If you had told me coming into the season that the Kraken would come home with four out of six possible points on their tough three-game road trip through Minnesota, Dallas, and Nashville, I would have been quite pleased with that. Indeed, they headed home Tuesday with a stolen shootout win over the Wild on Saturday and a convincing 7-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
There were a few shaky moments in this one, like when Seattle coughed up a two-goal lead in the first period, or when Brady Skjei tied the game a second time at 17:17 of the second, sending it to the third period tied 3-3.
But every time the Predators pulled level with the Kraken, Seattle found a way to get right back in the driver’s seat. At the end of the night, the Kraken pulled away with four third-period goals and an impressive ‘W.’
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 7-3 Kraken win over the Predators.
Takeaway #1: Seven unique goal scorers
With every passing game, I find myself trying to decide if this new version of the Kraken is more similar to the successful playoff team from 2022-23 or more like last season’s disappointing squad that took itself out of contention by mid-March.
Last season, the Kraken got off to an abysmal start, losing their first four games (one of which came in a shootout against the Blues) and totaling just three goals across those contests. They were shut out Sunday in Dallas, but even so, Seattle has racked up 14 goals across its first four games this season.
On that front, Tuesday brought an offensive outburst in which seven different players registered goals, and six different players notched two points. Now that sounds like a 2022-23 stat.
They scored in a variety of ways, including point shots, odd-man rushes, hard forechecking plays, and dazzling individual efforts.
Our two favorite goals of the night were Jaden Schwartz’s eventual game-winner at 1:19 of the third period and Jared McCann’s cleanup goal after Matty Beniers stickhandled through the entire Nashville defense.
The Schwartz goal started below the Kraken goal line when Adam Larsson won a board battle and sent a breakout pass to Chandler Stephenson at the blue line. Stephenson tapped it to Oliver Bjorkstrand, who touched it to Schwartz, who had speed coming into the neutral zone. Schwartz ran a simple give-and-go with Bjorkstrand, but Bjorkstrand’s cheeky pass between the legs of superstar defenseman Roman Josi and Schwartz’s forehand-backhand finish made this goal memorable.
The McCann goal started similarly with Jamie Oleksiak passing from Seattle’s goal line up to McCann at the blue line. He one-touched it to Beniers, who immediately dangled around Ryan O’Reilly and kept going over the red line, over the blue line, and between four converging defenders before shoveling it to McCann at the goalmouth. Even McCann’s finish on the play was impressive, as he initially didn’t make clean contact but spun around, found the puck, and chipped it up and over Saros.
That was a fun game to watch.
Takeaway #2: Joey Daccord was excellent
On the eve of the regular season, coach Dan Bylsma said he thought the goaltending tandem of Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord could be a strength for the Kraken this season. Both netminders have shown some positive flashes in these first few games, and I thought Daccord’s outing Tuesday was very impressive (worth noting, his 0.11 goals saved above expected was lower than Grubauer’s 0.77 goals saved above expected on Sunday in Dallas, according to MoneyPuck).
Daccord stopped 30 of 33 shots Tuesday and looked mostly in control throughout the night. The three goals he allowed all came in somewhat similar fashion, off shots into traffic from the point, followed by rebounds either off Daccord or off the scrum in front. *Editor’s Note: I got called out in the comments for the previous explanation of the three goals, so I’m changing my wording here.* The three goals Joey allowed all came off cross-slot passes and/or from pucks bouncing off traffic in front of him, requiring lateral movement and looking around bodies. Nothing beat him cleanly on this night.
In the few moments when the game started to feel like things were going sideways, Daccord stood tall and calmed things down for the Kraken.
“He’s got a next-play mindset about his career,” Bylsma said of Daccord. “And when he’s in net, he doesn’t need to stop all 33 shots for it to go well for him. Sometimes they do go in the back of the net, and it’s always the next play, and I think he shows a great deal of competitiveness with how he plays the position.”
His best save of the night came late in the second period, when the Kraken were trying to kill a 4-on-3 Nashville power play. Josi saw an open lane to Filip Forsberg and rifled a pass right into the forward’s wheelhouse. Forsberg got full wood on the shot, but Daccord got a strong push off his left skate, slid across with full extension, and solidly rejected what looked like a sure goal.
The play wasn’t over, though. Forsberg then tried to bank it in off Daccord’s body, which Daccord managed to keep out by swinging his right foot under him. When Steven Stamkos launched the follow-up shot off the glass, Daccord tracked it, caught it, and got a desperately needed whistle.
Man, what a sequence.
Takeaway #3: Are the Kraken finding chemistry?
The forward lines have certainly not been set in stone so far, as Bylsma has shaken things up in search of the right mix. For a few games now, I’ve thought the fourth line of Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev has been the most consistent. Those three were impactful again Tuesday, combining for a goal and a solid chunk of ice time (Gourde led the trio with 15:59, good for third among all Kraken forwards).
It seemed like Bylsma may have found a spark Tuesday by putting Schwartz and Bjorkstrand with Chandler Stephenson and Beniers with Andre Burakovsky and Eeli Tolvanen, while keeping Jared McCann with Shane Wright and Jordan Eberle. Throughout the game, we saw what Bylsma might call “connected” hockey, something he’s been striving for.
“I think maybe we think alike out there,” Bjorkstrand said of his new line, first assembled Sunday in Dallas. “[We were] able to get some good chemistry. We had [a couple] periods together last game, so got familiar with each other. And then today, I think, naturally, we just kind of clicked.”
Indeed, Bylsma did use the word “connected” when talking about how his team played. “We talked about our execution and cohesion and playing connected, and it’s evident in the first goal,” Bylsma said, though he was referring to the team’s second goal, scored by Bjorkstrand off a 2-on-1 with Stephenson.
While Bylsma says the team is still a “work in progress,” there was a lot to like in this game. Have the Kraken found a winning formula?
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.