For all the Seattle Kraken have gone through in the past month, they still have a chance to reach the holiday break with a record better than the NHL’s version of .500.
The Kraken “evened” their record at 14-14-6 with a 3-1 victory Monday at Pacific Division-leading Anaheim and will try to sweep their California trip when they take on the host Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night in their last game before Christmas.
Captain Jordan Eberle scored two third-period goals and Philipp Grubauer made 40 saves as the Kraken won for just the third time in their past 13 games (3-9-1) and posted back-to-back victories for the first time in a month.
“It hasn’t been easy. We haven’t found a way, and things haven’t gone [well] for us,” said Eberle, who has a team-leading 12 goals. “Last couple of games, they have. Belief is a magical thing. You’ve gotta just believe.
“Adversity’s gonna hit — we have it right now. Not just on the ice, but we’ve lost guys, key pieces, and we’ve still found a way.
“We’re still in this thing. We have another chance to do it (Tuesday).”
The Kraken have been without franchise career scoring leader Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz, who was atop the team’s scoring chart this season when he got hurt, for multiple games.
The team announced Monday that defenseman Brandon Montour, the quarterback of their power play, will miss approximately four weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken hand suffered in a fight Dec. 16 against the Colorado Avalanche.
“Obviously, a tough loss,” said Ryan Lindgren, Montour’s regular defensive partner. “Monty is an incredible player. Great team guy, too. We’ve got guys who step up. We’ve dealt with injuries throughout the year. We’ve had that mentality of the next guy up. That’s the case again.”
Things might have gotten worse Monday.
Early in the third period, defenseman Vince Dunn took a hard blind-side hit from Anaheim’s Ross Johnston at the blue line and crumpled to the ice with an apparent upper-body injury. There was no call by the officials on the play, and Dunn slammed the gate to the bench, broke his stick over the boards and threw a garbage can in the hallway on his way back to the locker room. He didn’t return to the ice.
There was no word on Dunn’s status after the game.
The Kings also played Monday, losing 3-1 to visiting Columbus as Mason Marchment, whom the Blue Jackets acquired from Seattle last Friday, tallied twice.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored the lone goal and Anton Forsberg made 27 saves for the Kings, who have lost five of their past six games.
“We obviously want to put on a show for our great fans,” Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “We’re not scoring goals. Special teams is kind of killing us right now, so we’ve got to figure that out soon.”
Part of the problem for the Kings has been their inability to stay out of the penalty box. They’ve given up at least four power-play opportunities in six of their past seven games and have allowed goals in five of those contests.
“I mean, when we take eight minors a game, teams can start breaking us down, so we’ve just got to be smarter,” Edmundson said. “Keep our sticks down and take less penalties. It gets tiring for (penalty) killers. It seems like every game we’re taking way more minors than the other team.”
–Field Level Media
