Jordan Eberle on Monday scored on the power play 3 minutes into overtime as the Seattle Kraken beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 to even their best-of-seven series at 2-2.
As one of the originals from Seattle’s difficult opening season, Eberle found himself joking with some of his teammates of Game 4 against the defending Stanley Cup champions of being the biggest game to date in the brief history of the Kraken.
It will forever be memorable for the Kraken: First overtime playoff game, first overtime playoff win and an unexpectedly tied series headed back to Denver.
Photo: AFP
Eberle collected a deflection and buried his first goal of the playoffs past Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.
Seattle were on the power play after Josh Manson was called for tripping on Jaden Schwartz on a breakaway attempt in the opening moments of OT.
“We’ve been kind of the underdog from day 1 and we’re just trying to fight back in this series,” Eberle said. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Photo: AFP
Seattle’s first playoff overtime victory ensured there would be at least one more game played at home this season for the Kraken, but they will be shorthanded for Game 5 after Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said that leading scorer Jared McCann would not play in Denver.
McCann was injured on a questionable hit from Colorado’s Cale Makar midway through the first period.
“Late hit, really late, no puck in play. Our 40-goal scorer not available for the rest of the game and is not going to be available going forward here,” Hakstol said.
Will Borgen and Daniel Sprong scored in the first period to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the second period for Colorado to pull even.
Rantanen now has five goals in four games, but the rest of Colorado’s stars were held in check.
“You knew it was going to be tougher and tougher as the series goes on. Space is going to be less available and you have to go earn every inch of ice,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We didn’t do a good enough job early in the hockey game taking care of our side of the ice.”
Seattle dominated play in the offensive zone most of the night, outshooting Colorado 43-22, but after taking a 2-0 lead, the Kraken were unable to extend their advantage thanks largely to Georgiev.
Colorado’s goaltender made 39 saves and kept the Avalanche from getting overrun in the first period.
In the extra session, Manson’s penalty at 1 minute, 59 seconds provided the Kraken a chance to end their overtime debut quickly. Schwartz had his shot in front of the net blocked, but it fell to Eberle’s stick and he did not miss the open net after being held in check for most of the series.
“It happened fast. I can’t really remember before that, but it was obviously really exciting,” Schwartz said.
Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves and came through when needed in the third period with a couple of key stops to deny Colorado a comeback victory.
In other games, William Karlsson and Ivan Barbashev scored 47 seconds apart in the second period as the Vegas Golden Knights held on for a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series; the Toronto Maple Leafs triumphed 5-4 in Game 4 to go up 3-1 in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning; and the New Jersey Devils leveled their series against the New York Rangers at 2-2 with a 3-1 victory.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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