That game was an emotional roller coaster for Kraken fans, no doubt, and although Seattle came out on the losing end against the Maple Leafs, it was a much better performance than Tuesday’s game at the Chicago Blackhawks.
“In the first period, they had some opportunities and some zone time,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “But outstanding second period, better third period, a ton of character coming back and tying up the hockey game.”
Though he was still under a .900 save percentage on the night, Philipp Grubauer had a much better outing than in Chicago and rewarded Hakstol for his decision to throw him back in the net after a poor performance. He helped Seattle weather an early storm, and eventually his mates were able to turn the tides of the game.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Takeaway #1 (Darren): Offensive talent gap
When Seattle plays against teams with elite offensive talent, it tends to be a stark reminder that the Kraken have to get strong performances from everybody in their lineup to be successful. You never know which of the Maple Leafs’ stars are going to have a big night, and on Thursday, it was Mitch Marner who had a hat trick by the end of the second period and added a shootout goal to close out the win.
If the Kraken hadn’t come back to tie this game, we would have been calling for drastic measures from Seattle’s front office; some sort of personnel improvement à la an Eeli Tolvanen-style waiver claim or an Oliver Bjorkstrand-style trade. The offensive gap just seemed too big to overcome in this game, even though the Kraken were playing well.
To the team’s credit, they stuck with it, peppered Joseph Woll with 29 shots in the second and third periods, and dominated overtime, only to get stonewalled (stone…Wolled?) on several occasions.
Seattle’s players and netminder should feel much better about themselves after this game than they did Tuesday. This was a solid effort against a good team that very well could have gone their way.
Takeaway #2 (Darren): Alex Wennberg’s outstanding play
Alex Wennberg’s play on Jared McCann’s tying goal (his second of the game) is a prime example of why Wennberg is a valuable player, even though fans get frustrated with his unwillingness to shoot. He took a nothing play and turned it into something by carrying the puck into the offensive zone 1-on-4. He carried it to the corner, battled through a check, and bought just enough time to let the Kraken complete their line change.
In came McCann, and Wennberg threaded the needle through five Toronto defenders.
I just love the way he uses his body to shield Simon Benoit from the puck and doesn’t panic and throw it away, even though he’s facing a full boat of blue sweaters with zero support.
“He’s got great vision,” McCann said. “I just tried to get open for him. He makes everybody look at the puck, right? He’s just got that ability, and he opens up a lot of lanes for guys.”
Wennberg certainly did that in this case.
We also have to give credit to McCann here, who gets the pass and does not hesitate in whipping it past Woll for his second goal of the game and team-leading 11th of the season.
Takeaway #3 (John): That’s a big point
This felt like an important point in the standings. One thing the Kraken did well in November was accumulate points, even though they never really got on the roll we were expecting, and Thursday’s shootout loser point was another example of that.
At the time of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Kraken had points in eight out of 11 games and had put themselves in a wild card slot in the standings. Since Thanksgiving they had regulation losses to Vancouver and, most recently, Chicago. A regulation loss to Toronto would have marked the first time this season the Kraken would have gone three games without a point.
It would have felt devastating to start a road trip with two losses, knowing this team has a very thin margin of error to keep its playoff contention hopes alive. The reality is a point is a point, no matter who it comes against, and a point on Tuesday against the Blackhawks counts the same as the point the boys got tonight against Toronto.
Now the Kraken have two winnable games in front of them to close out this road trip with a game against Ottawa on Saturday and against Montreal on Monday. These are not easy games, but the Kraken now have a shot at coming away with five points on this four-game road trip.
I know the bar is low…
But seriously…
.893
3GA (2.95 xGA)
1 for 3 in the shootout.
As hard as the team worked tonight, it would have been nice to have a goalie who could have gotten Seattle that other point. The most disappointing thing is those numbers are actually better than his numbers on the season.
Besides the lack of star power, having Grubauer in net is the other reason that the Kraken need a full 60 minute effort from their entire lineup. A “goalie win” is an extremely rare occurrence for this team, despite him getting paid $6M/yr for three more seasons after this one. It has to be up there with the worst contracts in the NHL.
Vegas taught us an important lesson last year — system and team defense are way more important than whoever is in net, be it your starter or your 4th string.
The goaltending has been below average across the board with this team, so it would be easy to blame the system; however, Driedger came in having only started 25 NHL games and Jones was cheap because it’s pretty well known he’s cooked – and now in the AHL. Daccord, at $1.3m, is still unproven. It would be reasonable to expect that their numbers reflect their abilities. With Grubauer; however, maybe it’s not his fault, but coddling a $5.9m x6 goalie who can’t differentiate himself from a collection of AHL netminders is tiresome. Just because the Kraken are stuck with him does not mean we have to pretend he performs well when he doesn’t.
I should clarify…goalies and goalie skill do matter, but the defensive system and structure can make that skill less or more relevant. The Kraken’s structure has seemingly exposed Grubauer to a very high degree, and he has shown how awful he is. Since the beginning of their inaugural season, he is last in the NHL with -42 GSAA, around 14 goals more than the 2nd place goalie (ironically Martin Jones). $6M/yr isn’t a ridiculous amount, but for what they’re getting, it’s horrible value.
Hang on folks. Gru played a huge role in the playoff win over Colorado. He also delivered in the Dallas series. There’s a long way to go this year; I don’t think it’s panic button time yet.
Also, he’s had ups and downs but let’s face it, on occasion the boys haven’t had the best control of the net in front of him, yielding relatively easy shots to the opposition.
Finally, in a sense perhaps Gru is a caretaking player of sorts. The future in goal may be Kokko or Vyazovoy or someone else.
It took the Knights six years to win the Cup, right? If we come anywhere close to that I’d be a very happy Kraken fan….
Grubauer was not good in the Dallas series… look at the numbers.
After 108 regular season starts in Seattle, it’s pretty clear what Grubauer is.
If you have never put on goalie equipment and face real shots, then you should not criticize a goal tender. I did, against Juvenile players 17up, and it is hard and even harder when you have players standing in front of you. You can make points about positioning or use of stick or glove but even then, if you haven’t been there, please don’t go there. All his goals against came from one of the top shooters in the league. Grubhub delivered and so did the team. We stole a point in one of the toughest arenas ever.
Did you hear that Curtis?
Please stop commenting on hockey.
This is the silliest take ever. What is the point of this site? Or any hockey commentary? Or all of sports commentary? Are we never allowed to criticize something that we haven’t personally done? We’re just supposed sit around and say “Gee Golly, this game looks hard but the boys sure do seem like they’re trying!” Give me a break. This is a site for fans, for hockey analysis and discussion. This isn’t some personal bias I have against goalies — it’s based on objective data (advanced and simple), as well as years of subjective data from watching goalies who are actually good. Grubauer is plainly one of the worst in the league. Sure, he played adequately against the Leafs, but he was unable to get a win, and Woll played better. I don’t know or care what it feels like to put on pads, but I do know how it feels to watch Grubauer most nights. Better than he does, in fact.
You are really Boisterass when or if you have even been on skates is like all these other data freaks that think data is the tell all to how athletes play a sport and they may not have even put on skates or faced a 100 mph pitch or tried to defend a 4.6 wide receiver. You can enjoy your game but data means nothing to me. In other words, oh never mind, I am talking to a brick with a laptop. You can enjoy a game but our opinions mean nothing to me if you have not coached or played the game at any level over 12 years old.
Sorry Boist, but your half-truths and gorilla dust are no match for the observations of those who have the mystical insights gifted by playing the game at it’s lowest levels.
Harpdog is right. Again.