There was a lot to feel good about for Kraken fans after a 4-3 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues that turned from uneventful to thrilling at the drop of a hat.
In the end, the Kraken skated away with a resilient and exciting win after Chandler Stephenson beat Jordan Binnington in the seventh round of the skills competition, and then Philipp Grubauer rejected Jimmy Snuggerud to earn a victory in what could be his final game as a Kraken.
It may have hurt Seattle’s chances at winning the draft lottery, but it was a fun late-season victory to witness nonetheless.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken win over the Blues.
Takeaway #1: Hey, it was exciting
Since the Kraken played themselves out of playoff contention and into the draft lottery, we’ve maintained that we’re perfectly happy with wins because of the good feelings and potentially even added momentum heading into the offseason and eventually training camp. But we’ve been on the “absolutely no loser points” train, and yet the Kraken flirted with that outcome on Saturday after Shane Wright got a good bounce off his skate to tie the game 3-3, and then both teams instinctively went into “play for OT” mode.
WRIGHT AS RAIN! ☔️ 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 13, 2025
Shane gets his 19th of the season by driving hard to the blue paint and getting a bounce off his skate. Goal was reviewed, but refs determined no kicking motion.
3-3 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/2d5Ls9No0w
The first two periods were dull as could be, with almost nothing happening at either end of the ice other than Jaden Schwartz getting a fortunate carom off a sprawling Nick Leddy to give him an open net off a 2-on-1 rush. Schwartz deposited his 25th of the season to make it 1-0 at 3:44 of the second period.
Once the game turned to the third stanza, it was like somebody popped the top on a shaken-up soda, and all of a sudden, it went from 1-0 to 3-3.
“I was kind of thinking [it was a low-event game], and then all of a sudden, it was 3-3,” Stephenson said.
In fact, after a fast and furious maelstrom of goals, Seattle found itself chasing the game, down 3-2 after Mikey Eyssimont, Colton Parayko, and Leddy all scored within 50 seconds of one another.
But that chase was also short-lived, because Wright tied the game again just 2:19 after Leddy had given St. Louis the lead. Wright, by the way, said after the game that he was sure the goal would withstand a video review—until he actually saw the footage himself.
“I was confident [it was a good goal] until I saw the replay,” Wright said. “It looked like I kind of moved my foot a little bit, but I know I didn’t try to kick it. I was just able to get the bounce there.”
The excitement of the third period carried all the way through to the seventh round of the shootout, when Stephenson scored and Grubauer got the deciding save.
Takeaway #2: “For Grubi”
Both Wright and Stephenson mentioned that the team wanted to win this game for Philipp Grubauer, who has undoubtedly had a tough go this season—even getting waived and sent to the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League for a stretch.
With his ongoing struggles, we’ve surmised for a while that Grubauer could be a buyout candidate after this season. And with Joey Daccord surely set to play the final game of the season on Tuesday, it’s possible that Saturday was Grubi’s last game as a Kraken.
If that ends up being the case, he would be ending his run in Seattle on a high note. His shot volume Saturday wasn’t huge, but a couple of his 20 saves were of the critical variety, and he stood tall in the shootout to help his team snag a victory from the desperate Blues. He also seemed to find himself again in the later stages of the season, though he only got a handful of chances to play after his recall.
“The starts that he’s had since he’s come back [from Coachella Valley] have been the goaltender he can be,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “Tonight, he was really solid. He gave us a chance early on, made a big save on the PK, the save on [Brayden] Schenn in the third was massive, and good for him getting the shootout win.”
For his efforts, Grubauer was awarded the team’s player of the game championship belt.
WRIGHT AS RAIN! ☔️ 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 13, 2025
Shane gets his 19th of the season by driving hard to the blue paint and getting a bounce off his skate. Goal was reviewed, but refs determined no kicking motion.
3-3 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/2d5Ls9No0w
Takeaway #3: No tanking here
While the Kraken didn’t necessarily hurt the playoff chances of the Blues by giving them a loser point, they did add some tension for the St. Louis fanbase, who will have to watch their team go all the way down to the wire before finding out whether they’ll officially qualify for the playoffs.
With the single point earned, the Blues moved to four clear of the Calgary Flames and one behind the Minnesota Wild (who rallied back from a two-goal deficit to win in overtime in Vancouver on Saturday), remaining solidly in the last wild card spot. But the Flames have three games left, whereas St. Louis has just one—against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday. So, nothing is decided on that front, though it is looking pretty good for the Blues.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the standings, the Kraken didn’t help themselves in terms of draft position either. We know this isn’t something players think about, but the Kraken actually ended the night two spots higher in the standings than where they started. If that were to hold through the end of the season, they would have the sixth-best odds of winning the draft lottery, instead of the fourth-best odds, where they sat earlier in the day on Saturday.
There’s a lot to work out as far as games in hand, tiebreakers, etc., so where Seattle finishes is still very much up in the air. I hate to say this, but the Kraken really need to lose Tuesday against Los Angeles.
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.
Nothing beats winning. It’s really important to build this culture, especially at this stage and in this situation when the guys could be moping around with their tails between their legs. Besides, there are some sneaky good picks in the top 10 of this year’s draft who could be great in the NHL. Take 17 year old 6’2 right handed Jake O’Brien. He’s 9th on MacKenzie’s list. He has 98 pts in 66 games.
Chandler Stephenson is pure class…and that silky shootout goal! One could argue Seattle was trying to “not win” that game by having Stephenson go 7th.
O’Brien is a good prospect . If Seattle is picking in the 8-9 range I would like to see them go for Jackson Smith, a D man with TriCity. After Schaefer I think he is the best defenceman. They probably pick in a spot where a D man is a little too much of a reach though .
I’m not sure about that. The D-men this season are decent, but not close to the D-men last season, and Seattle passed. I could be wrong, but I think we are going for another forward. I am fine either way, really. We have good forwards and good D in the system, and I’m not sure how much it’s going to matter.
I’m guessing they end up 5th. I don’t think we can “catch” Boston at this point. Boston shot “up” the rankings to net a great pick.
Next season I will try not to comment on Stephenson so much, promise. Since we are not there yet…. The results this season 100% back up why I hated the signing. We needed to add goal scorers to the team, that isn’t him. I expressed the opinion he would not be enough to put them in the playoffs. That was certainly true. I believe he made the team better this year. In many ways that is a negative for a team not making the playoffs. Where do we end up picking without him? Maybe third in a year there may be 4 potential difference makers at the top of the draft?
I get that the cap is going up, but I believe more strongly than ever that his best years will make a developing team have marginally worse picks, and once our talent pipeline kicks in he will be past his prime on a healthy contract. Ugh. I still believe that contract is a big tally on the side for firing Francis.
It’s been really unfortunate how much Boston tanked at the end, without that happening the Kraken would have had a much better chance at a top 4 pick.
Snuggerud looked like one of the best players on the ice last night, and he was picked 23rd. Can someone say “Wyatt Johnston?” Also a 23rd overall pick with 70 pts this season. Making decisions based on how high you place in the draft doesn’t always lead to good hockey teams. You’re still rolling dice. I would argue a major event making the Oilers a contender was getting Zach Hyman. He’s a 5th rounder.
So your point is that the 23rd pick is just as likely to produce top talent as a top 4 pick? Interesting take.
The draft is like a raffle, sure. But top picks are like having a lot more tickets in your pocket.
Keith Yandle. The Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers are still paying him.
Look at the Panthers contract with Keith Yandle and then take into account that Stephenson was signed to help give the Kraken space to develop their young centers.
I’ll say it again… the hand wringing over the Stephenson contract is ridiculous… and the Dom Luszczyszyn “analytics” are a joke.
I think he’s saying culture, development, evaluation and coaching are more important than draft position.
Kind of. History has shown no one really knows. Agreed higher is better, obviously, but there are a lot of good players in the NHL not picked in the top 10. This season is a little interesting. People seem to think Shaeffer (though injured) is awesome, but Misa is actually also pretty impressive. Then you have some very interesting options following them who no one seems to be able to figure out. It almost seems like 3-10 is a coin toss.
…Replying to Brian. The structure here is a little confusing! We can work with it.
So the gap between Seattle and Nashville – the team slotted third on the draft order – is 10 points. It sounds like you’re saying Stephenson was worth 5 wins. According to Advanced Hockey Stats, that would have placed him 11th last season among forwards for wins above replacement (WAR), just behind Nikita Kucherov at 5.2. That seems pretty good for a guy J Fresh considered as maybe the worst forward in the league.
Haha! Interesting spin. I’m saying there’s no clear recipe. I’m saying in 4 seasons The Kraken have gone farther in the playoffs than the Maple Leafs. I’m saying Willie Nylander is probably the best Leaf, and he was drafted #8. I’m saying it’s impossible to argue the value of character in the US for obvious reasons.
I was just at a funeral in Chicago and a friend suggested Connor Bedard could be a flop. If it were easy, everyone would have it figured out, but no two teams get there the same way.
I agree wholeheartedly with your take. I meant to reply to Brian’s take on Stephenson.
It seems to me tanking teams are much more likely to suffer from “false starts” than they are to hit “home runs”.
I wasn’t aware that there was that much of a spread to 3rd pick. A couple weeks back it was much closer I believe. No, I don’t think Stephenson was worth 10+ points.
I feel there is a significant difference between tanking vs. signing a past their prime player to a large and very long-term contract. Especially when the net result was predictably marginally improving a mediocre (at best) team. He was already a couple years past his prime when they gave him 7 years! That “past his prime” element will only get worse as this team gets better.
He seems like a player I would like if it weren’t for the terrible timing of the deal. The blame lies with Francis not Stephenson. Just wanted to make clear, I feel Stephenson is OK, it’s just that the timing of the signing sucked. There is a reason why it was so universally panned, I would assume for many of the reasons that played out this season. His signing was putting lipstick on a pig when they could have saved that lipstick for when we finally have a team worth kissing.
Cap space seems like it can be used to create future value for teams. I would have much preferred that type of move then and feel that way even stronger in hindsight.
Replying to Brian…I don’t think the timing of signing Stephenson could have been better. You’re trying to establish a culture and educate the young guys coming up, and Stephenson and Montour are two of the most respected “pros” in the league. I’m still shocked we have them. The term is irrelevant.
It was interesting that Suter for STL was having his 1500+ game (I don’t remember the exact number). Montour was celebrating his 600th game. Montour seems pretty spry. He might have 900 games in him. I would say the same for Chandler, given the way he plays.
and really wouldn’t Bedard only be a flop if he wasn’t developed properly? I mean if you try hard enough, you can probably ruin anyone – likewise if you have a good program the player gets to decide how great he’ll be.
The only high-end goal-scorer who was available in free agency last year was Patrick Laine, who I wanted. If not for the injury, he would have been a good add (defensive issues notwithstanding), but if he had been signed, he would have filled the spot that is currently being held by Kaapo Kakko. Given that the team now has two new good top-six forwards instead of just one, I feel fairly good about how things shook out this past off-season. Would Laine have been as good a linemate for Beniers as Kakko is? The chemistry would certainly be different.
I will say it…I’m glad we got Kakko. Laine is also a fine hockey player. I have the highest respect for Finnish players, and I’m glad Seattle seems to be collecting them. They are probably totally fine with our weather and culture here. It’s a great fit.
Kakko is impressive. I hope to see him in a Kraken jersey for the rest of his career.
Exciting win… and finishing in the “top” four is still a possibility… but
In addition to the Kraken falling to the Kings:
Boston needs to win it’s final two games, but that could actually happen. They finish the season with a game today in Pittsburgh – a team also “battling” for draft position – and a season finale at home against a New Jersey team that has already locked in it’s playoff matchup. The Bruins will be all done before the puck drops between Seattle and Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Philadelphia needs just two points in it’s final three games to move behind Seattle and with an also locked in Ottawa, a final home game against Columbus, and Buffalo… two seems very possible.
On the flip side, if Seattle wins on Tuesday, they hold the tie break on every team with “points in the 70s” and could drop all the way to 9th.
Go Kraken???
That shootout goal was Chandler Stephenson distilled into a single shot. Look completely disinterested and nonchalant and then strike. During the game, I’d already mentally christened the Eberle-Stephenson-Schwartz line the “Moyer Line” – aka “crafty veterans” and that was a truly crafty play.
And we got bonus classic Grubauer last night – 2 total stinker “response goals”, then a butt-assist in the shootout, only then to turn around and shut it all down. Gotta admit when the game went to the shootout that having Gru in net instead Joey actually gave me some hope of a win.
That’s the Saski line! They are all from Saskatchewan. So is Catton, so that might be interesting.
I want to point out that Adam Larsson had himself a game. That guy was knocking people down and stealing their lunch money the whole night, an utterly nasty performance. You could in effect see what J.T. Brown once said about Larsson: “Just touching him hurts.” That third period was an adventure, but the first two periods featured some really good defense from not only Larsson but Ryker Evans, Eeli Tolvannen, and Chandler Stephenson. Evans in particular looked so much better in this game than he had earlier. He straight-up shut down that two-on-one, and he broke up a bunch of other plays. Folks probably think of most of the game as low-event hockey, but as someone who loves defense I was on the edge of my seat. They stuck to their structure really well, as did St. Louis, and even when the Blues got something going in the offensive zone somebody stepped up and made a play to get the puck out. Like, remember that two-minute shift that Larsson and Dunn had where they managed to get the puck past the blue line and get themselves off the ice? What an effort!
Offensively, how about that adjustment they made to the Blues clogging the slot with bodies? St. Louis, no doubt having watched plenty of tape, saw that Seattle had recently been sending guys who normally don’t go net-front (eg. Matty Beniers) right up to the goaltender and sold out to deny them that space. Usually that stymies the Kraken and leaves poor Grubauer having to not give up more than a goal to win the game, but this time they adjusted, sending two guys below the net and attempting risky cross-ice passes that froze defenders in place. It failed as often as it succeeded, but the successes produced chaos in front of the net while the excellent defense that was being played mitigated the danger of the Blues’ transition game (eg. Evans stonewalling that two-on one). I wish that we had more games to look forward to to see this tactical development play out. It’s good to be multiple.
I’ve noticed that Larssons game has really picked up the last few weeks. He’s been more aggressive and making statements on his checks. No miscues. Really solid. Can’t say enough about his game. It was a fun game and I’m glad Bruby got the win. Just wish I didn’t have to watch Burakovsky constantly turn the puck over and witness his weak play on the boards. Hopefully next year that won’t be a Kraken problem.
@H Ward – Burakovsky reminds me of that one kid on every middle school basketball team who drives to the net only to get the ball stripped away every time. Pass it every once in a while! Plus he’s a better scorer from the wings. SMH
Burakovsky’s play picked up notably after the trade deadline.
My totally speculative belief is that the team did make an earnest effort to trade him and the fact that there were no takers may have been a wake-up call to him.
I still also think there was definitely something to the very heated conversation he had on the bench with Vince Dunn, in which Bylsma appeared to join Dunn, during the Philly game the day after the deadline, which was caught by the ESPN cameras.
I don’t know if it was Eberle returning after 4-Nations or what happened (or didn’t happen) with the trade deadline, but the vibe of the team has been very different this past month.
And to go back to the original post in this thread – Larsson’s +\- compared to the rest of the team is insane (and Montour’s is a little scary the other way). It was good before the deadline and has only gotten better since. I think some of the glow might come off if you include the PK, but he’s had a solid season.