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Three Takeaways – Kraken officially eliminated from playoffs while Stars clinch with 5-1 win

Darren Brown

And with a whimper, the Seattle Kraken were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

We knew this day was coming for a loooooong time, and the conversations around the Kraken shifted to a “we know we’re out of it” sentiment well before the NHL Trade Deadline. But on Saturday, the final stake was driven into what has been a highly disappointing season for Seattle fans, who continue to show up despite their team’s poor performance this year.

Coincidentally, the Dallas Stars—a true Stanley Cup contender—clinched their fourth consecutive playoff berth with the win.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-1 Kraken loss to the Stars.

Takeaway #1: Two franchises in very different places

I opted to go to the visitor dressing room after the game Saturday, where the Stars were quietly celebrating their playoff qualification. “We work all year for [making the playoffs], so now we’re focused on winning the division,” said Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 35 saves.

Then, Pete DeBoer addressed the media outside the Dallas dressing room and reminded folks that Mikko Rantanen—who was acquired and signed to an eight-year contract worth $12 million per season at the deadline—was the team’s best player on this night, finishing with an empty-net goal and two assists.

When DeBoer finished speaking, it so happened that Kraken coach Dan Bylsma was just beginning his post-game presser, so I popped in and listened. Bylsma broke down what went wrong in the game, citing the penalties Seattle took and the team’s lack of success on the power play as key issues.

He also noted that the team has shifted its mindset since the deadline while recognizing the significance of being officially eliminated. “We’ve been focused on playing our best hockey, proving to each other, proving to the fans what kind of team we are. And today, we’re mathematically eliminated, but the rest of the way doesn’t change for us. That’s our goal.”

What struck me is that we are still less than two years removed from Seattle coming up one goal short of knocking off the Stars in Game 7 of the second round of the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And yet here we sit, with the Kraken selling at the deadline and a wide swath of the fanbase rooting for more losses to improve the team’s draft lottery odds, while Dallas is adding even more top-end talent to an already deep roster and loading up for a Cup run.

I relish the day when the Kraken, too, are loading up for a Cup run instead of coming up with ways to be relatively competitive in meaningless games while they play out the string.

One day, the Kraken will be perennial contenders—I truly believe that. But right now, they don’t feel particularly close to achieving that status. And to add insult to injury, they got an up-close look Saturday at a club that has reached that level.

Takeaway #2: Fast start, then a slow unraveling

The Kraken looked sharp in the early minutes of this game, even getting a goal from Eeli Tolvanen just 1:27 in after Jared McCann made an outstanding play to burn around Thomas Harley and create a rebound opportunity. They continued to have the better of the play for the first 10 minutes, but little by little, things unraveled, and Dallas began to show its class.

For a staunch defensive team, the Stars have a wealth of offensive weapons, and several of them found the back of the net on Saturday. Jason Robertson got his 33rd goal of the season on an easy tap-in to make it 1-1 at 11:50 of the first, then Roope Hintz notched his 27th of the season on the power play at 18:24.

Things remained fairly stagnant in the second, but once Mason Marchment added another power-play goal 28 seconds into the third period, it was all downhill for Seattle.

Takeaway #3: A poor special teams night

Those two Dallas power-play goals were killers for Seattle in this game, but what made them sting even more was the Kraken’s abysmal performance with the man advantage.

“It’s uncharacteristic of our group to take a lot of penalties,” Bylsma said. “[Special teams are] a huge part of the game. Against good power plays, the best way to keep them off the scoresheet is by not giving them an opportunity.”

In the first period, Seattle had two power-play opportunities but struggled to even get set up in the offensive zone. Dallas—which currently ranks second in the NHL in penalty kill percentage, just a hair behind Carolina at 84.5 percent—used an aggressive PK style that forced Seattle’s players to make quick decisions. Every time the Kraken gained the offensive blue line, they quickly coughed up the puck and watched it get cleared the length of the ice.

After those two poor showings from the Kraken power play in the first, the Stars got their first opportunity of the night and wasted no time converting, with Hintz one-timing a cheeky little saucer pass from Jason Robertson over Joey Daccord’s shoulder.

On a night when we were reminded of how far apart these two teams are right now, the special teams battle—in which Dallas went 2-for-5 on the power play while Seattle went 0-for-4—was a microcosm of the disparity between the franchises.

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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