Jordan Eberle scores twice, Matty Beniers has two assists, Kraken beat Red Wings 4-2

SEATTLE - Jordan Eberle scored a pair of goals, Matty Beniers had two assists and the Seattle Kraken earned a 4-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.

Philipp Grubauer continued his strong run of play in net with 21 saves on 23 shots, and Eeli Tolvanen added his 10th goal in 22 games with the Kraken as they halted the Red Wings' five-game winning streak.

Grubauer has now allowed two goals or less in seven of his last eights starts. Since the start of the calendar year, Grubuaer has posted a .925 save percentage in nine starts in net.

"He was unbelievable tonight," Eberle said of Grubauer. "He made some amazing saves. He's been great. I think he's finding his game and we're feeling confident with him back there.

Grubauer delivered a big save on Filip Hronek on one end and the Kraken quickly pressured the other way. Eberle took the puck from Seattle's own blue line all the way into the offensive zone and beat Husso with a wrist shot that snuck through into the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Red Wings answered in the closing seconds of the period. Vince Dunn's pass was picked off by Pius Suter just outside the Seattle blue line. Grubauer made good saves on a backhanded try from Filip Zadina and a slap shot from Jake Walman only to have a rebound try from Suter sneak by to level the contest at the break.

"We didn't manage the puck very well in the last 10 minutes (of the period) and that caused a lot of trouble for us but Grubi was good and we got through it," head coach Dave Hakstol said.

After snapping a 10-game goal drought last game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Beniers followed it up with his best game in several weeks for Seattle. Beniers beat Dylan Larkin to the goal line and fed Eberle in front of the net for the finish and a 2-1 lead just over two minutes into the second period.

"He and Ebs were finding each other tonight," Hakstol said. "They were able to generate some good offensive opportunities. … Good two-way play and that usually leads to good opportunities at the other end offensively."

Beniers then won another race around the corner to get a prime chance in tight on Husso that was turned away. Even so, it was the type of chance Beniers hadn't found as regularly since the start of 2023.

"The biggest thing for me is just trying to get him to turn off his brain," Eberle said of Beniers. "He thinks. He's a very cerebral player and sometimes it gets in the way and you got to just, you know, sometimes turn your brain off and play. That's the biggest thing and he's got some confidence right now.

"82 Games is a tough time. You're going to have ups and downs and, you know, for him you see the stuff he's doing at such a young age, not many players in the league can do that."

Dunn caught Michael Rasmussen with a high stick that was called for a four-minute double minor as the Red Wings had an extended power play chance late in the second period. Instead, David Perron immediately took a penalty for holding the stick of Adam Larsson six seconds into the advantage to blunt the threat.

Then with 7.2 seconds left in the period, Beniers found a driving Jamie Oleksiak in front of the net for a redirect chance past Husso to make it a 3-1 game.

Seattle killed off the remainder of Dunn's penalty early in the third period before extending their lead. After a strong forecheck, Tolvanen collected a rebound in front of the net and off a touch from Daniel Sprong to make it a 4-1 Seattle lead.

The Red Wings pulled Husso with over three minutes left to play and Larkin found space in front of the net and beat Grubauer with the extra attacker on to make it a 4-2 game with 2:21 left to play.

Jaden Schwartz and Brandon Tanev both with hit the left post searching for empty net goals. Tanev was tackled by Perron on a breakaway chance that led to a penalty that allowed Seattle to run out the clock. Tanev and Tyler Bertuzzi of the Red Wings were both assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties for a post-whistle scrap and shouting match.

It was an important win for Seattle as Pacific Division foes the Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames all won on Saturday night as well. The Dallas Stars did lose to the Columbus Blue Jackets, which puts Seattle two points out of a first place tie in the conference between Dallas and Vegas.