Ducks beat Kraken as Troy Terry extends NHL-leading streak
SEATTLE — Troy Terry extended his NHL-leading scoring streak to 13 games with two goals and an assist and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Seattle Kraken 7-4 on Thursday night.
Josh Mahura scored twice to help the Ducks win their sixth in a row in their first game since general manager Bob Murray’s resignation on Wednesday amid an investigation into his conduct. Anaheim has points in eight straight games.
“I think for a lot of us getting on the ice and playing hockey is an outlet for us to get away from some of the other things that might be going on in life,” veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “It’s a situation that we surely weren’t expecting or prepared for, but we certainly know what our job is here and it’s to go out there and play.”
John Gibson made 21 saves for his fifth straight victory, and 18-year-old rookie Mason McTavish scored his second career goal.
Terry made it 2-0 at 3:10 of the second, then assisted on Shattenkirk’s goal that made it 4-2 late in the period. Hampus Lindholm added the winner midway through the third, and Mahura had an empty-netter for his second score of the game.
Ducks interim GM Jeff Solomon spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since Bob Murray’s departure. He’s not worried about the team having a setback.
Seattle’s Jordan Eberle cut it to 4-3 early in the fourth on a 2-on-1 with his eighth goal in eight games. And Jared McCann trimmed it to 5-4 with his second goal after Lindholm’s goal, but Mahura and Terry put it out of reach in the final 2 1/2 minutes. Jaden Schwartz also scored for the Kraken, and Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves.
Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said it was the kind of game that gives a coach “gray hair — you get a budget line for hair coloring.”
Yet his team hasn’t lost in regulation since Oct. 26, when it dropped a 4-3 decision to the Winnipeg Jets.
“I think we’re learning good lessons,” Eakins said. “But the difference now is that if we do have to get into a game like that, we find a way to win. We’re winning many different ways right now and that’s really important.”
It was the third straight loss for the Kraken, who had hoped to start a six-game homestand with more vigor. The team was outshot 14-4 in the first period and on its heels well into the second.
“At the end of the day, the first 25 to 30 minutes of the hockey game, we didn’t win very many of the races or many of the puck battles,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “And you know when you get behind like that it’s hard to dig out.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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