It wasn’t the outcome Kraken fans would have wanted, but the team showed resiliency Thursday by coming back to snag a point from the Winnipeg Jets, the last remaining undefeated team in the NHL.
Despite playing the entire first period on their toes and even having some good looks in the less impressive second, the Kraken found themselves in a 3-1 hole for the second straight game after Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the contest at 4:21 of the third, just three seconds after the Jets’ lone power play of the night had expired.
But Matty Beniers, reunited with Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle in this game, got the monkey off his back and racked up three points (two goals, one assist) to help Seattle claw back in.
“You don’t give up until the end,” Beniers said. “They obviously score that third goal in the third, and I thought we did a great job of not letting that get to us, continuing to play our game, and knowing that it was going to come. And it did.”
With a delayed penalty coming, the Jets sent Nikolaj Ehlers out as an extra attacker. Kyle Connor delayed and dished to him in the slot, and Ehlers squeezed a shot under Joey Daccord’s arm to push Winnipeg to 7-0-0.
Here are our Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Jets.
Takeaway #1: Beniers was cooking
As I wrote about on Wednesday, coach Dan Bylsma threw his lines in a blender this week, and as part of that shuffle, he put Beniers back on the top line with McCann and Eberle. Other than the Beniers line, the rest of the forwards got mixed and matched in the third period, as Bylsma looked for the right matchups and combinations to unlock some late offense.
In the end, McCann, Beniers, and Eberle spent 13:46 on the ice together, almost six minutes more than the second-most common trio, the Eeli Tolvanen, Yanni Gourde, and Oliver Bjorkstrand line.
“You want to stay in the fight the whole game with the lines you start with, and you want to also give them a chance to play well together,” Bylsma said. “You feel like your coach is going to change the lines if you make one mistake in one situation. So you’ve got to let the guys battle out through the good and the bad. But I think, clearly as the game went on, we had certain guys going and needed more opportunities to get on the ice and do it.”
The “certain guys” Bylsma referred to were McCann, Beniers, and Eberle, who connected for all three of Seattle’s goals. The biggest beneficiary of the renewed chemistry between the three players was Beniers, who came into the game struggling to break through offensively.
But in a dominant first period, Beniers got the monkey off his back with an absolute snipe over the right shoulder of Connor Hellebuyck. He later started the play that led to Eberle standing alone in front of Hellebuyck, deking, and lifting a backhander to cut Seattle’s third-period deficit to one.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2024
Beniers gets his first of the year with a SNIPE off the rush over Hellebuyck’s shoulder.
1-0 #SeaKraken, who have looked very good in this opening frame. pic.twitter.com/CWYR7feoUD
Then, with the Kraken feverishly trying to find an equalizer, it was Matty again who got a piece of a Brandon Montour blast from the point to tie the game 3-3 and send it to overtime.
“I think the defensive side of the game has been there all year for him,” Bylsma said of Beniers. “I think the chances to score have also been there for him in pretty good amounts the last three or four games, but I thought he was at another level tonight.”
Here’s hoping this is the catalyst to get Beniers producing offensively, because the Kraken need him to have a big season.
Takeaway #2: Bad breaks
The Kraken have had some instances of good luck this season, but in this game, the breaks went Winnipeg’s way. I can think of four or five moments that were good fortune for the Jets.
The first one that comes to mind is Niederreiter’s first goal. Joey Daccord had just made what Bylsma called a “miraculous” glove save on Neal Pionk. But seconds later, Kraken legend Mason Appleton took a benign-looking shot from the top of the right circle. Daccord calmly blockered it away with a good pop on the rebound. The puck should have floated harmlessly away, but it hit a crashing Niederreiter in the chest and trickled over the line. Replay showed he didn’t push the puck in with his glove or skate, so it was a good goal.
Wow, bad break there. Joey punches Appleton’s shot away, but it hits Niederreiter and dribbles over the line.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2024
1-1 #SeaKraken #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/jdAUjvuJ10
Later in the period, the Kraken executed a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play off the rush, ending with Adam Larsson teeing up Bjorkstrand to fire the puck into an open net. But as soon as Seattle scored, I wondered if Winnipeg might consider a goalie interference challenge, as Hellebuyck had come into contact with Gourde at the top of the crease. Indeed, Jets coach Scott Arniel challenged, and the goal was disallowed.
Beautiful play to set up an Oliver Bjorkstrand goal, but Winnipeg successfully challenged for goalie interference on Yanni Gourde.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2024
Still 1-1. Good call. #SeaKraken #GoJetsGo pic.twitter.com/Twqwd31sJd
What stunk about that one was that although I think it was the right call, even if Gourde hadn’t been standing with his toe in the crease, I still don’t think Hellebuyck would have made that save.
Then there was the missed Eberle opportunity on the power play in the second period, when Montour hit him with a shot-pass at the netmouth that inexplicably stayed out of the net. Bylsma thought the puck had gone through the blade holder in Eberle’s skate. Even the delayed penalty on Chandler Stephenson in overtime that led to the game-winning goal was just bad luck. Stephenson’s feet tangled with Neal Pionk, and Pionk happened to fall.
Alas, the hockey gods were not smiling on Seattle this time.
Takeaway #3: Similar script as last game
This game followed a similar script to Tuesday’s game, when Seattle came out flying and tilted the ice for much of the first period. In that one, the Kraken somehow managed to go to the dressing room after 20 minutes trailing 1-0. When they came out in the second, the Avalanche shifted momentum the other way.
A similar pattern happened in this game, except this time the Kraken came out of the first with a lead before again easing off the pedal in the second.
“[The games were] very similar, and if you look back to two games ago, it was… Our second-period puck play is critical to having success in the second period, and you can take advantage of it by playing fast and forcing them to have extended shifts in the D zone,” Bylsma said. “But your puck play is critical to you getting out of the D zone. And there’s four or five plays there in the second period where we turned the puck over coming out of the zone at the blue line, and it just built momentum for them in the game. That’s the ebb and flow of the game.”
So, the starts have improved, which is a positive. But much of Seattle’s success early in the season has been thanks to pinning teams in during the second period, when the long change makes line changes harder.
Like the previous game, the Kraken didn’t give up, even when they got down by two goals in the third period. This time, though, they halved the deficit earlier, which allowed them to tie it with 3:22 left.
“They’re a good team,” Beniers said. “I thought we played well throughout the night, and that was some good character coming back there in the end, tying it up, taking it to overtime. Obviously, you want a different outcome, but there’s a lot of positives to build off.”
Bonus Takeaway: Did my goalie eyes deceive me?
I commented (somewhat negatively) on the goaltending after Tuesday’s game, stating that the first Joel Kiviranta goal Philipp Grubauer allowed that night tainted my view of the whole performance. I was somewhat surprised to see that he had a positive goals saved above expected that night, according to MoneyPuck.
I was even more surprised to see that against the Jets, Daccord had a -2.14 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck, and a -2.28 GSAx according to NaturalStatTrick. Perhaps I’m biased between the two goalies (I don’t know why I would be, as I like both goalies very much, and regular readers know I’m a huge goalie apologist), but I thought Daccord was outstanding in this contest.
The goal I saw folks complaining about online was the second one from Niederreiter, which made it 3-1. It did look strange to the naked eye, as Daccord got off balance and way out of the crease after Niederreiter’s fake. That’s all true—he did.
Niederreiter gets his second of the game to make it 3-1.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2024
Oleksiak and Tanev were screening Daccord, so he couldn’t track the fake and dropped down before the shot. The goal came three seconds after a Jets power play ended. pic.twitter.com/RyfAhK3gEk
But look at what is happening on the play. Both Jamie Oleksiak and Brandon Tanev are fully screening Daccord when Niederreiter fakes his first shot. Daccord can’t see the puck and probably can’t even see Niederreiter, as he cuts toward the middle. When this happens, the goalie—as Daccord pointed out a few days ago—is reading the body language of the players in front of him and moving toward where he thinks the shot might be going. It’s an educated guess in terms of timing and positioning.
When Niederreiter fakes, Tanev fully sells out to block it, and Oleksiak flinches. That’s what makes Daccord drop down, and once he does, he’s dead to rights. His momentum is moving forward, so when he lunges in desperation, he just goes farther out of position. Perhaps I’m defending Daccord too much here, but from my perspective, it’s an almost impossible read.
What made me even more surprised about the GSAx number is that there were a couple of sure goals in this game that Joey robbed. I figured those would have pushed his analytics in a more positive direction, but apparently those saves didn’t do as much as I thought.
🗣️JOEY! JOEY! JOEY!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2024
Phenomenal save by Daccord in Pionk. He recovered in time to get the next one too. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Rn6w5TQeQw
Here’s what Bylsma said about Daccord’s game: “I thought [his game] was really good. I thought [there were] two or three outstanding saves, red bell saves. The first one in the second period, the glove save on the rush, was crazy good. It’s in the back of the net, but somehow Joey miraculously comes up with a save.
“I think he kept the momentum for us in the second with the saves that he made, and he came up big for us. Once the game got [to where] we were behind, he had a couple big saves that kept the game tight, kept it close, so we had a chance of coming back.”
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.
On the goalie front, both continue giving up 1+, per game, that they would want back. I really hope they shore that up. They have both been okay, but that’s it.
If there is a goal against to nitpick, I feel like it would be the overtime goal. He was in position and had it, he was just a hair too late and it leaked through.
It was great to see Matty be back in form, he looked energized playing with McCann and Eberle again. We talk a lot about there not being a top line, and having the depth of 3 2nd lines. Tonight in crunch time, it was Eberle, McCann, and Beniers bringing them back into it. That looked like a bona fide top line to me.
Production so far would say that McCann and Eberle are the top line, along with whomever is centering between them, which is a big question to me. I think it’s a huge benefit to Shane Wright’s game to be playing between those two like Matty did his rookie season, but man they looked dominant tonight with Matty back in there. I hope to see them stick together and keep this rolling.
Also worth pointing out…
It wasn’t just some pumpkin in goal for Winnipeg. The Jets allowed the Beniers line a MoneyPuck/NaturalStatTrick average xG of just 0.957 and the trio also managed 81% of xG.
It was quite a night for that line!
…and after the Colorado game Natural Stat Trick had Seattle with a negative GSAx as opposed to the positive from MoneyPuck referenced in Three Takeaways.
I know the two sites use different metrics to determine shot quality and the MoneyPuck model seems wildly complicated. I’ve compared the sites xGA vs actual goals against for the league over the past three seasons and year to year they vary in accuracy – some very close, some high, some low – but over the full range of three seasons (almost 4000 games) they are both very, very close.
On a game-to-game basis… maybe the best guess is something in between the two.
And… that was a great game to be at. Matty getting on the board finally – and almost had another in the first – and then he completes the comeback. Can’t wait until tomorrow.
Go Kraken!!!
I know we talk about the goaltending too much, but I agree with the general sentiment that Daccord was not good in this game. It was the same recipe that others have mentioned here: great saves, and bad goals (3rd and 4th, in particular). He didn’t need to be that aggressive on the 3rd, and though he was screened, as soon as Nino moved just a tad laterally the net was wide open. Like you mentioned on the pod, the book on him is to get him to move laterally and take advantage when he’s out of position, and that’s exactly what happened. The 4th goal, woof. It almost looked like Ehlers was just trying for a whistle to start the PP, and it leaked through the arm hole.
End with some positives: Beniers wasn’t just good, he was AWESOME and everything you’d want out of a $7M player. He looked way stronger on his skates and with possession, his defense was solid as usual, and he got into shooting lanes and shot the dang puck. That line looked like a legit top line, not just like yet another Kraken 2nd line. I just love McCann, he is all around awesome, and though RF gets a lot of crap for Gru and Stephenson, McCann has probably one of the best contracts in the league. Meanwhile Eberle is playing and scoring like a captain. Great stuff!
You’re definitely biased if you didn’t have issue with at least two of Joey’s self inflicted goals. The second goal from Vilardi was peak Joey just over committing and not playing smart. The third goal there was zero reason for Joey to be that far out of the net. The screen was irrelevant when his poor positioning meant he had zero chance at a save: He also should have had the game winner. You criticize Gru for goals like that but not Joey.
I’m concerned about what I’ve seen in the last three games. The first periods have been strong. The pace seems to take the other teams off-guard and Seattle plays fast and tight with good open lanes for crisp passes.
When the other team wakes up, things start falling apart. The passing lanes disappear and things go from fast and tight to frantic and sloppy. So many moments where you just want them to take a deep breath let the puck settle back onto the ice and get thing back under control.
The new fourth line was…not good. Wright and Kartye need a smart veteran and Burakovsky is 100% not it. I’d be interested in seeing how they’d work with Schwartz. I think they need his brain and I think he can keep up with them.
On the defense, I’d be interested in seeing more of Montour with Evans together (there was a glimpse of them towards the end last night). Oleksiak and Borgen were a solid pair last year, so let’s reunite them.
The best thing about Burakovsky is he looks good in a suit, so let him do that up in the press box.
You are spot on!! I am not a fan of Burakovsky in the least. Any success he has is accidental. Also wish Wright wasn’t given the left overs. Love to bring up Winterton and send #95 packing.
I 100% agree with the idea to bring Winterton up. Yeah, I know that he is getting those big minutes in California, but he and Wright have already shown terrific chemistry together. I would bet that it would translate to the big league. A pure Firebirds line would be so boss. Then have Cale Fleury and Ryker Evans playing defense behind them. How fun would it be to send that group out for the opening face-off of the November 23rd game in L.A.? Of course, Joey would start in net.
I think the coaches are stumped a little by what to do with Burakovsky. Ironically, I think they put him with Shane and Karts to try to get HIM going, and not the other way around. It’s unfortunate for Shane. There was a sequence early in the game with Shane driving the net and Burky with a clear shot for a potential rebound or even clean pass to Shane option, and he opted to just skate around the net…losing the puck. Even Forslund said “seemed like something was going to happen there…”
I am not a big Oleksiak fan, but he looks half decent playing with Montour. He can just try to focus his five brain cells on trying to play defense, and leave the thinking and puck moving to Monty. Pairing him with Borgen again might create greater weakness on the back end.
Let it be known, I shall never write about the goalies again.
I quit before the season started… and I’ve never felt better.
Haha! Your opinion matters to this community Darren, and you brought data. The issue is it’s hard to judge goaltending on a game-by-game basis, so everyone comes up with different opinions and conclusions. Sometimes the puck just bounces off a guy, or your statue D-man single-handedly gives up 2 breakaways. I think we all keep doing it cause this tandem will now cost a combined $11M next year, and it would sure be really swell if at least one could show that he’s worth it. What we DO know after 8 games is that there hasn’t been a single goalie “W”, where we get clearly outplayed but win cause of our goalie. Daccord did that a lot last year, but neither goalie has been great, or even good, so far this year.
Moneypuck “Deserve To Win O’Meter” had Calgary 57% to 42% and Daccord with 2.44 GSAx. Joey held them to one goal and I would say pretty clearly got the Kraken a “goalie W” in that one.
When you use these stats to prove a point, you show you don’t actually understand what these stats are showing and how bad the actual calculations are. It’s also ironic you don’t show the game Gru stole. That wouldn’t fit your narrative eh? He is correct. Neither goalie has stolen a win.
LuizNo…
Thanks for the feedback.
Daccord did that for 10 games and that was below average at the end of the season. Let’s not exaggerate
Below average by what metric?
He ended up 6th in the NHL in GSAX last year, and 5th in Sv%. Sure is hard to do that if he was below average in just about anything. He’s been bad this year so far, though, I’ll grant you that.
Please don’t stop writing about goalies. They are even a more subjective topic than the other players. I have way more confidence in Daccord than I do in Grubauer. Gru is welcome to change my mind at any time, and I hope he does.
This is exactly why goalie talk should stop unless you want to praise one for some exceptional play. So few people actually understand the position well enough to comment. Case in point: you think Daccord is better than Gru and he hasn’t been. He’s gotten easier matchups and has still looked like a liability on multiple nights. Montour has bailed him out so hard multiple times.
Are you actually serious or is this a joke?
Ok goaltending… hasn’t been talked about enough. 😂
This wasn’t one of Daccords best games I felt like he over played the shot on the second goal and should have had the OT shot. That being said what I liked about his game is that he did not let in an early soft goal and kept the krakens motivation high for the entire game. He battled hard and had the OT goal not gone in he would have had great stats, one goal changes things. I think that OT 3 vs 3 should almost be categorized differently for goalies, the play is way more open and more dangerous shot attempts. I don’t really agree with money puck, there were a lot of grade A chances. I feel that their formula works but not necessarily every game, lots comes out in the wash over a long season. I just don’t think we get a point out of that game with Gru in net, his record is showing that as well.
Burky…. What a brutal game. Whatever line he moves to is a mess. He turns the puck over constantly on the PP… why is he on the PP? Puck possession is so important and he gives the puck away. Yes he can make great plays and shoot the puck but not when the puck is getting cleared down the ice.
Fun Fact!
It’s only eight games…
The Kraken are 4-3-1. Their opponents so far are a 34-20-4 for a combined .621 points percentage. Adding in their next opponent – the Canes – bumps it up to .625.
According to Tankathon, the Preds have the toughest remaing schedule with their opponents having a combined points percentage of… .579!
…the Kraken are also +3 goal differential against that schedule.
Yes they are playing like it’s not the preseason as years past. Very nice to see Matty have a good game although he was doing the right thing all along people were calling his name a lot… you know I’m talking about all you short sighted….
I seriously think the biggest improvement is coaching. Like I said before the season started that’s the X factor that the analytics didn’t give enough credit to. Coaching has a huge impact and ours last season was brutal.
Looking forward to a good game tomorrow, gru is probably in net so fingers crossed. No early bad goals please, make the first 10 saves at least and let the team build confidence.