Eberle, Kraken tie West 1st Round with OT win against Avalanche in Game 4

SEATTLE -- Jordan Eberle scored 3:00 into overtime to give the Seattle Kraken a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday.

Eberle won it on a power play from below the left face-off circle after Jaden Schwartz's initial shot went off the stick of Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews.
The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2. Game 5 is at Colorado on Wednesday.
"Anytime you even a series, it's a big goal," Eberle said. "We had a lot of a chances and that's a really good team over there, so we've been kind of the underdog from Day One and we're just trying to fight back in this series and we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

Will Borgen and Daniel Sprong scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves for Seattle, the first wild card in the West.
It was the first home playoff win for the Kraken in their second NHL season.
"Everybody had a hand in it," coach Dave Hakstol said. "Everybody contributed. It took a few extra minutes tonight getting into overtime, but through the ebbs and flows of the game, there's always some momentum, there's always some pushes either way. But our group was pretty comfortable in their own skin tonight."
Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the second period to erase a two-goal deficit, and Alexandar Georgiev made 40 saves for Avalanche, the No. 1 seed from the Central Division.
"We didn't get to our game early enough, so that's the big major takeaway for me," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We knew it was going to get tougher and tougher as the series goes on. Space is going to be less available to you, so you have to earn every inch of ice, and we didn't do a good enough job early on in the hockey game taking care of our side of that scenario."
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Kraken series coverage]
The Kraken lost forward Jared McCann after a hit by Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar at 8:24 of the first period. McCann, who led Seattle with 70 points (40 goals, 30 assists) in 79 games in the regular season, had just been stopped on a short-handed breakaway and was skating into the corner after the puck went into the netting when Makar hit him into the boards.
Makar was originally assessed a major penalty, but it was changed to a minor for interference after video review while McCann was being helped off the ice.
Hakstol said McCann will miss Game 5 and will "probably" be out longer.
"What I saw live and what I watched after the period on video is a late hit, where the puck is out of play," Hakstol said. "I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as [McCann] is being run into the end wall.
"So, late hit, really late, no puck in play, our 40-goal scorer not available for the rest of the game and like I said, not going to be available going forward here."
Makar said he didn't realize the puck had gone out of play.
"I know he got the shot off and then I was just assuming he was going to the corner because it was coming down, so I didn't really look," Makar said. "At the end of the day, I didn't feel like I tried to finish him that hard, but I feel like if I was in that scenario, they would have done the exact same thing.
"I'm not trying to hurt anybody. It's just unfortunate. Tough bounce there and they got the call right, and that's all you can ask for."

Borgen put Seattle ahead 1-0 for the fourth straight game with a one-timer from just inside the top of the left face-off circle at 3:56 of the first period.
Sprong made it 2-0 on a power play with a wrist shot past Georgiev's glove, off the post and in as he cut into the middle from the top of the left face-off circle.
The Kraken entered the game 1-for-11 on the man-advantage after scoring their first power-play goal of the series with 40 seconds left in a 6-4 loss in Game 3 on Saturday.
"It's kind of been a sore spot for us in the series so far as far as producing with the man-advantage," Eberle said. "I know we got one late last game, and maybe that kick-started us a bit. We get one early in the game, and then obviously the winner. We have to do a better job and win the special teams. That's going to be a big part of the series going forward."

Rantanen cut it to 2-1 on a 3-on-3 rush at 14:08 of the second, taking a backhand pass from Nathan MacKinnon into the slot and chipping it past Alex Wennberg with one hand on his stick before shooting quickly under Grubauer's right pad.
He tied it 2-2 at 19:10 on a power play with his fifth goal of the series, a wrist shot from just inside the top of the right face-off circle that found its way through traffic.
NOTES: The Kraken are just the second team in NHL history to score first in each of their first four Stanley Cup Playoff games; the Toronto Maple Leafs did so in their first five playoff games in 1917-18, when they were the Toronto Arenas. … Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin, who had 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) in 53 regular season games, missed a second straight game and is out indefinitely after leaving the team for personal reasons Saturday. … Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz had one assist, giving him five in the series and at least one point in each game.