The Kraken snuff the Ducks

Grubauer stops 40 as Seattle burns on

Two longshots, one flame

Only one of these candles could leave Honda Center lit. The Seattle Kraken finished 27th of 32 last season and the Anaheim Ducks finished 25th, yet both had reached the semifinals. Seattle had already snuffed the Golden Knights, the Oilers and the Jets. Anaheim had doused the Sharks, the Stars and the Mammoth. Losing here meant going dark with just two flames left burning.

Anaheim outshot Seattle 41 to 21. The Kraken burned on anyway.

Grubauer holds the line

Seattle struck first. With Jacob Trouba in the box for slashing, Frederick Gaudreau scored on a power-play wrist shot at 4:49 of the second, set up by Shane Wright and Kaapo Kakko. Anaheim answered at 15:40, 10:51 after that goal, when Mikael Granlund tipped in a feed from Trouba and Jackson LaCombe.

After that, Philipp Grubauer let nothing else through. He finished with 40 saves on 41 shots. The tie held for 14:24 until Jordan Eberle's snap shot at 10:04 of the third, assisted by Matty Beniers and Kakko, stood up as the winner. Lukas Dostal made 18 saves on 20 shots at the other end.

Sparks at the horn

Eberle sealed it at 19:24 with a backhand into the empty net, set up by Eeli Tolvanen. Ten seconds later, at 19:34, Tye Kartye and Ross Johnston both drew 10-minute misconducts, and Johnston also took a roughing minor. Then the Ducks' flame went cold. The Kraken, who shared the Gauntlet in 2023-24, are still burning.