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Ryan Donato scored two goals by the end of 40 minutes. Jordan Eberle had none.Ā
In fact, it had been awhile since Eberle had scored at all ā 22 straight games.Ā
Thatās when Donato had an idea.Ā
āI have this rosary my dad gave me,ā he said.Ā
A gift from his father, Ted, which was blessed in the town ofĀ Medjugorje, near the city of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was offered from Donato to Eberle for a second intermission touch after Eberle was left flabbergasted of his scoring chances coming up empty.Ā
Nearly 20 minutes later, Eberle banged in his first goal in 23 games, a stunning game winner set up by Riley Sheahanās saucer pass with 1:48 to play for a clutch 4-3 Seattle Kraken win over the Anaheim Ducks, Friday at Honda Center.Ā
āThatās insane,ā Eberle told Donato, arriving back at the bench.Ā
Eberleās game winner gave the Kraken their first win in franchise history over Anaheim, who came up empty in their first game out of the All-Star break and had a 4-0-2 streak snapped. Donato earned his second multi-goal effort of the season, and his 11 goals are now three off his career-high, set two years ago in Minnesota.Ā
āGuys stepped up,ā said Donato. āThatās what happens when guys step up and do the right things.āĀ
With Eberle stepping up, his slump had come to an end, optimistic of the future.Ā
āOne of the longer slumps of my career,ā said Eberle, wearing Yanni Gourdeās hooded sweatshirt after the game āEventually they go in and seem to go in bunches. Just want to keep trying to create as much as I can.āĀ Ā
The Kraken wasted no time getting on the board, two minutes in on Donatoās one-timer set up by new Kraken forward Austin Czarnik. A fight between Jamie Oleksiak and Nic Deslauriers sparked a Ducks goal by Isac Lundestrom (two goals) to tie the score 12 seconds later, but Vince Dunn roofed his sixth goal at 14:41.Ā
Lundestromās second goal of the game and a power play goal by Rickard Rakell gave Anaheim a short-lived lead in the second period before Donato tied the game, 6:25 left in the second period on a sizzling snap shot past John Gibson.Ā
āHard fought all the way through,ā said Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol. āBiggest thing, we got back to our competitiveness.āĀ Ā
Goaltender Chris Driedger snapped a string of five straight losses with 24 saves.
The Kraken, coming back home for a Saturday Skills Showcase exhibition at Climate Pledge Arena (3pm) and a Monday 6pm matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs, improved to 7-4-2 when tied after two periods.Ā