The margins in the NHL are razor-thin. The Seattle Kraken headed home Sunday after a challenging four-game road trip with every reason to feel good about themselves. They took six of a possible eight points and—frankly—just missed an even better result had they found an equalizer Friday against the Devils.
But the Kraken capped off the East Coast journey with a… ahem… no-doubter (wink wink): a 7-5 victory over the New York Rangers. The win marked their first-ever triumph at Madison Square Garden and brought them back to .500 on the season.
“The significance of the three wins and how we got them, just a little change in mindset in how we play and how we compete and where we compete,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “This was a tough road trip; Carolina, the Islanders, Devils, and the Rangers here tonight, and we had success in all those games a certain way, and I think that should be pretty evident.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 7-5 Kraken win over the Rangers.
Takeaway #1: Last-minute goalie chaos
In Bylsma’s pre-game press conference, he announced that Joey Daccord—projected to be the starting goalie Sunday after Philipp Grubauer played Friday—was battling an illness that left him struggling to “keep food down.”
With Daccord out and no time to call someone up from AHL Coachella Valley, Bylsma said, “We will see a name on our backup that I’m not quite sure of yet.”
When the Kraken took the ice for warm-ups, an unfamiliar netminder in yellow and green gear appeared, giving Grubauer breaks and taking shots from his new teammates.
That fill-in backup was Michael Matyas, 33, who played for the University of Alaska-Anchorage during his college days. According to Kraken radio color commentator Al Kinisky, Matyas—friends with Director of Team Services Brennan Baxandall—received a surprise call just hours before puck drop. Matyas’ LinkedIn page shows that he is a Sales Associate for a financial services company in Manhattan, where he will surely have a fun story to tell his coworkers on Monday morning.
Joey Daccord out sick today.
— Al Kinisky (@AlKinisky) December 8, 2024
Michael Mayas @31Matyas warming up to backup Phillip Grubauer on an ATO (Amateur Try Out) with the #SeaKraken. He’s a childhood teammate of @BBaxy18 from Calgary, AB.
He was at the grocery store buying baby formula 2hrs ago.
Living his dream! pic.twitter.com/XLGjQqdvc4
Grubauer, playing his second game in a row, had mixed results: big saves at key moments but also five goals allowed on 37 shots with a couple squeakers.
The first period featured some EBUG-related drama when Filip Chytil skated through the crease and collided with Grubauer, sending the goalie sprawling (perhaps selling it a bit) and earning Chytil a two-minute minor.
Kraken fans held their collective breath, while Matyas was shown nervously chomping gum on the bench on the MSG broadcast. Grubauer ultimately continued, stopping just enough shots to secure his second win of the season.
“I was actually wondering what Michael was thinking, the EBUG, what he was thinking when Grubauer went down there,” Bylsma said. “Because, obviously, live, I didn’t see exactly the guy go through the crease, just Grubauer going down, and I think the EBUG’s heart probably went to 180 immediately.”
Takeaway #2: Bjorkstrand/Wright/Tolvanen line was cooking
This matchup between the Kraken and Rangers showcased the Oliver Bjorkstrand, Shane Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen line. Bjorkstrand (2-2=4) and Tolvanen (1-2=3) posted season-best point production, with Wright adding a goal and an assist. (It’s worth noting that Bjorkstrand’s first goal came on the power play, thanks to a slick pass from Chandler Stephenson.)
This trio was instrumental throughout the road trip, combining for 15 points over the four games, including several highlight-reel moments against the Rangers.
“Really the whole line, I think they were… you know Carolina, the Island, and again tonight, they were our best line,” Bylsma said. “And Oliver has an outstanding game with two and two, and big goals at big times when we needed it.”
Wright and Bjorkstrand have been excellent since their return from Healthy Scratch Land, and their success has been well documented. But what about Tolvanen? He wasn’t having the most impressive season either before the other two landed in the doghouse, but he too has come on strong of late and has started racking up some points.
His goal against the Rangers came at a pivotal moment, 1:28 after Brandon Tanev brought Seattle within one. Tolvanen’s quick movement into the slot left Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider scrambling, allowing Bjorkstrand’s pinpoint pass to tee him up for a blast that ricocheted off Jonathan Quick’s mask and in at 15:34 of the second.
Tolvanen hiljentää MSG:n! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/I4v831dADf
— NHL Suomi (@NHL_fi) December 9, 2024
Bjorkstrand followed that up by tipping in a Brandon Montour shot at 19:24 for his second of the game, giving Seattle a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Takeaway #3: Resilient game, impressive road trip
This road trip was critical for the Kraken’s playoff hopes. After a dismal 1-3-0 record against the Ducks and Sharks, the Kraken faced a make-or-break stretch against tough opponents and in difficult buildings. A poor showing could have spelled disaster for the season, but instead, Seattle went 3-1-0, earning six points to get back within three of a playoff spot.
“This was a huge trip for us,” Tolvanen said. “Everybody knew that coming into this trip, [the games before were] disappointing, and we knew that we needed to make a statement on this trip. And I think we did a really good job with that.”
The outing against the Rangers demonstrated resilience from the Kraken. Despite dealing with goalie chaos, playing a desperate Rangers team fresh off a loud-and-clear message from management, and facing a tough building where they’d never won, the Kraken rallied from a 3-1 deficit with five unanswered goals.
“I definitely think we could have been doing more [at the beginning], and I think we did more in the latter half of the game,” Tanev said. “We didn’t like our start… but we got a timely goal, a big save by Grubi, and we understood what we needed to do to get back in the game.
“We played hard, we played physical, and when we got our opportunities, we capitalized.”
Even with the nervy finish, the Kraken deserved their victory over the Rangers and a very successful road trip.
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.
I recently posted this:
“Chuck Holmes on December 6, 2024 at 1:22 am
Every time I watch the highlights, I see the WBT line so close to scoring a few more. They are due for an 8-10 point night soon.”
Against the Rangers: OB 4 pts + ET 3 pts + SW 2 pts = 9 WBT pts. How is that for nailing a prediction!
Shane Wright gets another 3rd assist!! He wins the draw, setting up what would be Bjorkstrand’s second goal, and he gets no credit on the score sheet. That is something like 6-9 points he has not gotten credit for this season with 3rd assists and defensive plays in the offensive zone that lead to linemate goals. When does he start getting more than 12 minutes a night?
Anyone else think they should have played the EBUG instead of Grubauer?
Wow Grubauer was bad, but the Rangers’ team defense was even worse. The Kraken played well, don’t get me wrong, but the Rangers were incredibly passive, slow, and disinterested.
Also, anyone else notice Panarin punching Lafreniere in the helmet after his goal? It looked like Lafreniere did not appreciate it. That whole team just has bad vibes right now.
I was hoping for the 4 game sweep but 6 out of 8 is pretty, preeetttaayyyyyy good.
Kind of weird that McCann of all players was kept off the scoresheet entirely in a 7-goal effort. He has gone ice cold. Awesome to see Wright and his linemates stepping up though.
Lots of really tough matchups coming up. LGK!
Is it odd to anyone else they finally realize where Shane needs to be on the PP…he gets 4 goals there…and then they don’t play him on the PP Sunday in NY? It’s idiotic.
Stranger still is no asks Dan about it following the game. “Dan, what was it about Shane’s 4 PP goals you didn’t like?”
Shane was on the PP on Sunday… that unit never got anything good set up while on the ice. It had nothing to do with Dan not liking Shane’s PP goals.
Just a thought.
The PP1 yesterday was the same in both instances: Dunn, Beniers, Stephenson, McCann and Bjorkstrand. Shane – and Tolvanen – were both on PP2 in the first one. On the second power play the first unit scored a goal – and actually it was Bjorkstrand – so the second unit never got on… but, with the Rangers having both Fox and Miller burnt on the PK, Bylsma was able to send out a fresh “high-energy” trio of Tolvanen, Wright and Tanev against New York’s third pair. I think part of special teams planning for NHL coaches has to not just consider the PP and PK, but also what happens immediately after. Just one idea.
I think the PP2 with Shane might have seen the ice for 30 seconds. And yes, it was good Bjorkstrand ended up potting one anyway. The point about maybe not wanting to disrupt the energy of the Wright line during 5-on-5 play is interesting, and one I hadn’t thought of. Maybe it’s because I think you should take advantage of the tilted opportunity on the PP to possibly get a goal now, vs trying to preserve some perceived 5-on-5 advantage later? Personally, I’m trying to take advantage of the PP opportunity to get a goal now, and I’m not worried about how that affects my 5-on-5 energy in subsequent shifts.
I agree, there certainly is a tradeoff or limit to maximizing or conserving resources situationally, but both options can provide opportunities.
On the limited deployment… I would assume, baring anything unusual, they go into the game with a set PP1 and PP2 and run with that. One thing that’s really jumped out to me this last week is the power play actually controlling the puck in the offensive zone. Like you said, Shane only got about 30 seconds of time on the advantage the first time, but that was actually the first opportunity for a change. On the second go around – when Bjorkstrand scored – it took almost a full minute to get established in the zone, but once they did they kept it in… and scored. Normally, I think PP2 and Wright would’ve seen the ice more and him getting so little power play time was somewhat circumstantial last night. I also think Bylsma will still be moving guys around between one and two.
By the way Jessica Eve Campbell runs the kraken power play….. you could ask Dan why Jessica isn’t doing that I guess?
I’m liking this Stephens lad. He brings energy that is contagious.
Ditto. He seems to be a solid fit for the fourth line. He’s not flashy, but he’s held his ground in both the offensive and defensive zones, performed well on faceoffs and hasn’t made any glaring mistakes.