After snapping their three-game losing streak Tuesday in Carolina, the Seattle Kraken followed it up with another impressive performance on Long Island Thursday, defeating the Islanders 5-2 and earning the home team several choruses of boos throughout the night.
In his third game back from injury, Vince Dunn was the undisputed No. 1 star of the game, contributing a goal and two primary assists. His partner, Adam Larsson, also tallied three assists, while Shane Wright, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Tye Kartye each scored a goal. Joey Daccord also returned to form with 27 of 29 saves and came close to recording his second shutout of the season.
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, the Kraken caused some late undue stress by allowing two goals in the third but ultimately secured a convincing top-to-bottom victory.
“I think you can see, the last six periods, we really focused on making sure that we’re skating the right way with the puck, not bringing it back all that often, and making life a little bit harder on goalies too,” Dunn said. “I think you see a lot of guys just getting to the net, being already at the net, so that creates a lot better odds to get goals.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Islanders.
Takeaway #1: Vince Dunn is good
Dunn reminded us Thursday why the Kraken have historically been much better with him in the lineup than without him. Two shot-passes from the point—one on the power play and one at 5-on-5—created Seattle’s first two goals and helped put his team in the driver’s seat for the second game in a row.
“I think definitely the first one I have no shot angle,” Dunn said of his thought process on Kartye’s tip-in goal that made it 1-0 at 2:48 of the first period. “It’s kind of bobbling on me a little bit. And defenders are so good now in tying guys up that sometimes you’ve got to move away from the net to get sticks on pucks to deflect them in.”
KARTYE PARTYE! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 6, 2024
For the second game in a row, the #SeaKraken strike first, this one a Tye Kartye tip off a Vince Dunn shot. Kartye’s first goal since Nov. 12.
1-0. pic.twitter.com/pSjMILJ8QH
Bjorkstrand was the beneficiary on the second one and scored the first of two power-play goals for the Kraken on the night (Wright had the other PPG).
“I think it’s smart for the defensemen to look for sticks,” Bjorkstrand said. “It’s not always easy shooting from the point and beating the goalie clean, so you need a screen or a direction sometimes. And [Dunn’s] obviously a really good player, so I try to present the stick, and it’s on him to at least try to get it in the area to try to hit it, so I can react to it.”
BJORK-JAM! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 6, 2024
Power-play goal. #SeaKraken has the puck in the offensive zone against a very passive kill almost the full two minutes.
Another shot-pass by Dunn, Bjorkstrand gets the tip to extend his point streak to 7 games.
2-0 pic.twitter.com/EQAV9YYfbM
Dunn’s best offensive play of the game came immediately after what he called “the worst play I could have made,” when he tried to pass to Larsson at the point but handcuffed him. Dunn got it back, juked around Pierre Engvall, and sniped it past Ilya Sorokin from the top of the slot.
GREAT shift by Vince Dunn, and he caps it off by walking Pierre Engvall and sniping it past Sorokin for his third point of the game.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 6, 2024
3-0 #SeaKraken https://t.co/ibro8u87ip pic.twitter.com/2TtCparTm3
Notably, Dunn also said he thought he played much better in Seattle’s game against the Hurricanes.
“I thought I defended a lot better, made a lot better reads with the puck. So some nights it just goes your way a little better than others.”
I sure thought he played well on this night, and coach Dan Bylsma seems pretty happy to have the offensive defenseman back in the lineup.
“It’s just… You get to play with the puck a lot more,” Bylsma said. “That’s both offensively, coming out of the D zone, breaking out, he just has a ton of poise with the puck and usually makes a great and smart play with the puck. And when you can do that, it’s a game changer.”
Takeaway #2: Past healthy scratches working wonders
A curious phenomenon has happened over the last few weeks.
Two players that were struggling mightily for stretches of the season, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Shane Wright, were made healthy scratches by Bylsma, and the results have been undeniably positive. Bjorkstrand was out of the lineup for one game, Nov. 5, against the Colorado Avalanche, and Wright sat for three games between Nov. 17 and Nov. 23.
Since returning, both players have been on respective heaters. Bjorkstrand has 11 points in 13 games since his one-game absence, including his current seven-game point streak, and Wright has six points in six games.
I asked Bylsma why this can have a positive impact on players, and here’s what he said: “I don’t know. We used the term ‘reset’ with Wrighter when he sat out, and I think it just can bring a little more attention to focusing on your game and what you bring and how you bring it on a nightly basis.
“Oliver’s a really good player, and he has a lot of strong attributes that he brings to the table. And you see it happening on a night-to-night basis now. And you see that with Wrighter, the same thing. [He had] the time off, just took a chance to get refocused and re-energized.”
Both players again were impactful in this one, and the line of Bjorkstrand, Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen looked dangerous and creative throughout the night. Bjorkstrand joked that his linemates were “showing off” against the Islanders, making slick little passes to one another and (in Tolvanen’s case) even trying for a between-the-legs goal in the third.
“I wouldn’t say, watching a game, I necessarily learned anything, but sometimes you need a wake-up call, maybe,” Bjorkstrand said. “Obviously, before that, I’m trying to go out and play well. You don’t try to play not your best, but you don’t want to be scratched. And I feel like I’m able to help the team produce, so I want to be a part of that, and trying to do better. And I think I’ve been more consistent since.”
Here’s hoping the healthy scratch treatment has a similar effect on Andre Burakovsky whenever he returns to action…
Takeaway #3: Heckuva start to the road trip
Hockey is such a bizarre game. One day, you see a team lose its third in a row to bottom-feeder teams, and you think things can’t get worse and the season is over. Then that same team goes out and starts a difficult East Coast road trip with two straight impressive wins, and suddenly the belief that same team can compete for a playoff spot comes rushing right back.
Friday presents perhaps the hardest test of this trip against an outstanding New Jersey Devils team, on the second of back-to-backs, and surely with Philipp Grubauer in net for the first time since his worst performance ever as a Kraken.
Can Seattle do something in that game to reinforce that belief?
—
One last note: Yanni Gourde, who helped create two goals by screening Sorokin Thursday, did not play the last 17 minutes of the game but remained on the bench. Bylsma called it precautionary after the game and said it would give Gourde the best chance to play Friday.
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.
If Gourde can’t play, who comes in, 1-goal Burky or 30-goal DDDS?
Every time I watch the highlights, I see the WBT line so close to scoring a few more. They are due for a 8-10 point night soon.
The Dunn effect is the difference between losing 3 in a row and winning 2 in a row. Need to keep that guy healthy.
I don’t mind Burakovsky jumping back in if Yanni can’t play. He may have that healthy scratch bump, and the guy already looked to have been on the cusp of breaking out before he got sat. Yanni would be missed, though, and the team is going to need all hands on deck to face the Devils on the second half of a back-to-back.
No question there are two different Kraken teams–the team with Vince Dunn and the team without Vince Dunn. It’s inexplicable how much better he seems to make absolutely everything that they do on-ice. Even though he made a couple defensive blunders last night, for the rest of the night he was lock-down. Larsson seems to be rejuvenated when Dunn is on his left. The offensive zone cycle moves the puck crisply and with clear intent. He has that canny sense of when a forward is going to take away the goalie’s eyes long enough to make a slap shot dangerous. Then there is how guys seem to get open in the neutral zone for him on break-outs. Something about how he plays makes the whole better than the sum of its parts. You know, we all have long said that the team needs a star player. Maybe Vince is already that guy, and he is just really underrated nationally.
One more thing–how about them call-ups, Mitchel Stevens and Ryan Winterton? They have brought consistency and good checking to the bottom-six even with Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev moving up the rotation. God, is it nice to have a farm team like the Firebirds that can send up reliable players when needed!
I was thinking the exact same thing No-name… either Vince Dunn IS the superstar everyone claims we don’t have OR he’s just an just an outstanding player – the Kraken’s best player – and the huge difference in results is somewhat coincidental.
They brought this up on the broadcast last night regarding this season but also mentioned the small sample size… now just seven games. Since his return I think Dunn has been impressive – especially last night – but the goals per game difference with him in the lineup versus out has dropped from 2.6 to 1.6. In October Seattle netted 13 goals in consecutive games against Nashville and Philadelphia. I don’t recall Dunn being particularly “huge” in those games, but those games are having a huge impact on this “analysis”. He ctually played under twenty minutes in both those games and just 13:10 against the Flyers. That was after missing the previous game against the Stars and I think he may have already been injured.
It seems to me – and this is just an opinion – Vince Dunn is an outstanding player and probably the Kraken’s best player. I think he brings a lot to the game that no other player can and he is underappreciated, especially nationally. I also think the biggest difference in the last two games isn’t the return of Dunn, it’s the way the whole team has played. I know Dunn contributes to that, but it’s across the board, not just when he is on the ice. On Monday Musings, after the second loss to the Sharks, I posted “In season two they were flying to the puck and winning board battles and one of the most exciting teams in the league to watch… and now it seems like they can’t even pass the puck.” To me, my opinion, that has been the biggest difference the last two games. For the first time since they were in the playoffs they’ve looked like the team the put up 100 points.
Maybe Vince Dunn IS the superstar that can singlehandedly turn a losing team into a winning team. The concern I have with the with/without Vince Dunn take is it doesn’t actually seem to be built on sound analytics and it seems to create – to me – a false narrative that all this team needs to be “successful” is a healthy Vince Dunn. To me they need to play the way they have the last two games… Dunn is part of that, but I think it’s a lot more than him just being in the lineup.
Just my thoughts…
Go Kraken!!!
I think in addition to his play, Dunn’s return to the lineup had a noticeable ripple effect across the roster. One of the things you mentioned that goes unsaid a lot is that Dunn is actually quite an underrated defender. Evans was a revelation filling in for him, but as you’d expect for a young defenseman whose game skews towards the offensive end, he had some issues with puck security and turnovers. Dunn’s return means Larsson doesn’t have to overextend himself providing defensive cover anymore, and creates a top-four where each player is a capable defender. Naturally that should help the Kraken out defensively, especially when it comes to limiting opposing breakaways. In addition, sliding Evans back down to the third pair (when he returns to the lineup) creates a scenario where all three pairings have someone who can drive offense from the back end, in theory helping boost the Kraken offense as well. At the end of the day, I think Dunn’s importance to the Kraken’s success is a combination of him being a great player and his presence allowing his teammates to fill more appropriate roles.
Nice to see Burky riding the pine for two straight, the team plays better without him. Always on the cusp of breaking out….
I like the decision of playing Daccord vs the easier team last night on the back to back. Take points when you can. I think we’re basically conceding tonight’s game but two points are better than zero.
Not crazy about breaking up our “4th” line but having a high energy on three of our four lines is contagious. I really like Yanni playing with Matty, I feel that his style of game is a very good influence. It seems to me Matty is getting in harder and faster on the forecheck and using his body on the cycle a little more. It really just has to be a relief for Matty that Burky isn’t on his line. It was a failed experiment experiment.
Burky in general has been a failed experiment. He was really good in year #2 but has been injured and/or totally ineffective since. He has good skill but seems to lack basic hockey sense, ie when to use and when not to use that skill (eg trying to skate through 4 defenders, or trying cross-ice passes that can be easily picked off and lead to opponent breakaways). He had been playing better lately but was still way too hesitant shooting the puck.
I’d say he’s been a big disappointment, but I also don’t think he was ever that good to begin with, a player with 40 points and poor defense. He played out of his mind in his last year with the Avs and RF simply overpaid for him. Same with Grubauer. I blame the perception of both their underperformances on RF who set the bar too high with those contracts.
It was interesting hearing the commentary talk about Dunn on the ice and the “Coffey Effect” with this team.
Yes Dunn is a huge addition to the team, looking forward to Evans returning. I feel that he does make mistakes and has turnovers possibly on par with Evans but he’s just a much better player and can offer more. Evans is young I see a lot of Dunn in his game, I’m curious what he looks like in another three years. Also wonder if we keep him as we have our top 4 pretty locked up long term in regards to offensively minded defenders.