ANAHEIM, Calif. — Daniel Sprong created a deficit the Anaheim Ducks couldn’t overcome, Seattle stopped the bleeding in a key game and the visiting Kraken held on for their fifth straight victory, 5-4 on Sunday night.
Late in the second period, the Kraken scored their second goal in three attempts on a penalty kick to Mason McTavish off a set up by Trevor Zegrass. The Ducks then tied the game at 4 on a layup by Adam Enrique, again on the power play, as the Kraken returned to the penalty box 21 seconds after receiving the goal.
Anaheim’s starting goaltender John Gibson (14 saves) was intercepted by a teammate as he tried to prevent Sprong’s goal. Ducks defenseman Nathan Beaulieu found himself in net and Kevin Shattenkirk landed on his goaltender as Sprong waited patiently for Gibson and scored through his outstretched glove. Anthony Stolarge grabbed the net to end the game.
The Kraken has had its own injury problems. Moments after the Ducks’ second goal, Morgan Jickey looked to narrowly clip a motionless teammate Adam Larsson, but went down in a heap on the ice. He had to be towed off the ice by two teammates and sent straight into the tunnel. Geekie was ruled out of the game with an upper body injury.
The Kraken scored in the first and last minutes of the third period. With 33 seconds left in the game, Matty Benniers got the game back on a layup, and Jordan Eberle pounced on the puck and Jared McCann raced around the circle for the goal. From his knees, Eberle found McCann, who scored in one smooth motion. It all took four seconds.
On the second goal six minutes later, Andre Burakowski was too unselfish early in the shift, looking to pass to Jayden Schwartz on a 2-on-1 play after the lane closed down instead of taking a shot himself. It all came together when he fed the puck to Alex Wennberg, who laid down a layup that scored his first since Nov. 3 and ended a six-game scoreless streak.
Between the goals, Max Jones caught a ride on Yanni Gourd’s back and Gourd pushed him to the ice as payment. Max lost his stick and was concussed during the play, but Gourd was not penalized.
With the first 10,000 fans in attendance possessing his puck, Troy Terry put it back for Anaheim on the power play late in the first period. Vince Dunn sneaked up the middle and connected with Gibson with 27 seconds left in the first period. He picked out the top left corner to make it 3-1 Kraken.
Carson Soucy tried to clear the defensive zone, but the puck stuck in place. Martin Jones stopped Frank Watran’s bid, but Derek Grant scored the Ducks’ second goal on a rebound.
With thirty seconds to go in the middle of the game, Beniers turned around to find Sprong’s rebound waiting for him. He scored his seventh goal of the season. Benniers already led NHL rookies in scoring, but fell short of one of the rookie leaders, Shane Pinto of the Philadelphia Flyers.
