Seattle Kraken beat Ducks to earn first back-to-back wins in a month

Kate Shefte, The Seattle Times on Dec 23, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Kraken won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 20-22, making Jordan Eberle’s third-period goal stand up for the final 10 minutes of a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Eberle added the empty-net goal as well.

Philipp Grubauer was sturdy in net for Seattle, stopping 38 shots Monday night. The Kraken (14-14-6) are assured of an even record at worst on this four-game road trip leading up to the NHL’s Christmas break.

Freddy Gaudreau, 32, was brought in last summer to center the fourth line and kill penalties. Few have seen their profile rise higher as the Kraken struggled with injuries and mounting losses. He’s not just on the PK, averaging more than two minutes per game in that scenario, but the power play, and among the top six forwards to boot. On this Kraken team, the top line isn’t clearly defined. But as Chandler Stephenson is their hottest forward, his could certainly be it.

During a second-period power play, Kaapo Kakko, Gaudreau and Shane Wright took turns batting at a rebound. Gaudreau barely settled a spinning puck and sent it high over sprawled Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal for a 1-0 lead.

It was Gaudreau’s second goal in 21 Kraken games this season. He missed almost a month with an upper-body injury.

He has points in three straight games (one goal, two assists). Stephenson’s eight-game point streak (five goals, four assists) ended Monday.

Mikael Granlund countered for Anaheim before the second period ended. He tipped a Jacob Trouba shot past Grubauer.

The Ducks had more chances to pull ahead among those 39 shots. Troy Terry hit the crossbar and Mason McTavish went down to one knee on a two-on-two, sending his hard shot directly at Grubauer’s glove.

But even as Anaheim ran up the shot clock, Seattle pulled ahead on the Eberle goal. Kakko sent the puck to linemate Matty Beniers, who found wide-open Eberle coming up the side. Eberle put a slick snap shot on Dostal.

During his second shift of the third period, Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn was leveled by Anaheim’s Ross Johnston with a hit so hard, Dunn slammed into the ice and his legs flew up over his head. Play was whistled dead and Dunn lingered a while, looking upset. There was no penalty called on the play.

For some reason — anger at the missed call, or knowing he was injured, or being pulled from the game by a concussion spotter perhaps — Dunn yelled down the Kraken bench, then smashed his stick into kindling. He spun around and nearly struck backup goaltender and innocent bystander Joey Daccord with the stick remnants. He then marched down the tunnel and a dark, large object in his path went flying. He did not return to the game.

The Kraken announced Monday that Brandon Montour would miss approximately four weeks after undergoing surgery on his hand. If Dunn is also injured, Seattle will be without their top two offensive defensemen as they try to get back on track. Before consecutive wins against the San Jose Sharks and the Ducks, they dropped 10 of 11 games.

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