With their forward lines in a blender, the Seattle Kraken again struggled to generate offense Sunday, and the result was a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, their fourth loss in a row.
The group is still battling through injuries, illnesses (although the bug that’s been working its way through the dressing room seems to be subsiding), and now even a suspension to Yanni Gourde. So the lineup got jumbled again, and a discombobulated offensive attack struggled to get much through a team not known for its defensive prowess.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken loss to the Maple Leafs.
Takeaway #1: Not enough offense
Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov has struggled mightily this season, to the point that he was demoted to AHL Toronto Marlies for a stretch. He hadn’t won an NHL game since Dec. 9, and since that win, hadn’t gotten over a .870 save percentage in any of his five outings.
Samsonov deserves credit, because he made a handful of remarkable saves in this game, particularly the three in a row on Tomas Tatar in the second period and the sprawling save on Justin Schultz with 6:39 left in the third.
Still, Seattle did not get nearly enough pucks through to Samsonov in this game, mustering a total of 17 shots on goal and taking only a 40-percent share of the shot quality, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“If you really break it down, they took advantage of one more scoring opportunity than we did,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “They’re going to be a challenge to play against because of the octane that they have and the way that they can get up ice.”
On the topic of “really breaking it down,” it’s never a good sign when you can think through a game in your head and easily remember all the scoring chances a team had, and that is doable when recalling this game.
The Kraken had a tipped shot that Samsonov kicked out to Jaden Schwartz in the first, and his rebound shot got blocked. They had a goal by Jordan Eberle and then a breakaway for Oliver Bjorkstrand on which he hit the crossbar, the three-save sequence on Tatar, and the robbery on Schultz. You could maybe mix in the four-on-one rush in the second period, but Seattle didn’t execute on that and ended up not getting a shot.
There were a few more where Kraken players had open looks and missed the net, but that’s really the extent of what Seattle was able to generate.
Takeaway #2: Line jumbling
Absences certainly contributed to the offensive struggles of the Kraken on Sunday. With centers Matty Beniers and Yanni Gourde both missing (plus top defenseman Vince Dunn), coach Dave Hakstol mixed things up both with his pre-game lineup and throughout the contest.
Oddly, at morning skate Sunday, the team did not do any line rushes, and with a handful of players missing from practice Monday, there wasn’t an opportunity for new line combos to get comfortable playing together. Maybe Hakstol figured line rushes didn’t matter, since he knew things were going to get constantly shuffled in this game anyway, with the team down two centers.
The only line that remained intact from previous games was Tatar, Jared McCann, and Eberle, the trio that scored the Kraken’s lone goal and should have gotten a second one.
Aside from that group, things were mixed up, as Hakstol matched up Alex Wennberg and Eeli Tolvanen against Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, played John Hayden and Devin Shore under six minutes each, and rotated through the rest of the forwards.
“It definitely puts up a challenge for us having guys out and different line combinations and guys who don’t play center that much, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse,” Bjorkstrand said. “We can still win games. And yeah, when guys are hurt, you’ve got to find a way.”
We don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Kraken looked disjointed at times in this game. With two of their top three centers and their best puck-moving defenseman out, Hakstol and his staff were doing what they could to get things on track. But in the end, nothing really worked.
Takeaway #3: Streaky Kraken
It’s easy to attribute the current four-game skid to all the health (and disciplinary) issues this team has endured of late, but there’s no denying that this group is officially streaky.
After losing eight in a row, the Kraken flipped a switch and took points in 13 straight, including a nine-game win streak. Since that ended, they’ve struggled offensively, scoring just five goals in four games, and the results have followed suit.
“We have to find a way to score, especially when the last few games, we’re fighting it a bit at 5-on-5,” Eberle said.
The good news is that the Kraken has a soft schedule coming up, with three terrible teams (the Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, and Sharks) and one mediocre team (the Blues) on the docket before heading into a nine-day All-Star break and bye week.
As Seattle continues to drift back out of the playoff picture, the time is nigh for the Kraken to flip the script and start streaking in the other direction once again.
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.
To Geoff Baker and all the other tough-talkers wanting the Kraken to throw punches whenever a player is the victim of a bad hit, congratulations, you got your wish. Which includes the top d-man injured, a 4-game losing streak and zero deterrence effect.
The “deterrence” thing is always funny to me… so many people (like Baker) find value in having a guy like Hayden in the lineup because he’ll “hit” or be “physical” but those traits are worthless if you can’t do anything else. Guys like Tom Wilson have a career in the NHL because they can be a big physical presence AND they can actually play hockey.
The goon era is over… at least for teams that want to win hockey games. If you just want to fight… goon away!
I give a lot of credit to Francis for not throwing Shane Wright or any of the other young guys at Coachella into the mix with all these injuries. Wright, Morrison, and Winterton all have more upside than Hayden or Shore. Let them develop at the AHL for the year and plug the holes with the Shores and Haydens of the world, who are not at all part of the long-term future of the team.
If the team was really trying to “go for it” with the playoffs, Shore and Hayden would be no where near the Arena. But I think Francis has made the right call even if it results in a severely handicapped offense.
Given the opportunity Hayden ( to use your example) may be able to do both. He was a 20 goal scorer in college and had 19 between CV and SEA in an injury shortened season last year. Maybe he just needs more minutes?
As for the fighting aspect when the officials and DPS do nothing there is no incentive for opposing teams to change their behavior. Our PP is anemic and is not a deterrent either. A couple of PP goals and a 5 game suspension would solve a lot of issues. However I bet Sillinger thinks twice before taking another head shot at a Kraken player. Guess we’ll see when CBJ is in town.
Takeaway #1 is spot on —sub-2 xG is not gonna get it done most nights. They looked totally flat offensively, especially on the power play. They are playing way too deliberately — every pass seems to take several seconds and the more time they have, the less confidence I have in them making a good play. This is probably related to Takeaway #2 — there was almost no apparent line chemistry. The Leafs seem to know where each of their linemates is at all times. The Kraken just dump it, and/or pass it along the boards and hope they keep possession.
Speaking of that, O zone time means nothing if you can’t get a shot off. There was a sequence close to midway through the 2nd when the Kraken had sustained zone time but just kept passing it around the boards and got nothing out of it. It looks just like the offense at the beginning of the year — boring, stagnant, and predictable.
The skill discrepancy with the Leafs was very apparent — Barr mentioned that 4 forwards on that team would easily be the best on the Kraken. Daccord kept them in it (with yet another +1 GSAX game) but it wasn’t enough. This team needs high-end skill. The depth isn’t deep enough — if two forwards are out, which happens fairly regularly during the season, it all falls apart rather quickly.
We all knew these four games would be tough, but 0-4-0 against ok-to-great teams should be a wake up call. In the last 20 games, the Kraken are 9-11. Their record winning streak didn’t even get them to real .500 in that time. They are in the worst position, the NHL mushy middle — not good enough for a playoff spot, and not bad enough for a top 10 pick. They’ll look better against the Hawks on Wednesday, because it’s the Hawks, but I think we need to stop fooling ourselves. This is not a real contender as currently constructed.
I don’t think anybody is fooling themselves into thinking this team is a contender. Playoff team… maybe… maybe not.
After the break… February looks brutal. Last season after the All-Star game they went out east and immediately dropped three in a row… and looked listless doing it.
With all the injuries and illness it’s tough to get a read on exactly where this team is. One huge bonus, the goaltending seems to be holding up. Even though he’s pulled back from an outrageous run, Joey is still solid and maintaining above league average numbers.
Still no telling if this team buys or sells. February should give us an answer.
Go Kraken!!!