HOCKEY: Kraken hope to finish hat trick this time vs. red-hot Hurricanes

Business is presumably booming at the Seattle Kraken’s souvenir store, as fans found themselves in need of new hats once again ahead of Monday’s game against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.

For the second time in five weeks, Kraken fans showered the ice at Climate Pledge Arena with hats, thinking a home player had scored a hat trick. But for the second time, Matty Beniers spoiled the celebration.

The first incident occurred on Jan. 27 against Washington, when a delayed penalty on Beniers—called by a linesman, with neither referee signaling—nullified Jared McCann’s hat-trick goal.

The scenario repeated Saturday during Seattle’s 5-1 victory over Vancouver. Captain Jordan Eberle, who scored on a breakaway in the second period, initially appeared to net a power-play goal at 11:56 of the third. Eberle took a pass in the left-wing corner, skated to the front of the net, and tucked the puck past the Canucks’ goalie.

When Eberle later scored into an empty net with three minutes remaining, fans threw their hats on the ice. However, the official scorer had credited the earlier goal as deflecting off Beniers’ skate, canceling the hat-trick moment.

“I think we owe the fans some hats,” Eberle said. He currently leads the Kraken with 22 goals this season.

Following McCann’s earlier mishap, the Kraken offered a “Hat Tricked” promo, allowing 1,000 fans in attendance to submit a form to receive a new hat. There’s no word yet on whether the team will repeat the promotion after Saturday’s incident.

Eberle (two goals, one assist) and Chandler Stephenson (one goal, two assists) each had three-point nights as Seattle snapped a two-game losing streak. The Kraken hold the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, three points ahead of the San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, and Los Angeles Kings.

“I liked our consistency from start to finish,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “It was nice to see us putting pucks on net. We talked about shot mentality, and I still think we can improve. If you look at the first two goals, we had traffic in front of the net—that’s the way you need to score down the stretch.”

The Hurricanes, winners of five straight and earning points in 12 consecutive games (10-0-2), lead the Metropolitan Division and sit first overall in the Eastern Conference with 82 points. Carolina is starting a four-game road trip to Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary over six days. They are coming off a 5-2 win over Detroit on Saturday, with Taylor Hall and Shayne Gostisbehere each recording a goal and two assists.

“There was a stretch where we took our foot off the gas, and it didn’t look so good, but overall I thought the D played really well,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said.

Monday’s game marks the second and final regular-season meeting between the two teams. Seattle fell 3-2 in Raleigh, N.C., on Jan. 10 after Carolina scored two late goals, ending the Kraken’s 10-game point streak (8-0-2).

—Field Level Media/Reuters