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.