The inaugural meeting between the Buffalo Sabres and Seattle Kraken did not go as planned for the blue and gold. The Kraken ran the Sabres out of Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night to the tune of a 5-2 final score.
Seattle jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the late goings of the opening period. After buzzing in the Buffalo zone for a majority of the frame, the Kraken broke through. Forward Morgan Geekie accepted a cross-ice pass from center Alex Wennberg, and Geekie one-timed a shot in behind Dustin Tokarski.
The Sabres knotted the score about six minutes into the middle stanza of play, when Tage Thompson showed off his budding skillset on a brilliant end-to-end play.
Buffalo snagged their first lead of the night on a late power play opportunity in the second period. The resurgent Kyle Okposo kept his strong start to the season going with a man-advantage tally that made it 2-1, Sabres.
However, the lead for the Sabres only lasted 26 seconds, as a gaffe in defensive zone coverage left Kraken forward Jordan Eberle alone in the slot. Eberle wired his third goal of the season past Tokarski.
Eberle was far from done doing damage on this night against the Sabres.
His goal that tied the contest at 2-2 was the first of three-consecutive goals for the veteran forward against Tokarski and company. The hat-trick made history, as it was the first of its kind in the short life of the Kraken franchise.
With the score at 4-2 in favor of Seattle, Jaden Schwartz added an empty-net goal for good measure to cap the scoring at 5-2.
The loss drops the Sabres to 5-4-1 on the 2021-22 season.
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GAME SUMMARY
Scoring Summary:
First Period:
BUF: NONE
SEA: 15:42 - Morgan Geekie (2) (Alex Wennberg, Vince Dunn)
Second Period:
BUF: 6:27 - Tage Thompson (3) (Rasmus Asplund, Rasmus Dahlin); 17:59 - Kyle Okposo (3) PPG (Jacob Bryson, Dylan Cozens)
SEA: 18:25 - Jordan Eberle (3) (Jaden Schwartz)
Third Period:
BUF: NONE
SEA: 1:50 - Jordan Eberle (4) (Alex Wennberg, Jeremy Lauzon); 8:06 - Jordan Eberle (5) (Jaden Schwartz); 18:43 - Jaden Schwartz (2) ENG (Jamie Oleksiak, Philipp Grubauer)
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Penalty Summary:
First Period:
BUF: 9:08 - Kyle Okposo (Hooking - 2 min.); 13:37 - John Hayden (Roughing - 2 min.); 13:37 - John Hayden (Fightning - 5 min.)
SEA: 5:03 - Morgan Geekie (Tripping - 2 min.); 13:37 - Jamie Oleksiak (Fightning - 5 min.)
Second Period:
BUF: 3:40 - Vinnie Hinostroza (Tripping - 2 min.); 9:03 - Cody Eakin (Tripping - 2 min.); 17:48 - Jeff Skinner (Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min.); 20:00 - Rasmus Dahlin (Roughing - 2 min.)
SEA: 16:10 - Max McCormick (Boarding - 2 min.); 17:48 - Yanni Gourde (Roughing - 2 min.); 20:00 - Jaden Schwartz (Roughing - 2 min.)
Third Period:
BUF: 5:44 - Tage Thompson (Holding the stick - 2 min.)
SEA: 5:44 - Alex Wennberg (Hooking - 2 min.); 12:22 - Jeremy Lauzon (Tripping - 2 min.)
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Losi and Gangi Three Stars of the Game:
1.) Jordan Eberle - SEA
2.) Jaden Schwartz - SEA
3.) Jamie Oleksiak - SEA
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What's Next:
The blue and gold come back home for a date with the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with Sabres pregame coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.
