Eberle scores twice, Kraken rally past Jets

SEATTLE -- Jordan Eberle scored twice, including the go-ahead goal at 7:21 of the third period, helping the Seattle Kraken rally for a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Eberle put the Kraken ahead 4-3 by sliding out from behind the net and redirecting Matty Beniers’ backdoor pass from the top of the right circle into an open net behind Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

Eberle then scored into an empty net at 18:25 for the 5-3 final.

“Yeah, that’s just an elite player,” Eberle said of Beniers. “It’s just a second overall pick player [type of] play.”

Vince Dunn had a goal and two assists, and Kaapo Kakko and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for the Kraken (8-4-5), who had lost their previous two (0-1-1). Philipp Grubauer made 23 saves, and Beniers had two assists.

“I think, for us, defense is going to be the backbone of this club. That’s how we’re going to win hockey games,” Eberle said of the Kraken, who had scored one goal in three of their previous four games. “But you’ve got to try and create offense out of that. I don’t think it’s been for a lack of chances [that we haven’t been scoring much lately].”

Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist, and Alex Iafallo and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets (10-7-0), who are 1-4-0 on a six-game road trip. Hellebuyck allowed four goals on 17 shots.

“This group here, usually you’re up 3-2 going into the third period on the road, it’s lockdown for us,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We just made too many mistakes tonight. Three goals in our D-zone coverage, scripted coverage situations, and then our execution throughout the game was just really poor.”

Iafallo gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 10:17 of the first period, crashing to the net on a 4-on-3 rush and redirecting Adam Lowry’s feed from the right circle into an open net behind Grubauer.

“We were playing fast, we were in the game, and we just couldn’t get it done,” Connor said.

Kakko tied it 1-1 at 15:15, tipping in Jaden Schwartz’s shot from the right hash marks over Hellebuyck’s shoulder.

It was Kakko’s first goal of the season (seventh game). After his goal, Kakko played one more 18-second shift before exiting the game with a lower-body injury.

“I feel bad for him,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “It was a beautiful goal he scored, and we need him, so it certainly is not a great thing.”

Scheifele put Winnipeg back in front 2-1 with a breakaway goal at 3:18 of the second period. He received Neal Pionk’s outlet pass at the blue line before burying a snap shot from the slot inside the right post.

“There are some glimpses that we really liked our game, but we just kind of fell asleep,” Connor said. “We’re not executing, we’re playing slow at times, so it’s tough to get something going.”

Dunn tied it 2-2 at 7:27 after Ryan Winterton jammed the puck into Hellebuyck from the side of the net. A clearing attempt from Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey then deflected off the stick of Dunn, hit the right post and bounced in off the back of Hellebuyck.

“I don’t think 'Wints' was necessarily trying to make that play to me, but I respect what he did,” Dunn said. “It was a great play by him taking it to the net, and that’s where we’re going to have to create goals.”

Connor scored a power-play goal at 18:50 to give Winnipeg a 3-2 lead. He finished a one-timer from the top of the right circle that deflected off Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren and squeezed under Grubauer’s right arm.

“It’s a huge weight off his shoulders,” Arniel said. “He hasn’t scored in a long time on the power play, but at the end of the day, our power play has still been awesome because of -- there’s an awful lot of emphasis put on him to take him away, but it’s opened up a lot of holes the other way.”

Tolvanen tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 4:11 of the third period. Dunn passed from the point to Tolvanen, who one-timed it past Hellebuyck’s blocker from the right circle.

Tolvanen has scored twice in his past four games after he didn't get a goal in his first 13 games this season.

“I think there’s a little bit of frustration on it,” Tolvanen said. “Then you just start trusting yourself again, and I think it’s the same thing with the power play, too. I feel like our guys did a good job.”