Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann score clutch goals to seal OT win for Kraken in Detroit
DETROIT — For much of Tuesday night’s third-period adventure, the unfortunate plot twists that had plagued the Kraken for a good part of their disastrous early-season start appeared to have returned with a vengeance.
They’d seen the Red Wings score three straight power-play goals to turn a Kraken lead into a deficit with the game heading into its dying minutes. But then Jared McCann scored a power-play goal of his own with just 1:22 to play in regulation, and Jordan Eberle sealed a 5-4 overtime win from close range off a rush with just four seconds remaining in the extra session.
The Kraken improved to 2-4-1 with the win.
They’d seemed destined for a regulation loss after Alex DeBrincat scored his NHL-leading ninth goal of the season with 9:34 to go in the third, beating goalie Joey Daccord from the left faceoff circle. But then Detroit took a pair of late penalties in the final four minutes, the second of which allowed the Kraken to get Daccord pulled, and for McCann to score from the right faceoff circle with traffic in front of Detroit netminder Ville Husso.
The Kraken had used a pair of second-period goals by Jade Schwartz and another by Tye Kartye to carry a 3-1 lead into the third period, only to see it undone in the first five minutes of that final frame. Shayne Gostisbehere and Dylan Larkin struck on the power play against the Kraken, who entered the game having killed off 15 of 16 man advantages this season.
Detroit had its chances to move ahead much earlier in the game. But Daccord’s strong play kept things close, and the Kraken’s patience eventually paid off with the two Schwartz goals and then a late score by Kartye with just 55.7 seconds to go before intermission. It looked as if that might be enough to propel the Kraken to their second victory in seven tries this season on a night during which they shuffled their lines to accommodate the loss of Andre Burakovsky to his latest long-term injury.
The Kraken had gotten their share of breaks up until then, the biggest likely being a go-ahead slap-shot goal by Schwartz from the top of the right circle that found its way by an unscreened Husso with 2:06 to go until the second intermission. That was followed just 71 seconds later by Kartye being sent in alone by a Brian Dumoulin stretch pass and snapping one by Husso to send the Kraken to the dressing room up by two goals.
The Kraken did seem to be the beneficiary of some rather selective officiating at key moments of that second period. Former Kraken fourth-liner Daniel Sprong took a high stick to the face that somehow got missed despite the referee watching the play unfold from not far away.
But their biggest break came when Schwartz managed to avoid getting penalized for diving at a Red Wings puck-carrier — losing his stick in the process, though the crowd certainly seemed to feel he’d thrown it.
The crowd continued voicing its displeasure as play continued, and it was mere moments later that Kartye was sent in alone for his team’s third goal.
Not surprisingly, the boos and jeers at the officials continued early in the third period, and it wasn’t long before Eberle took his second penalty of the contest, leading to a Gostisbehere slap-shot goal. Just two minutes after that, Devin Shore took a double-minor for high-sticking, and the Red Wings tied it.