By Canadian Press

Eberle’s OT winner lifts Kraken past Avs 3-2 to even series

Apr 24, 2023 | 10:48 PM

SEATTLE (AP) — Jordan Eberle scored on the power play 3 minutes into overtime and the Seattle Kraken beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday night to even their best-of-7 series at 2-2.

Eberle collected a deflection and buried his first goal of the playoffs past Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev. Seattle was on the power play after Josh Manson was called for tripping on Jaden Schwartz on a breakaway attempt in the opening moments of the extra session.

It was the first playoff overtime game in franchisee history for the Kraken, who ensured there would be at least one more game played in Seattle.

Will Borgen and Daniel Sprong scored in the first period to a 2-0 lead. Mikko Rantanen scored twice in the second period for Colorado to pull even.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Denver.

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Seattle dominated play in the offensive zone most of the night, outshooting Colorado 43-22. But after taking a 2-0 lead, the Kraken were unable to extend their advantage thanks largely to Georgiev. Colorado’s goalie made 39 saves and kept the Avalanche from getting overrun in the first period.

But in overtime, Manson’s penalty at 1:59 provided the Kraken a chance to end their overtime debut quickly. Schwartz had his shot in front of the net blocked, but it fell to Eberle’s stick and he didn’t miss the open net after being held in check for most of the series.

Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer made 20 saves and came through when needed in the third period with a couple of key stops to deny Colorado a comeback victory.

For the second time in the series, Seattle was unable to make a 2-0 first-period lead stand.

Rantanen scored his first on a three-on-two rush that was set up by Nathan MacKinnon. His second came in the dying seconds of Colorado’s first power play of the game, snapping a shot through a screen and past Grubauer with 2 seconds remaining on the man-advantage. It was Colorado’s first power-play goal in 15 chances against Seattle, regular and postseason combined.

INJURIES

Seattle played most of the game without leading scorer Jared McCann, who left the game after a hit by Cale Makar in the first period.

McCann was down on the ice for several minutes before being helped to the bench and headed straight back to the Seattle locker room. There was no announcement about his injury but he did not return for the start of the second period.

McCann was hurt on a short-handed attempt midway through the first period. The shot was saved by Georgiev and appeared to go into the netting behind the goal. McCann did not seem ready for the hit by Makar.

Makar was originally given a 5-minute major penalty but it was reduced to a 2-minute minor. Seattle scored on the ensuing power play to take a 2-0 lead.

FIRST ON THE BOARD

Seattle became the second team in playoff history to score first in each of its first four games. The 1918 Toronto Arenas – precursor to the Maple Leafs – scored first in both games of the NHL final against Montreal, then got the opening goal in each of the first three games of the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Millionaires. ___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Tim Booth, The Associated Press