Three Takeaways – Kraken split weekend games with New York teams

The Seattle Kraken faced their third set of back-to-back games of the season, this time entirely on home ice. The weekend featured matchups against both New York teams, with the Kraken coming away with two points after splitting the series with a win over the Islanders on Saturday and a loss to the Rangers on Sunday.

Kraken vs. Islanders (Nov. 16, win 3-2)

This game showcased the classic “bend but don’t break” mentality. The teams traded goals throughout the night, with neither holding more than a one-goal lead at any time. Both finished with about 20 shots on goal, but the Kraken emerged victorious, securing a 3-2 win.

Despite the final score, the Islanders had the edge in shot quality, generating 56.5 percent of the expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. At times, it felt like the Islanders might take control, but the Kraken held on. The Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, and Tye Kartye line provided crucial energy, while Joey Daccord delivered another solid performance in net, marking his fourth consecutive start.

Kraken vs. Rangers (Nov. 17, Loss 2-0)

Another close contest, but this time the Kraken came up short, falling 2-0 to the New York Rangers. The Rangers came out firing, recording the game’s first five shots before the Kraken found their footing.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Kraken out-chanced the Rangers in high-danger shot attempts (HDSA), 10-7. Despite tilting the ice slightly in their favor, the Kraken couldn’t find the back of the net. Moneypuck’s “Deserve to Win O’Meter” gave Seattle a 54.8 percent chance of winning this matchup, but the scoreboard told a different story.

This weekend marked the Kraken’s third back-to-back set of the season, and the trend continues to be a concern. They have not fared well in any of the second games, going 0-3 and losing all three by identical 2-0 shutout scores.

Takeaway #1: Backwards weekend

Both games this weekend were closely contested and could have gone either way. Based on the Kraken’s performance, you might have expected them to lose to the Islanders and beat the Rangers. Instead, the results flipped. Take a look at the shot heat maps for both games—Seattle vs. Islanders on the left and Kraken vs. Rangers on the right:

The Kraken consistently got pucks to the front of the net against the Rangers, which is a strong indicator of long-term success, even if it didn’t translate into goals against on Sunday.

Takeaway #2: Goaltending tandem looked solid

I liked the coaching staff’s decision to start Joey Daccord against the Islanders and Philipp Grubauer against the Rangers. The reasoning was sound: knowing Igor Shesterkin started the Rangers’ previous game against the San Jose Sharks, there was a strong likelihood Jonathan Quick would face Seattle. Shesterkin is the better goalie, though Quick has been outstanding in his few appearances this season. By factoring this in, the Kraken coaching staff maximized their chances of winning at least one game—and it paid off, as they split the weekend 1-1 and earned two valuable points. Sure, four points would have been better, but let’s not get greedy.

Daccord was strong again, posting a .917 save percentage and saving 1.07 goals above expected to help secure the win against the Islanders. Grubauer, meanwhile, earned third-star honors for his performance against the Rangers with a .913 save percentage and two goals against. Unfortunately, he had zero goal support for the third time this season. Sure, the second goal Grubauer let in was one he’d surely want back, but it doesn’t matter if the Kraken don’t provide any offensive support. The loss against the Rangers rests squarely on the offense’s inability to produce in this game.

Takeaway #3: Wright’s line struggles to produce

Shane Wright logged a season-low 8:34 of ice time in the game against the Islanders. Head coach Dan Bylsma addressed the limited usage, explaining, “[Shane Wright’s] minutes in terms of the game was a lot to do with the flow of the game… Some of the decisions on the ice were due to the fact that we were dealing with a top-heavy [Islanders] group.”

In the following game against the Rangers, Bylsma made the call to scratch Wright in favor of recent call-up Ben Meyers. Regarding the decision, Bylsma shared, “The message [for Shane Wright] is, take a reset, watch the game tonight, which he did, and get back focused on playing the way you can play.” Credit to Curtis Isacke, who predicted Wright’s scratch in favor of Meyers on Episode 311 of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast early this week.

Unfortunately, Meyers didn’t fare much better centering the line with Daniel Sprong and Eeli Tolvanen, finishing with just 8:21 of ice time. With the other three Kraken lines generating offensive pressure, most of the ice time this weekend was spread between those three lines.

Watching Wright play, I’m not overly concerned yet. He’s getting to the right spots on the ice and hasn’t been a defensive liability. However, this line isn’t clicking offensively. Whether it’s bad luck or poor line chemistry, the puck isn’t finding its way to Wright—or the front of the net—when this line is on the ice.