Three Takeaways – Kraken cough up two-goal lead and lose in otherwise memorable opener

While there were some highly memorable moments from Opening Day at Climate Pledge Arena, the outcome was more of the same for the Kraken, who still have yet to win a season-opening game in four tries (0-3-1).

The tone from new head coach Dan Bylsma and his players was markedly positive after the game, as the Kraken recognized they easily could have won against the St. Louis Blues.

“There was a lot of good. Maybe a slow start, tentative start, but just in the first period, there was a lot of good,” Bylsma said. “I think that really continued in the second period. The way to losing the game is solvable moments in the game and periods in the game.”

Indeed, there was a two-minute section of the second period when the game turned on its ear, and the Kraken went from up 2-0 to down 3-2. There was some pushback from Seattle, but not enough shot generation in the third period meant the Kraken started another season with a loss.

Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Blues on Opening Day.

Takeaway #1: A few bad minutes

This game was a scenario where the analytics matched what the eyeball test showed: the Kraken should have won. The “Deserve to Win O’Meter” on MoneyPuck.com gave Seattle a 66-percent chance of winning, and per NaturalStatTrick, the Kraken also had 66 percent of the shot quality in all situations.

It remains to be seen what kind of team the Blues will become this season, but if the Kraken play like that every night, they should win more often than they lose.

“There’s a lot of good tonight,” Vince Dunn, who scored Seattle’s first goal, said. “It’s hard for me even saying that after losing 3-2 when you’re up by two, but the first one’s out of the way. We’ve got 81 more opportunities to play well, and there’s no doubt in my mind we will bounce back from this one.”

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Things started to go sideways after a scrum resulted in a Blues power play. After a zone entry, Jordan Kyrou got a step on Jamie Oleksiak, burned around the corner, and slipped it through Philipp Grubauer’s wickets.

Philip Broberg—playing his first game for the Blues after signing an offer sheet with St. Louis this summer—got vengeance for a monster Will Borgen hit by shooting from the top of the left circle through a screen, beating Grubauer.

Kyrou struck again at 15:37 of the second after an offensive-zone turnover by Oleksiak led to a Kyrou breakaway.

In all, the three goals came in a span of just 1:55 and cooked the Kraken’s goose for the night.

Takeaway #2: A generally good first performance

I generally liked what I saw from the Kraken on this night, except for that little letdown that led to Seattle’s first “L”. Bylsma told the media on Monday that it’s hard to feel confident after training camp that the team has accomplished what it needs to be ready for the regular season.

Bylsma and his players should feel good about the way they played in this game and hopefully use it as a confidence builder rather than a blocker.

“If we can manage— be able to have more maturity in our game and be able to sustain that pace for 60 minutes, we’re going to be successful this year,” Yanni Gourde said. “And I think playing fast, playing together, playing in our spots, playing predictable… When we did that during this game, I thought we did a great job at controlling the pace.”

Takeaway #3: Memorable milestones

Sure, the result was disappointing, but there were some big milestones reached in this game. First, Jess Campbell became the first woman to ever coach a regular-season NHL game. The cheer she received from the home crowd was one of those that raised the hairs on my arms—a truly special moment.

Right after Campbell was announced, Bylsma was introduced for his first game behind the Kraken bench and also got a big cheer, though perhaps not quite as loud as Campbell’s.

“I was waiting to see if the reaction to me would be as loud,” Bylsma joked when asked what he was thinking when Campbell received the huge ovation. “It wasn’t.”

Finally, there was the announcement of Eberle as captain. The 34-year-old forward earned this opportunity, and seeing him announced to the home fans as part of the pre-game festivities was a classy touch by the organization.

“I’m obviously pretty honored,” Eberle said. “To be a captain in this League is special. I like to think that with our group, we’ve got a lot of guys who’ve got Cups, guys with playoff experience, and being part of this group has been special. My family and I love this city, love the culture here, and that was part of why we wanted to be here.”