Matty Beniers and Yanni Gourde each had a goal and an assist, and the Seattle Kraken ended a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Sunday.
“I think we were better at checking out in the middle of the ice first,” Gourde said. “They didn’t have many odd-man rushes, I think that’s the key thing. I go back to the last few games, they had way too many chances in the middle of the ice so we covered that.”
Martin Jones made 23 saves for the Kraken (16-8-3), who are 9-2-1 on the road.
“Especially early, [Jones] made some key, key saves,” the Seattle forward Jordan Eberle said. “He deserves all the credit. He’s been great this year, and I think the biggest thing is he just becomes a presence back there, and anytime you make mistakes, he will make saves.”
Video: SEA@FLA: Beniers hammers home shot from the slot
Eric Staal scored his first goal with the Panthers (13-12-4), who lost both ends of a back to back. Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves after he made 34 in a 4-1 loss at the Tamp Bay Lightning on Saturday.
“I thought they were quicker and on us and forced us to turn pucks over a little bit too much,” Staal said. “Really attacked us with their quickness and their speed, and we just didn’t seem to have enough guys with the gas needed to play. We needed to try and grind one out down 2-1 at home to try and find a way to make it happen.”
Beniers scored on a slap shot from the slot at 1:04 of the first period to make it 1-0. Jared McCann Backhanded a pass off a Florida turnover to Beniers for his 11th goal, which leads NHL rookies.
Staal tied it 1-1 at 7:34 of the second period. He was left alone in the slot, and Colin White found him with a pass from behind the net.
Seattle went ahead 2-1 at 9:05 Andrey Burakovsky came off the bench during a change and Gourde spotted him from the corner for a shot from the right face-off circle.
“It happened fast,” Gourde said. “We had a great [offensive]-zone shift. I knew they were tired, I made the move on the wall and saw him come in through the middle of the ice, and a [heck] of a shot by him.”
Video: SEA@FLA: Sprong extends the lead with blistering PPG
Eberle made it 3-1 at 7:15 of the third period by tipping a Beniers point shot past Bobrovsky.
Daniel Sprong made it 4-1 with a power-play goal at 15:09 after a one-timer from the left circle Ryan Lomberg was called for a five-minute major boarding penalty.
“This morning, we talked about it, just getting back to who we are,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We were a little better 5-on-5, a little bit better in terms of all three zones in terms of how we checked and skated. We did that tonight, that was a big part of our game tonight.”
Video: SEA@FLA: Burakovsky snaps one in from distance
Gourde scored into an empty net at 17:22 to make it 5-1.
Chris Tierney scored at 18:43 for Florida for the 5-2 final.
“Overall, it’s a tough loss,” Bobrovsky said. “Actually, two losses when I thought our guys competed, you know, competed hard and fought hard so unfortunately, we lost all of a sudden.”
NOTES: Kraken defender Justin Schultz left the game after he was hit by Lomberg at 11:42 of the third. Hakstol did not have an update after the game. … Beniers, a rookie, had his sixth multipoint game this season. … Staal’s goal was his 442nd in the NHL, fifth among active players.
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