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Three Takeaways – Jani Nyman scores in NHL debut as Kraken rally past Canadiens

Darren Brown

In a season that has brought some not-so-fun nights at Climate Pledge Arena, the Seattle Kraken managed to give their home fans a very fun night Wednesday. The Kraken rallied back from a two-goal deficit, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to send the game to overtime, and then secured a game-winner just four seconds into the extra frame courtesy of a dazzling set play between Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour.

Seattle got a few monstrous individual performances from players like Montour and Jordan Eberle, plus a magical strike from Jani Nyman in his NHL debut and some late-game Matty Magic to equalize.

The Kraken came out flying in the first but only capitalized for one goal while also ringing three shots off the post. Montreal took control in the second and scored four straight goals, but Seattle showed its resiliency once again and earned a thrilling comeback victory.

“It was a really good first period, and they get the power-play goal, and they get the 4-on-4 goal, kind of special parts of the game, and then get up in the game,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “And I think going into the third, our mindset was, we thought there was enough there for us to come back in the game.”

Here are Three Takeaways from a memorable 5-4 Kraken overtime win over the Canadiens.

Takeaway #1: What a night for Montour

I’m starting with Montour’s performance, although Nyman was arguably the bigger story. Don’t worry, we’ll get to him in Takeaway #2.

Remember, Montour had his first-ever hat trick against Montreal when Seattle hung eight goals on the Habs in their barn back on Oct. 29. On Wednesday, he again was the top statistical performer, notching a whopping four points (2-2—4).

On why he’s had so much success against that particular team, Montour said, “It’s just shooting the puck, really… Guys are finding me in the right areas, and [we have good] net front. It’s nice to see a couple go through.”

Montour was everywhere in this game and got rewarded with both the game’s first and last goals.

On the first goal, 4:54 into the first period, Jordan Eberle notched his first of three assists by jumping to knock down Jakub Dobes’ rim-around clearing attempt. He found Montour streaking in and laid it out for him to skate in, pick his spot, and rip it past the Habs netminder.

The last goal was the special one. As the teams lined up for the extra frame’s opening draw, the Canadiens positioned three players across the red line rather than keeping one back at the top of the circle for defense. Montour lined up on the right wing opposite rookie phenom Lane Hutson, who lamented after the game that he had “missed his check.”

Stephenson won the puck directly forward, and with the pre-determined play in place between the two players, Montour jumped past Hutson and was off to the races. He ripped a snap shot over Dobes’ glove and sent the fans home happy while also tying the all-time NHL record for the fastest goal ever to start a period.

“That was Chandler, to be honest. He came up with it,” Montour said. “I told Chandler just to make sure he was staying back, just in case anything went south. I saw he bumped it up, and we went for it, so it was nice to see.”

Bylsma called the play “brilliant.”

The goal was Montour’s 15th of the season, setting a new franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman.

“Monty’s kind of one of the spearheads for how we want to play,” Bylsma said. “Play fast and quick and with some moxie and some jam, and he’s the type of player that just has the big-time, big-play ability for your team. Obviously [you see that] with four points tonight.”

Takeaway #2: A special debut for Jani Nyman

Sometimes, when a young player makes his NHL debut, you see nerves and tentativeness. We never once saw that from Li’l Jani Nyman in this game. On the contrary, on his very first shift, he threw his big body around to win a puck battle in the defensive zone and start a breakout, then went straight to the top of the blue paint in the offensive zone, where he could be seen on many occasions throughout the game.

On Seattle’s first power play, Nyman got his first chance to let his lethal one-timer fly at the NHL level and nearly dented the post behind Dobes.

On his next great power-play look, which didn’t come until 10:53 of the third with Seattle trailing 4-2, Nyman didn’t miss. Eberle gained the zone and took the puck deep before banking it off the boards to Montour at the point. Montour sent it right back to Eberle, and that little back-and-forth exchange, which seemed inconsequential in the moment, created just enough time for Nyman to get himself lost in the slot.

Eberle slid a cheeky little dish into Nyman’s wheelhouse, and he ripped a snapper past Dobes.

“It’s an amazing pass,” Nyman said. “It’s easy work doing the score. It’s almost an empty netter.”

Nyman became the first Kraken draft pick to score in his NHL debut (Beniers had an assist in his first game, then scored goals in his second and third games). His parents had flown in from Finland for the game, too, making for some beautiful reactions after he scored.

“The message to him is go out and leave no doubt about what kind of player you are and what you’re good at,” Bylsma said. “And I think he did a good job of showing that tonight.”

Bylsma then flipped the script in his presser, asking me what I thought of Nyman’s performance. I said, “I thought he played pretty well.”

Takeaway #3: Interesting lineup

**Author’s note: Before I get into this Takeaway, let it be known that I do not care how much ice time any player gets, including Shane Wright. I trust the Kraken know how to deploy him and have shown they know what they’re doing with his development. That said, there was a funny interaction related to his ice time after the game, so I’m sharing it.**

Seattle didn’t run full line rushes in practice Tuesday and held an optional morning skate Wednesday, so I wasn’t sure how they’d line up in this game. We knew Nyman was in, and we also knew Bylsma wanted to put him in a position to succeed, meaning a top-nine spot.

So, who would be bumped down to the fourth line?

Surprisingly, it was Shane Wright, who has been one of Seattle’s best offensive players since December. When we tweeted the lineup, fans freaked out about Wright on the fourth line, so I asked Bylsma about the thought process behind it.

“With Jani going into the lineup, we went with four centermen, with Canner in the middle of the rink,” Bylsma said.

Fair enough.

But then he added: “So you’re the only person labeling it as the fourth line.”

Whoa! Whoa! First of all, I am definitely NOT the only person labeling it the fourth line, but it definitely is a fourth line that played fourth-line minutes (Wright had the most ice time of the trio with just 10:40). Second of all, I only asked the question because fans seemed to be fired up about it on social media, and I wanted to give Bylsma a chance to explain why that happened in this game. 

Now, having said all that, I know Bylsma was (mostly) joking with his potshot at me, and I probably deserved it to some degree for asking a lineup question after a thrilling win. Plus, to further stuff me in that locker, the team looked mostly very good in this game and came away with a thrilling victory. 

So, I guess you could say the lineup worked? Either way, no need to call security, I will show myself out.

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.

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