SEATTLE — With their new dog mascot watching from the stands, Kraken forward Ryan Donato and his teammates finally took the leash off their moribund offense in the latter stages of Sunday afternoon’s contest to avoid a double-digit losing streak.
For much of this holiday matinee 3-2 shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena, it appeared a Dog Day Afternoon was in store for the home side as so many nights prior had gone in dropping nine straight and 12 of the last 13. Instead, the Kraken swarmed Blackhawks netminder Marc-Andre Fleury from Donato’s goal to start the third period onward through the 3-on-3 overtime and into the shootout round when they finally got two more pucks past him.
“It’s very relieving,” said Donato, who also scored the first of the shootout goals against Fleury. “I’ve said this to a lot of guys, but I’ve been praying for a win for a long time. And sometimes when things get tough you kind of forget what it feels like to have things happen like that.”
