Jordan Eberle scores twice, Kraken best Wild in shootout for first win

Game 2: Kraken 5, Wild 4, SO

Notable: Seattle (1-1) surrendered a two-goal advantage in its season opener. This time the Kraken were the ones trailing throughout, but each time the Minnesota Wild took another lead, Seattle managed a quick strike to keep the game close into the third period. Those response goals eluded them many times last season.

Winger Jared McCann’s goal to tie the game at 4 might have been too late to be considered a response goal, but it ensured the Kraken would earn their first standings point of the young season.

Then Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout to seal Seattle’s first victory.

Quotable: “They got the lead three times — we came back all three times. That’s a character win. Those are the kinds of wins that build and propel seasons.

“I know it’s the first one, but that’s a big one.” — Kraken captain Eberle

Goal of the game: The Kraken were being outplayed by the Wild, pure and simple, in the first period. After they went down 2-0, Eberle’s first of two goals triggered a more evenly matched game. Wearing the captain’s “C” for just the second time at the NHL level, Eberle located a loose puck in a tangle of legs and poked it over the goal line.

Star of the game: Eberle (two goals, winning shootout goal).

On tap: The Kraken close out a back-to-back with a Sunday night road game against the Dallas Stars. This is the building where the Stars booted the Kraken from the 2023 playoffs in a 2-1, Game 7 loss.