Field Level Media
23 Nov 2022, 12:05 GMT+10
Until last week, the Seattle Kraken had one overtime victory in their season-plus in the National Hockey League.
Now they've got two in a row.
The Kraken, who have worked extra time in three straight games, hope to get things taken care of in regulation Wednesday night when they wrap up a six-game homestand against the San Jose Sharks.
"We obviously haven't had a lot of success in overtime (in the past)," Kraken forward Jordan Eberle said after scoring the winner Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings. "And then, the last two we put a lot of work and emphasis into it. When you go into those games, those are huge points that you give up.
"You never know when you may need that extra point to get in (to the playoffs)."
The overtime streak started Nov. 13 with a 3-2 loss to Winnipeg after the Jets scored the tying goal on the power play and with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.
After that loss, Kraken coach Dave Hakstol devoted time in each of the next two practices to three-on-three play.
"It's a possession game," Hakstol said. "So there are a lot of pieces built into it. But three-on-three is something that grows with chemistry. No question about it. You can have some basic rules, some basic systematic looks you want to put into place.
"But that grows with chemistry as well. And we need to continue growing there."
Seattle responded by beating the New York Rangers last Thursday and the Kings on Saturday, both by 3-2 margins, to improve to 3-1-1 on the homestand.
Jared McCann and Daniel Sprong also scored against L.A., rookie Matty Beniers added two assists and goaltender Martin Jones stopped 27 shots.
"You don't need to force it," McCann said of playing overtime. "Hold on to it. It's a puck possession time of the game. You've got to just hold on to it, make the right play and wait for your chances."
The Sharks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 5-1 victory Monday against visiting Ottawa.
Five players scored for San Jose, Luke Kunin had three assists and goalie Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves. The Sharks had lost their previous six games (0-3-3) at home.
"Just really proud of our guys," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "That was a great bounce-back win. I thought we got better and better as the game went on."
It was certainly a bounce-back game for Kahkonen, who allowed nine goals over his previous two starts.
"I think his confidence early on, even about a week and a half ago, was not where it needed to be," Quinn said. "And he's built his confidence up. He's worked hard. He's done a really good job."
The Sharks' Logan Couture scored for the fourth consecutive game on an empty-netter in the final minute to give him 10 goals this season. Defenseman Erik Karlsson had an assist to tie for third in the NHL with 29 points.
"I think we started a little bit sloppy, but we cleaned it up fairly quick," Karlsson said. "And the last 40 minutes, I think we played like the better team and it was a nice, nice win for us to get at home. It's been a while."
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Santa Barbara Post news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Santa Barbara Post.
More InformationIt might be comforting to think that American democracy has made it past the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. But our ...
An intruder was detained at Joint Base Andrews after a resident discharged a firearm, the military reportedAn incident has been ...
Washington will ?demonize? anyone who does not ?dance to their tune,? the Russian Foreign Ministry has saidAmerica's reaction to the ...
History awaits on Tuesday night as LeBron James puts the all-time NBA scoring record in his sights when the Los ...
Time could be running short to see Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews play for the Chicago Blackhawks this season. The ...
Kinshasa - M23 rebels killed at least 171 civilians during a massacre in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in November, ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: US lawmakers have called on the Department of Energy to release documents detailing attempts by Russian hackers to ...
Photo credit: Ercin Erturk / Anadolu AgencyThe death toll from Monday's massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria has ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a sign of future political battles over record numbers of illegal crossings under Democratic President Joe Biden, ...
MOSCOW, Russia: Russian state-run TASS news agency has reported that a US woman was detained and fined by a Russian ...
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf died in a Dubai hospital on Sunday at the age of ...
JERUSALEM - Israel on Sunday announced plans to build a new town on the Gaza border .The town, temporarily named ...