with Dramatic Late Goal

ANAHEIM -- The Kraken needed the kind of bounce-back game they played here Friday night against young, up-and-coming, will-see-these-guys-a-lot Pacific Division rival Anaheim. Staking and losing not one but two one-goal leads, Seattle then fell behind by a goal.

After late-game matching minor penalties to Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn and Anaheim young phenom Trevor Zegras, the resulting 4-on-4 format did not produce much in scoring chances either.
But soon after the penalties ended, Mark Giordano moved the puck on the rush, faking a pass middle and going wide to Riley Sheahan. The veteran center backhanded a beautiful saucer pass to a charging Jordan Eberle for the game-winner with 1:42 remaining. It's Eberle's first goal since Dec. 6, ending a 22-game drought.

"We were coming off the 4-on-4 and [Alex] Wennberg [usual linemate] had just finished a shift, so 'Shea' was out there with me. I yelled to let him know I was over there ... he made a great pass, so did [Giordano]," Eberle said.
Eberle was happy for his teammates as much as himself: "We didn't have a great effort against Arizona [Wednesday]," said the alternate captain. "It's a big road win to fight back ... They don't give a lot of time and space in the offensive zone."
Snapping the scoreless streak: "It's definitely one of the longer slumps of my career. There's been lots of times I thought a puck was going or I got robbed. Lots of Grade-A chances."
"We're all happy for him," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said.

He Prays, He Shoots, He Scores

Donato, who scored twice, both on quick, elite-level shots, was happy to reveal a "little story" between Eberle and him during the second intermission. Donato has a rosary gifted by his dad that he uses to say a short prayer for goals.
When Eberle mentioned his quality scoring chances not going in again during the first two periods here, Donato suggested maybe he should touch the rosary, which had been blessed in Medjugorje, a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It's been an unofficial place of Catholic pilgrimage since the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared on Apparition Hill in 1981.
When Eberle returned to the Kraken bench after scoring the game-winning goal, he found Donato and said, "That's insane."
For his part, Donato scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, zeroing in on a career-best 14 tallied in 62 games with Minnesota in 2019-20. He's on pace for a 21-goal season with an upside of more if he shoots like he did Friday night. He's looking like the best bargain signing ($750,000, one year) by Seattle GM Ron Francis.

Sorting the Scoring Chances

The third period featured tighter play with Anaheim hoping for at least a standings point with Calgary pushing the Ducks for playoff position. Anaheim generated 28 scoring chances against Chris Driedger in the first two periods, but managed only four more during the final 20 minutes, as per NaturalStatTrick.com.
Driedger proved unbeatable in the second 30 minutes of Friday's victory. He made 24 saves overall with half of them Grade-A variety.
"'Driegs' had a solid performance," Hakstol said. "He battled all night. It's not very often [Anaheim] doesn't have one of their guys in front of the net."
Seattle had logged 16 scoring chances in the first 40 minutes but only three such opportunities during the third period, one of which was Eberle's game-winner. The Kraken's best chance before that goal was in the first 13 minutes of the period, when a Mark Giordano shot found its way between Anaheim goalie John Gibson's legs but hit a post.
Both Giordano and Dunn hit posts here, same as their fates in the Arizona loss Wednesday. The only solace is Dunn scored the Kraken's second goal here Friday.

Gasp! Goal! Fight! - All in First Two Minutes

This game started with a gasp when Driedger skated behind his Kraken net, got a bit tangled with an onrushing Duck and the puck skidded through the Seattle goal crease with Driedger not back at his post.
But stalwart defenseman Adam Larsson - he leads the Kraken in time on ice for good reason - was there to box out any Anaheim players on that puck. Crisis avoided and less than two minutes later Donato scored his 10th goal of the season on a sharp-angle one-timer he uploaded after a crisp pass from newcomer Austin Czarnik. The former New York Islanders forward, acquired on waivers earlier this week, picked up a primary assist on his first shift in Seattle blues.
On the post-goal faceoff at center ice, almost instantly Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and Anaheim beefy fourth-line winger Nicolas Deslauriers dropped gloves and circled for an extended bout of what ESPN analyst extraordinaire Kevin Weekes excitedly was calling "quite a tilt for Friday Night Fights."
Oleksiak had just returned from a nine-game absence with a lower-body injury (his last game was the MLK Day home matinee versus Chicago in mid-Jan). He and Deslauriers exchanged a multitude of impressive blows, then headed to the penalty box five minutes each for fighting.
Deslauriers was exhorting the Ducks crowd after the brawl, which apparently worked on his teammates, too. Twelve seconds after the penalty whistle stopped play, the Ducks evened things on some quick-release passing and shooting.
"That's the best fight I have seen in a long time," Eberle said. "Even though they scored right after, I liked our response from there on."
Oleksiak and Deslauriers have a history between them. They tangled in a 2015 fight when Oleksiak was playing for Dallas and his foe was on the Buffalo roster.
Driedger settled quite effectively after that, making 11 straight saves to finish out the first 20 minutes. He looked in position, confident and quiet (both adjectives he aspires to) in the net and made good on a drill he does most every practice and morning skate, when he closed his left post on a shot attempt and then slid to the right post to prevent a wraparound score.

Portrait of a Hustle Goal

The Kraken regained the lead late first period on the type of hustle and playmaking any coach would love. Seattle's second score started with Giordano sending a short outlet pass to Yanni Gourde, who chipped the puck through the neutral zone to Mason Appleton.
Appleton entered the offensive zone, sending the puck net front (a good idea). The centering pass didn't connect with Calle Jarnkrok but a charging Gourde re-entered the play all the way from the Kraken zone to control the puck and send it to Dunn for a hard, quick shot on goal.
Gibson made the save but couldn't control the rebound. Gourde hounded the puck to Gibson's left goal line, holding it for the patient extra second or two that is a learned veteran move, then found Dunn, now left point, moving in to faceoff circle range for a shot and score. It is Dunn's 6th goal for the Kraken, tying him with Carson Soucy for the lead among SEA defensemen.

Going from Two Up to One Down

Two minutes into the middle period, Kraken center Alexander Wennberg broke up a Ducks rush to win back the puck in the neutral zone. He carried into the offensive zone, waiting a beat to set up Dunn for a half-slapper that rocketed off the crossbar.
Instead of a 3-1 lead for Seattle, Anaheim second-line center Isac Lundestrom notched his second goal of the game when he rammed in a rebound net-front. Three Kraken skaters along with goalie Driedger were all there in the crease, but Lundestrom, body and stick, went untouched by Oleksiak, Haydn Fleury and Morgan Geekie to tie the game at two.
The Ducks scored a go-ahead goal on its first of two power plays in the middle 20 minutes. Nineteen-year-old defenseman Jamie Drysdale quick-released a wrist shot from inside the blue line. The puck deflected off Rakell, who was screening Driedger. Sightline blocked, goal scored.
Give the Kraken big credit for not wilting after the Ducks took their first lead of the game. Working off a forced turnover by Gourde (playing one of his best games for Seattle, a high bar), Donato controlled the loose puck, unleashing a shot that was past a befuddled Gibson before the elite goalie could react. The period ended 3-3 with a healthy chance for Seattle to pull out this road game and go 6-6 in its last dozen games.