The Kraken kept it rolling Tuesday with a convincing 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres that caused Rasmus Dahlin to smash his stick over the net in anger (it’s not the first time he’s shown frustration against the Kraken) and the home fans to boo their team off the ice.
In this game, we saw what a (mostly) healthy (except for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare) Kraken forward corps can do, as all four lines looked dangerous at different stages of the game.
Jaden Schwartz returned to the lineup with a goal and an assist, Will Borgen and Eeli Tolvanen had two assists each, and Joey Daccord had 34 saves in an outing he made look easy.
It was Seattle’s seventh straight win and 11th in a row with standings points (9-0-2). Here are our Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Sabres.
Takeaway #1: Jaden Schwartz is so back
Losing Jaden Schwartz to an upper-body injury on Nov. 28 was a real stinger for the Kraken, and it contributed to the team’s decent into the eight-game winless abyss that ran from Nov. 24 through Dec. 10. Schwartz had been arguably Seattle’s best player in the early stages of the season, so losing him with a long-term affliction was damaging to this club.
With Schwartz out, Joey Daccord eventually put the struggling team on his back (I’m making sure to throw that in for the comment-section naysayers that have recently accused me of not being pro-Daccord enough, which is patently ridiculous [wink emoji]), and the Kraken turned the season around.
Now, Seattle has been rolling, and the group got another boost Tuesday with Schwartz’s return to the lineup. After coach Dave Hakstol has eased the oft-injured Andre Burakovsky back into the lineup the last couple weeks on the fourth line, he threw Schwartz right onto the second line Tuesday with Alex Wennberg and Brandon Tanev.
The result was VERY positive, as Tanev and Schwartz each assisted on Wennberg’s goal that made it 3-2 at 2:08 of the second period, and then Schwartz followed that up with a goal of his own by getting a second tip on Will Borgen’s point shot at 11:34 of the second.
“I’ve played lots of games with [Schwartz], and it feels like we were reading off each other pretty well,” Wennberg said. “And I mean, it’s just fun to see him coming back, and it’s like he hasn’t missed a step.”
Takeaway #2: Deeper than ever
NOW perhaps folks see why I was calling for the Kraken to acquire another impact forward during the offseason. My thinking was always that one more skilled winger could create a trickle-down effect that would make the team even deeper than it was last season by pushing one or two of their top-nine guys down.
Ever since his acquisition, Tomas Tatar has looked at home on the top line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, and as a result, now Jared McCann and Burakovsky have been pushed to the fourth line.
McCann told me on Saturday, “It’s probably one of the better fourth lines in the National Hockey League.” It’s hard to argue with that logic, and although that line was the only one that didn’t score Tuesday, Tye Kartye got robbed by Devon Levi halfway through the first period, and Burakovsky helped set up Vince Dunn’s power-play goal late in the opening frame with a perfect seam pass.
Meanwhile, each of the other three lines contributed at least a goal apiece, with the Schwartz / Wennberg / Tanev line coming through twice.
“That line was credited on the scoresheet for a couple of goals,” Hakstol said. “But really, I give them a lot of credit for the Beniers goal as well. They had a hell of a shift in the offensive zone, they changed one at a time out of the offensive zone, and set the table for the next line up.”
That’s the beauty of having four lines that can contribute. As long as this group stays healthy [knocks on wood], Seattle fans should—at least on paper—get used to seeing a different trio of forwards step up nightly.
By the way, we were curious to see how Hakstol would manage the minutes of the forwards, and every player on the team got at least 13 minutes, except Kartye, who had 12:51.
Takeaway #3: Kraken (and Joey) stay hot
Seattle didn’t get out to a great start to this game, and we heard multiple players during the broadcast say some variation of being surprised by Buffalo’s start and/or the early goal against by Jeff Skinner waking them up. But in the end, the Kraken overwhelmed the Sabres with three second-period goals, five unique goal scorers, 11 different players on the scoresheet, and more outstanding goaltending by Daccord.
With his 36 saves and .947 save percentage on the night, Daccord has at least a .920 save percentage in 10 of his last 11 games, with the one game below that .920 mark coming in the 4-3 overtime loss the Dallas Stars on Dec. 18.
It’s almost becoming automatic that Daccord stops breakaway opportunities. Off the top of my head, I remember at least three 1-on-0 chances that Joey stopped on this night, and I’m sure I’m forgetting a couple.
The win gets Seattle off on the right foot to start this long, six-game trip. The vibes, as they say, are high.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Acquiring another skilled winger winger, sure. But what the Kraken could really use up front, now and next season, is a skilled top center. With Wennberg being a UFA, the one thing they could really use is a 1C. Matty B looks overstretched as the 1C and Gourde is a 3C. Shane Wright does not present as a 1C for now.
So how does the center position play out next year, minus Wennberg and Bellemare plus Wright?
I used to say last season’s team had three second lines and a middle six line… no more middle six line. They still don’t have a legit NHL No.1 line, but rolling four solid second lines is a lot for any team to handle. I know it was Buffalo, but tonight looked a lot like last season’s team… only last season, they would’ve need all five of those goals.
In his last 12 starts Joey has given up more than two goals… once!… that’s since the day after Thanksgiving. The once was three in regulation in the Dallas game mentioned above.
As for the “new” commitment to defense… another double-digit high-danger shots against evening.
According to NHL.com…
Joey Daccord is 5th in goals against average at 2.28
AND
Tied for 3rd in save percentage at .923 with Connor Hellebuyck…
CONNOR HELLEBUYCK!!!
For the first time in Kraken history, the team save percentage is above league average… THANK YOU JOEY!
Scoring goals AND making saves… this team can absolutely make the playoffs.
Yes Darren, the vibes are high!
Go Kraken!!!.
I see your point a 1C would make everyone slot better as it stands. However, I think the front office believes in Matty to become that and we don’t need him to be it right now, so can afford this season of growing pain.
FWIW I think we re-sign Wennberg. Wright isn’t ready to outplay him for the 2C role and he’s core to the PK too. I think Wright comes in next season and plays on a balanced 4th line. Imagine if it were him between McCann and Burakovsky at the moment.
I’ve been pretty unimpressed by Beniers’ inconsistency this year. I’m glad they didn’t offer him a mega contract after last year, it’ll probably save them a lot of money.
If nothing else, he needs to put work in bulking up. It seems other teams breathe hard in his general direction and he falls over. His decision making and defense are still good, but he needs to be way stronger with the puck.
I’ve got to add…
At 5v5, Joey is behind only Hellebuyck in save percentage and goals against average at .940 and 1.74 respectively. That’s for the season, not just his last 10 games. If he keeps this up, people are actually going to start noticing.
Greg Wyshynski,
Bold Predictions ESPN
January 12th
Prediction: Joey Daccord is a Vezina finalist
“The Kraken have rocketed up the standings since around mid-December on the strength of Winter Classic star Joey Daccord. On the season, he has a .923 save percentage and a 2.28 goals against average. During their recent winning streak, the Kraken were 10th in expected goals against at 5-on-5 and first in actual goals against at 5-on-5 — that’s Daccord.
He’s a great story. There’s going to be a lot of competition for the Vezina and he doesn’t have the same name recognition as a lot of the other candidates, but it’ll be hard to ignore him if he keeps this up.”
People are starting to notice.
Thanks for the shoutout Darren! 😀
Joey rules! He kept them in the game in the 1st, they could’ve easily been down multiple goals due to very sloppy team defense. Dunn was especially bad on D — he completely abandoned his side of the ice for the Sabres 1st goal, and got injured blocking a shot that resulted from his own defensive zone giveaway. Then there was the breakaway he allowed in the clip above in the 3rd. But overall very poor coverage and structure by the team.
This forward corps is deep though! PEB is easily the worst of the bunch. Kartye had an excellent, very noticeable game. Yamamoto has been playing very well and was on the bench. Hopefully Evans gets some playing time this trip. I think I’ve seen enough of Dumoulin. LGK!!