SUMMARY
The Seattle Kraken had several reasons to believe in a dream start to the season in front of their fans with the debut behind the bench of coach Jessica Campbell and the appointment of Jordan Eberle as team captain moments before the start of their season.
However, after giving themselves a two-goal lead, the St.Louis Blues erased the deficit to take the honors of the first game of the regular season in North America by a score of 3-2 on Tuesday.
Seattle had managed to give itself a two-goal lead in the second period in the space of less than two minutes, but the Blues managed to eat into this lead to escape with the match.
This is the fourth time in their history that the Blues have come back from more than one goal to win in their first match of the season. The last time was in 2009.
This first game of the Kraken season made history as for the first time in its history, an NHL team has a woman as coach behind the bench.
Campbell, 32, was named the Kraken’s assistant coach on July 3, joining Dan Bylsma, who was named Seattle’s coach on May 28. During his two-season stint with Bylsma in the AHL’s Coachella Valley, Campbell worked with several young Kraken players like forwards Shane Wright, Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton.
Kyrou spoils the party
Jordan Kyrou found the back of the net twice for the Blues. His first on a power play in the second period was scored when he completed a nice play by cutting towards the net before beating Philipp Grubauer between the pads.
Kyrou’s second gave the Blues the lead for the first time when he managed to deceive Grubauer’s vigilance between the pads on a breakaway to make it 3-2 following a turnover in the Blues zone.
Philip Broberg, who the Blues obtained in a hostile offer from the Edmonton Oilers this summer, scored the other goal for the Blues, who scored with a wrist shot near the faceoff circle to the right of the net.
Justin Faulk had two assists in the victory.
Vince Dunn opened the scoring for the Kraken in the 27th second of the second period by grabbing a rebound. Just 1:53 later, Eeli Tolvanen added the home side’s lead with a deflection.
Jordan Binnington, who blocked 30 shots, became the third goalie in Blues history to play the most games. He surpassed Curtis Joseph with a 281st game with the club. Mike Liut leads the list with 347 games.
St. Louis extended its opening-game point streak to six (4-0-2 since 2019-20). There are only two longer active streaks: Philadelphia (7-0-2 since 2015-16) and Carolina (6-0-2 since 2016-17).
Eberle, the 2nd captain of the Kraken
Jordan Eberle became the second captain in Seattle Kraken history. The team made the announcement a few minutes before the game against the St. Louis Blues.
“It is an honor to be named captain of the Seattle Kraken,” Eberle said in a statement. I was able to learn from great leaders throughout my NHL career. I take a lot of pride in being a good teammate and mentor. »
The 34-year-old veteran is entering his fourth season with the Kraken after stints with the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders.
The forward played a total of 1,018 career games, scoring 299 goals and 403 assists.
With this appointment, all 32 NHL teams can now count on a captain.
Jessica Campbell
