Eberle scores twice, Kraken defeat Predators for fifth straight win

SEATTLE -- Jordan Eberle scored twice during a four-goal first period for the Seattle Kraken in their fifth straight win, 5-1 against the Nashville Predators at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and two assists, and Martin Jones made 24 saves for the Kraken (8-4-2), who have won five in a row for the first time since entering the NHL at the start of last season.
"It's a real credit to everybody in the room," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "I mentioned it after the Pittsburgh game, I don't believe anybody in this room could care less who gets the credit. Or who's providing the offense. I think there's a confidence that somebody's going to step up and chip in and everybody's focus is on the success of the team."

Filip Forsberg scored for the Predators (5-7-1), who won their previous two games. Juuse Saros allowed four goals on six shots before being pulled with 3:25 left in the first period. Kevin Lankinen made 13 saves in relief.
"It got away from us in the first," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "We had some tough decisions that we made that gave up some easy offense. Whether that was decisions up ice that created odd-man rushes, we had a couple of breakout turnovers that ended up right on their tape, right in the slot. That's not how we want to play in the first period, for sure."
Eberle gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead 38 seconds into the first period with a slap shot from the bottom of the right face-off circle.
Will Borgen made it 2-0 at 7:29 when he took a pass from Burakovsky and scored with a wrist shot from between the circles.
Burakovsky took a pass from Alex Wennberg and scored from the left circle at 15:16 after a turnover by Nino Niederreiter to make it 3-0.
"I think the last couple of games here during our five-game winning streak, we've been having good starts," Burakovsky said. "I think that was a little bit of a problem earlier in the year, where we came out a little bit sleeping, and we've been talking about it a lot now. I think we were coming out hot. That sets the tone, for sure."
Eberle capitalized on a turnover by Ryan McDonagh 1:09 later when he scored on a wrist shot from between the circles at 16:25 to give Seattle a 4-0 lead.

It was the first time Seattle scored four goals in the first period.
"We started the game well, we were opportunistic on some turnovers that we created," Hakstol said. "We picked up where we left off at home. We've played real well here over the last stretch, and to have that start here was a good start to the hockey game. It was an important start to the hockey game."
Forsberg cut it to 4-1 on a breakaway at 10:25 of the second period, but Brandon Tanev scored an empty-net goal at 18:49 of the third period for the 5-1 final.
"I thought it was an interesting game," Forsberg said. "I thought the first period is pretty even, but obviously they scored basically on all their chances. We gave them a couple for free, and then after that it was an uphill battle for us and it's kind of a weird game to analyze."
NOTES: Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak did not play in the third because of an undisclosed injury. Hakstol did not provide an update. … Burakovsky became the first player in Kraken history to have three points in the same period. … Seattle forward Morgan Geekie had an assist; he has factored into the game-winning goal in three straight games. … Forsberg passed Martin Erat for third on Nashville's all-time list with 482 points (225 goals, 257 assists). David Legwand leads with 566 points, and defenseman Roman Josi is second (549).