Kraken Comeback Thrills, Forces Overtime

The Kraken faced the NHL’s last undefeated team Thursday night, striking first in the opening period on Matty Beniers’ first goal of the year. But Winnipeg answered with a pair of second-period scores and another early third period to build a 3-1 lead. This Kraken squad didn’t fold, answering with a pair of later third-period scores to force overtime with a dramatic flair. The Jets scored in OT, yet no one will argue about the determination required to earn a standings point against a red-hot opponent with a world-class goaltender.

“You don't give up until the end,” said Beniers, ballcap on backward and calling the comeback fun. “They obviously scored that third goal in the third, and I thought we did a great job not letting that get to us, continuing to play our game, knowing that it was going to come – and it did. It’s a tough loss. You want to get that one [extra standings point], but a lot of positives.”

The Positives Start with Beniers Line

The refurbished lines could be argued as receiving mixed reviews and the coaching staff did mix and match a bit in the third period in an effort to generate goals. But coach Dan Bylsma did not mess with Beniers centering Eberle and leading scorer Jared McCann, with Beniers factoring in all three goals and the veteran wingers picking up two points each. The Kraken coach particularly liked the line’s fast play and added, “They made a ton of wall plays” to get pucks out of the defensive (the latter was a problem for the team overall in a second period controlled largely by the visitors).

But back to the heroics and, along with goalie Joey Daccord, the reason why Seattle has played Winnipeg the toughest to date. First, captain Jordan Eberle scored his sixth goal of the year with nine minutes remaining to close it to a one-goal game. The no-quit Kraken cranked up the crowd decibels on Eberle’s goal. The Kraken captain was wide-open at the goal crease, which linemate Jared McCann noticed, getting the puck to Eberle in a hurry. Eberle flashed his signature backhand shot to get the puck past elite WPG goalie Connor Helllebuyck. Beniers earned the secondary assist.

With three-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, McCann (now with 11 points in eight games) found newcomer and change-agent Brandon Montour, who swiftly put the puck on net. Beniers, overdue on the score sheet, tipped the shot to score his second goal of the night. The crowd noise was as loudest of the season.

The Kraken are now 4-3-1 for the season. They face Carolina on Saturday with an opportunity to stamp a winning five-game homestand before heading East for a five-game road trip.

Beniers Breaks the Ice, Scores His First, Game’s First

You knew it was coming. Sooner or later, Matty Beniers was just playing too well on this homestand to not ring up his first goal. Kraken analyst Eddie Olczyk has been pointing out the young alternate captain’s good deeds in all zones during recent games. Thursday, mid-first period, everyone was clear about Beniers’ work at the offensive end.

The scoring play started all the way back behind the Kraken net, with D-man Adam Larsson surveying his choices to move up the ice. He skated several sides up the right board, then sent a stretch pass toward Kraken leading scorer Jared McCann. Jets defenders attempted to reverse the puck, but McCann corralled it and had a choice of linemate Jordan Eberle skating in the prime high-slot area or Beniers on the left wing. McCann went Beniers and the third-year center went short-side top-left corner on Hellebuyck, who looked to be leaning left.

Even Play in First 40 Minutes

The Kraken matchup with the NHL’s last undefeated team was projected to be a tight game per alternate captain Yanni Gourde and head coach Dan Bylsma in pre-game comments. That’s exactly how this game sized up after the first two periods. Both teams had bagged 22 shots on goal, with momentum swings each way each period. Joey Daccord was battling all-star Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck pretty much save for save.

There was just one difference: The visiting Jets scored twice in the middle frame after Matty Beniers opened the scoring in Period 1. It appeared Seattle had jumped out to a 2-1 lead mid-second on a highlight-reel drop-and-go between Oliver Bjorkstrand and Adam Larsson, with Bjorkstrand finishing the play when Larsson deftly returned the puck to the Danish forward. D-man Josh Mahura’s long dish to Bjorkstrand to ignite the play would have been the reserve defenseman’s first assist in his fourth game filling in for the injured Vince Dunn.

Instead, Winnipeg took a 2-1 lead late second period when the Kraken couldn’t quite exit the defensive zone. Kyle Connor, who had scored goals in the last four games, starred on defense in this instance. He stole the puck maybe 12 inches from leaving the zone, sending the puck to Mark Scheifele, who whisked the puck over to the ex-LA King Gabriel Vilardi for the score.

On an early third period power play for Winnipeg with Tye Kartye whistled off for high-sticking, the Kraken starter made an outstanding save on Jets star Scheifele and the Kraken penalty killers achieved a couple of clears. But late in the man-advantage situation, Jets forward Nino Niederreider scored his second goal of the night, taking a feed at the right faceoff circle from young Jets forward Cole Perfetti and beating Daccord through net-front traffic.

Battling in Tight First Period

The Kraken were awarded the game’s first power play less than a minute after Beniers’ goal. The two units kept the puck in the Jets' end for the most part but generated just two shots on goal, both from Kraken D-man Ryker Evans in his duties as second-unit power play quarterback. The scoreless result still felt like the units were clicking and showed promise if any other man-advantage situations materialized.

The visiting Jets arrived in town with a spotless 6-0-0 record and plenty of hot scorers. After the morning skate, Seattle's head coach said these two squads play similar styles.

Throughout their lineup, including their back end, their success has come through their team-play, five-on-five for sure,” said Bylsma. “They have two really good lines, but it's pretty evenly throughout the rest of the lineup. They have team offense [scoring depth] and play a team game. That's going to butt heads with exactly how we want to play, which is a team game.”

The opening 20 minutes mirrored Bylsma’s projections, though the Kraken outshot Winnipeg by a 12-7 margin and had the majority of the quality scoring chances. Later period, the Jets began to look more like the offensive machine (+17 goal differential) anticipated with a couple of late rushes.

In overtime, the Winnipeg goal leaked through Joey Daccord, who appeared to have made the save, but when moving his arm, the puck ricocheted off the shaft of his stick. Overall, Daccord made all sorts of big saves to keep the score 2-1 after two periods, then was stellar again in the minutes between the third goal and the dramatic and, yes, Matty, “fun” comeback.

“I thought [Joey] was really good,” said Dan Bylsma. “He had two or three outstanding saves, red-bell saves. The first one in the second period was his glove save [against Neal Pionk] on the rush. It was crazy good. It’s in the back of the net unless somehow Joey comes up with a save ... he kept the momentum for us in the second [period] with the saves that he made ... he kept the game tight, kept it close, so we had a chance to come back.”