That one was a little harder than the 5-0 score indicated for the Seattle Kraken, who were buoyed (no mascot-related pun intended) by an outstanding night from netminder Philipp Grubauer and rolled past the Arizona Coyotes.
Grubi stopped all 39 of Arizona’s offerings for his second shutout of the season, while Karel Vejmelka had a leaky night at the other end of the ice that featured two real stinkers. Seattle took advantage early, then jumped on Grubauer’s coattails to get through the second period before stepping on the gas pedal again in the third.
Shane Wright scored again, Justin Schultz had a goal and an assist, and Matty Beniers and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had two assists.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 5-0 Kraken win over the Coyotes.
Takeaway #1: Stellar Grubi
I’ve spoken about this on many occasions and in many forums, but there’s an interesting phenomenon that happens for goalies where—on some nights—the puck finds a way to stay out of the net. It hits you even when you don’t see, and when you miss it, it somehow finds a way to hit a post, hit a stick, deflect wide… name a way for the puck to stay out of the net, and that’s what happens on these nights.
This was one of those games for Grubauer. There was a handful of chances in his 18-save second period when Arizona looked primed to get themselves on the board, and yet the Kraken escaped the frame unscathed thanks to a mixture of huge saves and several lucky breaks.
“There were a couple situations in the second period where they hit the post, and then it went through like a skate or hit me in the glove, a couple of those situations,” Grubauer said. “But overall, it doesn’t really affect my play or my mindset. It’s just like, you’ve got to let it go and then focus on the next shot.”
Of course, the opposite can also happen for goalies. Some nights you feel like you’re sharp, in position, and ready to make a save, and yet the puck just finds a way through. That was probably how Vejmelka felt for Arizona on Tuesday. The way it went for Grubauer on Tuesday is how you want it to go, and it was enjoyable to watch.
“Grubi is the story of the second period, really,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We got off to a really good start. It’s what you want to do at home, get off to a one-goal lead going into a power play. You execute, that builds a two-goal lead, but as we scored the third goal in the second period, we stopped playing a little bit, and that’s where Grubi was really good.”
The total shot volume was high at 39, but the quality was also there for Arizona, which had a whopping 4.8 expected goals and a 73-percent share of the shot quality, according to Natural Stat Trick. Those are big-time numbers for Grubauer, who is having his best regular season with the Kraken.
Takeaway #2: Wright does it again
Shane Wright has put together an extremely impressive stint with the Kraken since being called up from Coachella Valley on March 31. With his goal Tuesday, he’s now tickled the twine four times and has one assist in his four games with the big club. The one he scored against the Coyotes wasn’t quite as pretty as the others, and it was certainly one that Vejmelka wanted back.
“I’ll take anything anyway I can get them,” Wright said. “I mean, they all count the same on the scoresheet, that’s what I’m going to say. But yeah, just kind of tried to get it on net there, and [got a] lucky bounce for sure. But we’ll take it.”
Aside from the goal, it was another solid night for Wright, who logged 15:51 of ice time and won 62.5 percent of his face-offs. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; Wright looks very different than he did on his previous times in the NHL.
“He’s a year advanced, right?” Hakstol said. “He’s just turned 20 years old. Everybody wants to spin the clock ahead and fast forward, it doesn’t work that way. So huge compliments to Shane and the way that he’s continued to elevate his game. He’s obviously done a lot of work there with his teammates and the coaching staff in Coachella, and his confidence and his overall play have taken a nice step.”
Despite his outstanding performances, we still expect Shane to be sent back to Coachella Valley within the next two games. If he plays nine or fewer NHL games this season, then his contract slides, and Seattle gets to keep him on his entry-level deal for an extra season. If he plays 10 games, he burns a year of his ELC, which makes no sense for the Kraken. Wright has played seven this season, so expect him to return to the Firebirds no later than Saturday night.
Takeaway #3: The Killer B’s
Our Twitter intern created this incredible piece of art after Oliver Bjorkstrand was acquired two offseasons ago, but it has hardly seen the light of day since.
That’s because Bjorkstrand has almost never skated with Beniers and Andre Burakovsky. The B’s might buzz together for at least another game or two, because they did look good together in this contest.
Burakovsky’s goal, which made it 2-0 just 2:14 into the game, came on a power play but was assisted by Beniers. Beniers and Bjorkstrand helped set up Schultz’s goal off a 2-on-1 rush, and Bjorkstrand added another assist on Will Borgen’s late-game leaker through Vejmelka.
Of course, we would like to see injured Jared McCann return to the lineup ASAP, but the idea of the “Killer B’s” line is fun for now.
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.