Bummer. In the midst of a string of games that the Seattle Kraken should win, Saturday’s matchup against the Los Angeles Kings was the one we’ve had circled. It was always going to be the toughest test in this stretch against a divisional opponent that could be battling with Seattle for one of the final playoff spots in a few months.
It was a predictably tight-checking contest, with two second-period goals by Los Angeles being all the offense needed for the Kings to slide by the Kraken.
“They’re a really good, structured defensive team, and they can force you into playing a slower type of game,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “We got lulled into the game that way.”
The Kraken had a big push late in the third, and Joey Daccord came up big on several occasions, but the Kraken couldn’t muster enough offense to level the score.
Here are Three Takeaways from a disappointing 2-1 Kraken loss to the Kings.
Takeaway #1: Tough sledding
The Kings changed coaches in February, firing Todd McLellan and elevating Jim Hiller initially on an interim basis, but then naming him full-time head coach in the offseason. Under McLellan, the Kings became notorious for their suffocating and boring 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap. With Hiller at the helm, the Kings have changed tactics, but they are still very much a defense-first club.
The first period Saturday was one of the lowest-event periods we can recall in a Kraken game this season, with a 0-0 score and just a 5-4 shots-on-goal count through 20 minutes.
The Kings connected on a couple of passes over a two-minute span in the second period, and—with the help of a bogus goalie interference call on Yanni Gourde—found themselves in the driver’s seat with a 2-0 lead.
The Kings’ first goal came despite relatively sound defensive-zone coverage by Seattle. Alex Turcotte made a perfect pass behind the skates of Daniel Sprong and weighted it perfectly to catch Adrian Kempe as he got to the slot. Kempe then flung a perfect shot off the post and in, making it 1-0 at 4:19 of the second.
Kings break the ice.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
Sick pass by Turcotte, great shot by Kempe.
1-0 pic.twitter.com/vWBEoz8vxf
Gourde drove to the net and got the lame goalie interference call at 5:03, and on the ensuing power play, a little give-and-go passing play between Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala also ended up in the back of Seattle’s net.
In the below clip, when Byfield sends the puck to Fiala at the top of the slot, and then Fiala sends it back to Byfield, you can see that Daccord’s first movement is not to slide with the pass. Instead, he leans left to look around the screen, indicating he lost sight of the puck at the exact wrong moment when Fiala was sliding it over. That caused him to delay slightly in moving back to his left, and by the time he got over, Byfield had already found the short side.
Oh, boy. 2-0 Kings.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
Joey was a tad slow getting over, and Byfield found the short side. Power-play goal. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/mEmJSdgtH2
Takeaway #2: Not enough offense generated
The pushback in the third period was pretty good by Seattle, especially late when Bylsma pulled Daccord for an extra attacker. Brandon Montour did get a slap shot by David Rittich with 1:34 left in the third, but the Kraken needed one earlier in the frame to really give themselves a chance.
THE FULL MONTY! 🚨 #SeaKraken finally get one by Rittich.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
2-1 pic.twitter.com/46TclTWUJz
The best looks of the game all came in the third when the Kraken were trying to claw their way back. Adam Larsson, Daniel Sprong, and Montour all had good opportunities, with Montour’s rebound, which he rang off the post, causing Kraken fans everywhere to slap their foreheads in disbelief.
Just a bonkers sequence at both ends.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
How did Montour’s second shot stay out?!? 🤦♂️ #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/875pIfGLrS
On the Larsson shot, JT Brown was saying on the broadcast that he would have liked Sprong to stay in front to create a screen for Rittich. Instead, he drifted off to the side of the Kings netminder, hoping for a shot-pass to redirect into a yawning cage. That might have worked if Larsson had gotten the puck away quickly, but it seemed like he and Sprong weren’t quite on the same page. An immediate shot-pass to Sprong had a lane, but when Larsson wound up, the Kings closed off that lane, so he tried to blast it through Rittich without the help of a screen. That did not work.
A couple good looks for the #SeaKraken in the early stages of the 3rd. Rittich shuts down Larsson and then Sprong. pic.twitter.com/sxuXawdeoP
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
“I think both on our power play and at 5-on-5, we passed up opportunities to shoot the puck to the net,” Bylsma said. “There weren’t a ton, but you have to take them when you can get them.”
Takeaway #3: Not much support for Daccord
It’s normally games when Philipp Grubauer is in net that the Kraken struggle to create offense at the other end. Other than the two minutes in the middle of the game, Daccord stood tall in this one and shut down some Grade-A chances when he was completely hung out to dry, including a baffling 2-on-0 rush allowed by Seattle during a power play in the second period.
“Especially in the third period, when we were pressing… he had to come up with three or four awesome saves,” Bylsma said. “And you can’t not talk about the 2-on-0 penalty kill/power play chance that we gave up where they got two behind. With the knob of the stick, it was a great save and kept us in the match.”
🤣 😂 🤣
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 23, 2024
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, #SeaKraken?!? pic.twitter.com/aiGSpXJ3P4
It certainly wasn’t the highest volume Daccord will face this season, but when Seattle started to sell out to create offense, that meant he was facing some prime rush opportunities, and he turned them all aside. The result was a loss, but another strong night for him with a .905 save percentage and .41 goals saved above expected, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Kraken came up short in this one against the Kings. A win would have been nice, but assuming they continue to play tight defensively, they should be able to rack up a bunch of points over the next week.
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.
Credit the refs for giving LA the advantage for the 2nd goal. Yanni got railed into the goalie on that one. But we also dodged a bullet with that crazy Joey shaft save on the 2 on 0. Awesome save!
In general, I thought we played well for an away game against LA. Definitely no reason to panic after that one. 61 games to go! Go Kraken!
On another note, I went to the Tips game last night and Landon DuPont, for a 15 year old, looks pretty damn good. Great patience, poise, smarts and skating ability. Being 15, he might even grow and inch or two. It was clear he and Catton were the best players on the ice, though I was also super impressed with Julius. He seemed to a lot of faceoffs, mostly against Catton.
It looked routine for Berkly getting the SO winner. He looked really good during the game, but also a little frustrated. Despite Spokane winning this one, I didn’t think they had anyone to keep up with Catton. Just one opinion after viewing one game.
Despite everything I just said, I would guess Catton is a minimum of 3-4 years away from being relevant as an NHL player. Two years he might squeak in for some token limited minutes, but he has a way to go.
Three other takeaways:
1. Montour looking back at Sprong, who set him up for a shot at the wide open net and BM hits the iron.
2. LA has a 2 on 0 for a very long time and could not score.
3. Lots of odd man breaks on Joey, not sure the cause.
Has it been three weeks yet? Is Vince Dunn skating? Any word on our friendly neighborhood left defenseman?
Has it been three weeks yet? Is Vince Dunn skating? Any word on our friendly neighborhood left defenseman?
I believe he’s skating but not close to coming back, hasn’t joined practice yet. I would guess he’s a few weeks out.
Three more weeks? But he’s supposed to arrive just in time like a streak of light.