Jordan Eberle was not to be denied.
The Kraken alternate captain had said he wanted a goal for his one-day-old son, Deacon. His first crack at it turned into an assist, and the goal didn’t hold up to review.
Jaden Schwartz dove after the puck behind the Pittsburgh Penguins net, shook it free and sent it to Matty Beniers. Beniers tapped it to Eberle at the back door, which was standing wide open.
Eberle had been snake-bitten through nine games, sending several similar looks wide or into the gut of the goalie. He netted his first of the season. Beniers looked just as thrilled as the new father of two, if not more so.
That tied the game in a 3-1 Kraken victory Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Goaltender Martin Jones, who also welcomed a baby boy Friday, turned in a stout performance as well. He kept things scoreless early in the second period. He stutter-stepped across the crease to stop Jake Guentzel and saw a chance from wide-open Jeff Petry safely into his pads.
A minute into the third period, he lunged forward to a connection between Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Crosby got behind Jones in the final two minutes and the goalie had the answer for that one as well.
The Penguins bench wanted to speak to the manager in the second period.
Eberle came up the side of the ice and pulled the puck around Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith, sending it across the crease to Ryan Donato for the tap-in. Pittsburgh challenged for offsides and the goal was quickly called back.
Twenty-two seconds after the Penguins made it 1-0, Andre Burakovsky’s response goal brought out the tablets for another review. This goal earned a longer look, but it was determined Alex Wennberg batted the puck down with a high stick earlier on the play. It was overturned.
Less than a minute after that, Eberle scored one that was above reproach.
On the first goal of the game five seconds past the game’s midway point, Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak didn’t exactly hide his intention to send it across the offensive-zone blue line to Will Borgen. He angled it toward Guentzel and the Pittsburgh winger chugged up the center of the ice, Borgen and Oleksiak on either side. He put the puck through Jones’ legs.
With about a minute and a half left in the second period, Vince Dunn picked off a no-look Pittsburgh pass and set up a 2-on-1 the other direction for Daniel Sprong and Morgan Geekie. The two were as patient as possible, with Geekie going to the front of the net for Sprong’s rebound. He buried it for a 2-1 lead.
Schwartz had a chance to create a more comfortable 3-1 lead for Seattle but couldn’t settle the puck as DeSmith hustled back to his spot from well out. It took a while but Schwartz finished the task, scoring into an empty net.
Neither team found the net during a quick-moving, penalty-free first period. The Penguins had five of the first six shots, but the Kraken had 11 of the next 15.