Kraken face uncertainty after captain Jordan Eberle leaves with injury
SEATTLE – Already without one of their top defensemen, the Kraken might now be wondering if their captain and second-leading goal scorer is about to have his own extended absence.
Seattle’s 3-1 win against Chicago on Thursday night became somewhat secondary to the health of forward Jordan Eberle after taking a hard and awkward crash into the end boards early in the second period.
Eberle was in the midst of chasing a loose puck along with Chicago’s Connor Murphy just 17 seconds into the second period when the pair fell and crashed heavily into the end boards near the Chicago goal. Eberle took the brunt of the hit with his back, right hip and right knee hitting the boards, and it didn’t help that it was fresh ice after being cleaned between periods.
While Eberle was understandably down for a minute to gather himself, the concern came when he finally reached the bench. Anyone would have been moving slowly after that kind of impact, but once Eberle got to the bench he needed assistance from athletic trainers to get back to the Kraken locker room.
The Kraken announced late in the period that Eberle was doubtful to return with a lower body injury. Coach Dan Bylsma said after the victory that Eberle was still being evaluated.
“Still being evaluated and we’ll tell you a little bit more tomorrow, I think,” Bylsma said.
Despite the absence of their captain for nearly two-thirds of the game, the Kraken picked up a third straight victory. It was Eberle’s linemates that came up with Seattle’s first goal as Matty Beniers finished a feed from Jared McCann in the early stages of the second period.
“We were moving pretty well before [Eberle] got hurt. I think there was a little bit of a step back, obviously, after your captain goes down in a not great way. So I think it was a great response and needed at that time,” Beniers said.
The Kraken made it 2-0 just 1:34 into the third period on an abbreviated power play when Chandler Stephenson carried the puck below the goal line and whipped a pass to Jaden Schwartz alone in front of the net. It was Schwartz’s 200th career goal.
Chicago pulled within 2-1 when former Kraken forward and first goal scorer in franchise history Ryan Donato collected his own rebound and beat Joey Daccord to create a nervy final 16 minutes. Daccord made the initial save and appeared to think the puck was safe, but it trickled to the side of the goal and Donato was first to it.
But Brandon Tanev finished off the victory with an empty-net goal with 19 seconds left.
Daccord made 18 saves and improved to 7-3-1 in net.
“It wasn’t the cleanest game execution. Maybe wasn’t perfect, but it’s an 82-game schedule, so things are going to be different night-to-night,” Schwartz said. “But obviously the standings are tight and you got to find ways to win.”
Seattle has played nearly a month without defenseman Vince Dunn and while he’s returned to some on-ice activity it’s still a couple of weeks before he’s expected to return.
The Kraken of course want Eberle available. Along with being the captain, he’s off to a strong start with six goals and five assists through 17 games — although most of those goals came early and he’s gone nine games now without a goal.
If Eberle does need some time away, the arrival of Daniel Sprong could be perfect timing. Bylsma said after morning skate on Thursday the hope was to have Sprong join the team sometime in the next few days once his immigration paperwork gets finalized. Sprong, who had a career season with Seattle during the 2022-23 season, was acquired in a trade with Vancouver last weekend.
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They’re not like-for-like players as Eberle is a top-line forward and is more proven defensively. Sprong’s addition could have created a logjam with a couple of Seattle’s lines depending on where Bylsma wants him to play. But if Eberle is out for any extended length of time it makes managing Sprong’s arrival a little bit easier.
With Eberle out for the final 39 minutes of the game, the Kraken rotated a number of forwards to join Beniers and McCann on the top line. Oliver Bjorkstrand was the one on the ice when Beniers finished off a pass from McCann to give Seattle a 1-0 lead barely 4 minutes after Eberle left the ice. Bjorkstrand started the play with the pass to McCann and Beniers was able to adjust after McCann’s pass was slightly tipped to still beat Chicago goalie Petr Mrazek.
Andre Burakovsky got a stint on the top line as did Eeli Tolvanen and Brandon Tanev. Even center Shane Wright took a shift.
That was just to get through the second period. A couple others rotated through in the third period and Beniers deserves a lot of credit for managing the rotation of wingers playing alongside him and McCann.
“I think you just try to be in the right spots as best you can for new guys that you haven’t played with,” Beniers said. “I think we’re pretty fortunate that we kind of mix and match … those are all guys that I’ve played with and kind of know their tendencies.”