SEATTLE — As pure of a trap opponent if ever there was one came tiptoeing into Climate Pledge Arena looking to ensnare the Kraken in their very own overconfident tentacles.
The once-proud Buffalo Sabres franchise, having fallen on hard times the past decade and trading former star captain Jack Eichel ahead of Thursday night’s clash, lately have been a more formidable early season foe than their reputation indicates. Thus, the Kraken emerging with a 5-2 victory in this one, courtesy of Jordan Eberle notching the franchise’s first-ever hat-trick, not only supplied a needed two points, but helped Eberle’s group survive its first test of not getting rope-a-doped at home by an undervalued opponent.
Eberle scored the go-ahead goal 1:50 into the final period, taking a nice feed from Alex Wennberg, breezing by a defender and shifting to his forehand before flipping the puck behind netminder Dustin Tokarski. It was Eberle’s second of the night and he’d get baseball caps cascading down from the stands seven minutes later by putting a delayed slapshot through Tokarski’s legs for his third goal the netminder undoubtedly wanted back but which the Kraken will certainly keep.
Jaden Schwartz capped a four-point night with an empty net goal after Tokarski was pulled late for an extra attacker.
In fact, had the Kraken displayed any less energy than they did in front of another sellout crowd of 17,151 things probably would not have ended well. They outshot the Sabres 38-21 overall but still found themselves deadlocked in the third period because of yet more struggles to finish off chances.
As is, they were only even because of an Eberle goal right at the end of the middle frame that came 26 seconds after Kyle Okposo had put the visitors ahead 2-1 on a screened snapshot through traffic. Eberle was well-positioned at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and right there when Schwartz shoveled the puck out to him from a scrum behind the net for the one-timed shot.
The Kraken looked far more energetic and dominant throughout the first period than they had much of the last homestand and in Monday night’s loss to Edmonton. They moved the puck around with increased proficiency as the period wore on and struck just after the expiration of a power play when Morgan Geekie took a cross-ice pass from Wennberg and one-timed it home past Tokarski for a 1-0 lead at the 15:42 mark.
Former Spokane Chiefs netminder Tokarski kept the Sabres in a scoreless game early, stopping Kraken leading goal-getter Brandon Tanev on a breakaway and then stopping Jamie Oleksiak moments later. Kraken players had five breakaways on the night but failed to score on any of them while also not connecting on three more powerplay chances to run their recent drought to 0-for-21.
Still, goalie Philipp Grubauer made the stops he needed to and Eberle’s late scoring touch proved enough.
A previous generation of hockey fans might recall the French Connection line version of the Sabres, where Gilbert Perrault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert dazzled fans nightly and propelled Buffalo all the way to its first Stanley Cup final in 1975. Alas, apart from some strong playoff teams backstopped in the 1980s by goaltenders Don Edwards and later a young upstart Tom Barrasso, the Sabres didn’t get back to the finals again until 1999 under coach Lindy Ruff.
But its been slim pickings since, amplified by a decade of drafting futility and bad luck, capped by a showdown with one-time future franchise star Eichel.
Buffalo looks to have made out better in dumping Eichel to Vegas early Thursday after a standoff with their 25-year-old star and former No. 2 overall pick from 2015. Eichel had been stripped of his captaincy over a dispute on how to handle a herniated disk in his neck.
Eichel’s camp wanted artificial disk replacement surgery – which no NHL player has ever undergone – while his team, which has final say under the collective bargaining agreement, wanted a different procedure.
Now, they’ve parted ways and it’s on to the next phase of a seemingly endless Sabres rebuilding plan that will involve the trade returns of former first rounders Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, a first-round pick next year and a third-rounder in 2023.
None of those pieces came into play Thursday. Buffalo entered the game a surprising 5-3-1 and having actually lost two in a row to dent what had been an even more stunning season beginning.
The most recent defeat, to lowly San Jose, had Sabres coach Don Granato – also known as the brother of Kraken pro scout and Hall of Famer Cammi Granato – musing aloud about his team’s need to stay aggressive throughout games.
The Kraken had received much the same message from coach Dave Hakstol. His players seemed to have received it and Eberle provided just enough finish to prevent the resulting chances from all going to waste.
