The Seattle Kraken lost to the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime on Saturday, their second straight overtime loss. The game had a different flow from Tuesday’s 4-3 OT loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but the story felt familiar: Seattle again struggled to create much offense, instead sitting back for most of the game and relying heavily on defensive-zone structure and Joey Daccord to earn a point.
Chandler Stephenson scored on the power play, and Brandon Montour’s second-period missile tied the game 2-2, but that was all the offense Seattle could muster. Will Cuylle’s game-winner off a 2-on-1 gave the Rangers the rightful win.
BRANDON BOMBTOUR! 💣🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 2, 2025
After some good zone time, Schwartz finds Montour coming off the bench. He fires a howitzer over Shesterkin's glove for his third goal in two games.
2-2 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/ovLO6HTDoK
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken overtime loss to the Rangers.
Takeaway #1: Kraken not generating enough
One of the things many things I’ve admired about Lane Lambert’s approach to coaching the Kraken is his postgame honesty. He tends to identify the problem clearly and directly—soft-spoken but precise in his assessment.
After Saturday’s game, in which the Kraken spent most of the night trapped in their own zone and managed only 13 shots on Igor Shesterkin—the fewest in franchise history—I asked Lambert if he was comfortable with how much time his team has spent defending.
Here’s what he said:
“Well, I think the answer’s obvious. We don’t want to spend this much time in our zone. We’re battling when we do, but again, the first period was a classic example of what I’ve been talking about all year long. We’re misfiring on passes, we’re not— at times, I’m not saying all the time. Our guys are working, and they’re giving it everything they have from that standpoint, but we’ve got to find a way out of our zone better and have more composure and more poise. It’s the bottom line. We turn the puck over, and we spend another 30 or 40 seconds in our zone. So, we wonder why, that’s why.”
Good insight from Lane Lambert on the #SeaKraken’s struggles at breaking the puck out of their zone. pic.twitter.com/PI1T0Zmhhh
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 2, 2025
It was a perfect summation of what we were all seeing, especially in those first 20 minutes when Seattle simply couldn’t get out of its own end. The Kraken defend well when the other team has the puck, but when they finally regain possession, too often they throw a bad pass or bobble the puck, allowing the forecheck to reset and keeping Seattle on its heels.
Problem No. 1: The Kraken aren’t exiting their zone cleanly enough to even put themselves in position to attack.
Problem No. 2—especially on Saturday—is that when they do get set up in the offensive zone, they’re not pulling the trigger. Case in point: In the final 30 seconds of regulation, Seattle had the Rangers pinned. They passed around the perimeter so long it felt like a buzzer-beating winner was inevitable. But with the puck on Montour’s stick at the top of the slot, the horn sounded before a shot was even sent in Shesterkin’s general direction.
“It’s fair to say [we didn’t have a shoot-first mentality],” Lambert said. “I think we passed up too many shots when we did have good opportunities… At the same time, they defend well, they’re in lanes. So it’s easy to say, ‘Shoot the puck,’ but if people are in the lanes, it’s a little bit harder to do. It’s not going to get through. But at the same time, I thought we passed up shots, and we had opportunities to shoot pucks from even bad angles and create a second opportunity, and we didn’t.”
Takeaway #2: Kaapo Kakko returns
It was good to see Kaapo Kakko back in the lineup Saturday, facing his former team for the first time since being traded to Seattle by the Rangers on Dec. 18, 2024. The Finnish winger, who broke his hand on a slash during preseason, played 14:16 in his season debut.
“Always the first game is kind of hard. I mean, I’ve been working out well and skating and doing all those things,” Kakko said. “I think, some good things, but I can be a lot better.”
He skated on a line with Mason Marchment and Shane Wright, which didn’t look all that effective. Lambert began mixing things up in the third period, so we’ll see if that combination sticks moving forward. The three played 8:13 together, though Kakko also logged 2:34 with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle. Meanwhile, Berkly Catton’s ice time dipped to 11:36 after playing over 16 minutes Tuesday against Montreal.
“That was my first time playing with both [Wright and Marchment],” Kakko said. “I usually played with Matty last year, so I think it takes, always, some time when you start to play with new guys. But there’s a couple of good things. I think we got one pretty good chance, but yeah, that can be better, also.”
After Kakko arrived last season, he was attached at the hip to Beniers, so it was surprising to see them separated for this game. I’m curious how long it will take before Lambert puts them back together.
“I thought he played well,” Lambert said of Kakko. “Big, strong body. You could see what he is going to add to our team down low in the offensive zone.”
I had high hopes Kakko’s return would provide an instant offensive spark, but that didn’t happen in his first game back. Still, it’s a big boost for Seattle to have him healthy and in the mix again, and continuing to move toward having more of their regular players back.
Takeaway #3: Another standings point
It’s early to start obsessing over the standings (although Blaiz’s story on Saturday noted that Halloween can be an early playoff indicator), but the Pacific Division already looks like a grind. From the first-place Vegas Golden Knights to the sixth-place Vancouver Canucks, there’s currently only a three-point gap.
That means every point matters—even the ones Seattle is “stealing” from games it probably should have lost in regulation. Saturday’s OT point against the Rangers fits that description, as does Tuesday’s comeback against Montreal.
While it’s fair to be frustrated by the lack of offensive zone time, it’s also impressive that the Kraken continue to find ways to collect points. 11 games into the season, they’ve lost just twice in regulation and remain unbeaten in regulation at home.
They’re showing exactly what Lambert promised back in training camp: that if they stick to their defensive structure, they’ll be competitive every night. Even on a night when they didn’t generate nearly enough offensively, they still found a way to come away with something.
Now, if they can just figure out how to play some offense…
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.
1. 12 shots during regulation? Maybe have to give up some D for some O.
2. As a fan of all hockey, not just the Kraken, it is really nice to see playoff or near-playoff spots held by Montreal, Detroit, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philly, Buffalo, Utah, Anaheim, and Chicago. Even San Jose is coming on.
3. Cutter Gauthier 6 goals, Shane Wright 3 goals. Something needs to happen to start making that look like the right choice. I think he needs Eberle on his wing and send Kakko back to Beniers.
You should be counting goals scored for the team that drafted them, since you are comparing them as draft picks. Cutter Gauthier will never be someone anyone says, “boy, I wish my team drafted him” about, no matter what he does in his career. He could be a four time Cup winning first ballot Hall of Famer, and it still would not be pertinent to any discussion of draft position. He forced his way off the team that drafted him.
Sorry about your chronic butthurt, but what an absolute load of complete fucking horseshit. The Flyers were a dumpster fire of an organization, thus CG didn’t want to commit to them for multiple years, so he exercised the leverage he had. Welcome to the new millenia – players have leverage, and shitty franchises will get punished as a result. If this is upsetting to you, the Cro Magnon channel replays original-six games non-stop. Perhaps you’ll find comfort burying yourself in the 1960s
Gonna try and tread lightly here…
I think the fact that the Flyers decided to not burn a year of his ELC and had him go back to college for another year was probably a huge factor in why he refused to sign in Philly.
Possibly. My response was driven by the assinine nature of the comment.
Gauthier (wisely) has said nothing regarding the situation. Was he pissed about deferring his contract a year? Did Kevin Hayes steer him away from the organization. Did CG NOT want to play for Torts? Or was it just because the organization seemed like a dumpster fire? Or all of the above?
No way to know for sure, but if it was the ELC then the Flyers should have bit the bullet. They’d have CG under contract for a 3-year “audition” with an excellent chance to retain him when he became an RFA. That’s the way the world works now….
@Nino. The circumstances between the Beniers/Gauthier and the Catton contracts are so significant the idea of comparing them doesn’t really apply… but nonetheless.
Because Beniers and Gauthier were college players rather than Junior, they were not eligible to sign a contract in the same way Catton was. Furthermore, an age 19 college player does not need to play 10 games to burn their ELC – contrary to what Chuckles might think. Signing a contract and playing a game immediately burns a year, but teams typically do this with their highly touted prospects out if college. Unlike with Junior, this player – even though only 19 – would then be AHL eligible. I’m not sure how Ron Francis is adding road blocks, but I’ll also add that Beniers was coming in off of a year in college playing against men and he entered the season as the front runner and eventual winner of the Calder Trophy. Does anyone… anyone… seriously think Berkly Catton is getting Calder mentions, let alone being talked about as a front runner.
Personally, I think they should burn Catton’s ELC. I also think they should be icing the lineup that gives them the best chance of winning. I’d like to see Catton get some games, go to the AHL on a conditioning stint, go to World Juniors, and finish out the season getting something in the 40 to 50 games range with the club. He’s loaded with skill, but he’s got so little experience against men and he’s still undersized. Get him some games and some training and have him ready for a regular spot next season. Just my thought.
I’m not a fan of developing players by sending them out to get their ass kicked.. or as you call it, “letting the kids play”. I do think they need to add some top end talent, but I think their chances of doing that at the trade deadline if they’re in a playoff spot may well be just as good as betting on ping-pong balls.
Right now they’re third in the Pacific and I’m not quite ready to throw in the towel.
I agree… the Flyers should have burned a year of his ELC and brought him up… just like Ron Francis did with Beniers. This is one of those actual GM things the armchair GMs don’t seem to understand… the nuances.
Personally, I don’t give a frogs fat ass about Cutter Gauthier. This sort of “living in the past” seems to me to be – to quote Emerson – the hobgoblin of little minds… but that too might just be complete fucking horseshit.
Go Kraken!!!
Interesting take, does that mean that we should burn a year of Catton’s? I’m sure it would be the right thing to do because I
He is looking like he can play in the NHL but RF keeps adding road blocks. How does he fit in when McCann returns, exactly why did we add Marchment? Nyman is also a player that’s ready for the NHL, what to do with him… he was already scratched last game with more healthy bodies set to return.
Is our plan to just bury our rookies and bring in a coach that puts us to sleep just in the hope that we might squeeze into the playoffs as a wildcard and be knocked out in four or five games?
Let the kids play and bring in a coach that will let them.
As the sample size gets bigger, the offense looks pretty bad. I know there have been a lot of injuries and it’s still early but that was not encouraging.
They play hard and disciplined on D, which is impressive. We need more time in the offensive zone and they need to shoot.
Puck handling and passing. This is starting to worry me a bit because it’s beginning to look all too familiar.
Season before last, early on, I was on here complaining about the atrocious puck handling and passing. Unfortunately, it seemed like Hakstol’s “shoot the f-ing puck” outburst in early November diagnosed the problem as needing more volume. They responded to him by shooting more… and losing 11 of the next 14.
Last season after getting off to an above .500 start in spite of, again, poor puck handling and passing, Bylsma started leaning into volume and said, “we want to be a shoot first team”… and we all know how that turned out.
I’d be all for getting more pucks on net… if I thought that was the problem. They’ve tried that as a solution before and it hasn’t worked. Simply shooting more is not going to do anything about the teams inability to control the puck. On the contrary, throwing the puck at the net through clogged lanes is very occasionally going to end up in a goal. It is very often going to get blocked or just plain miss the net… and end up going the other way. And then you’re back to being trapped in you own zone.
I’ve got to agree with Darren here that Lambert’s postgame honestly is admirable. I also think it’s encouraging to hear him give a more nuanced diagnosis about the teams challenges rather than just saying they need to shoot more. I think they do need to get more pucks on net, but simply throwing more attempts towards the goalie isn’t going to fix this team.
I’m just some guy on a couch and there’s a ton of absurdity to the idea that some pundit or fan is in any way more enlightened than a staff of hockey professionals who are engaged at the peak of the sport. I just want to say, it’s encouraging to me to hear Lambert say something other than, “we need to shoot more”.
Hopefully the November schedule gives this team a chance to improve their play with the puck.
When the opponents do not feed transition, Seattle has a difficult time finding any other offense. That has also been the case in games that they won, like the Edmonton game where every Seattle goal was created off a turnover at the blue line. Early on, they had been getting goals by playing net front, but Jaden Schwartz, Eeli Tolvanen, and Ryan Winterton have been the only guys to consistently do that. I noticed a couple instances in the game where the puck carrier no-looked a pass net front only to find that nobody had skated into the position. They have to get back to how they had been getting to the slot.
That said, Coach Lambert may be right in placing the principal blame for the lack of offensive chances on breakouts, since it may be that the third forward is not getting up-ice in time to get into position. Notice how many times it was only two guys advancing trough the neutral zone while the third forward and the defensemen were lagging behind for one reason or another. Perhaps Kaapo Kakko’s speed and size will make a difference once he gets his legs back under him. Getting Jared McCann back would surely help there as well. Berkley Catton has played well, but McCann is better at breakouts.
His system requires the 3rd forward (usually the C except when Stephenson decides not to play any defense) to play exceptionally deep defensively so a Dman can cover the net front. It was all predicted when he was hired. Also requires an A-level goaltender so he’ll burn out Joey trying to achieve whatever he’s trying to achieve (keeping his job).
Blaming the kids and over reliance on vets was the easiest call ever. It’s all just postponing the building of the team since he won’t risk rookie mistakes when that’s exactly what the team needs to do. Just waiting for the inevitable veteran “scoring “ acquisition (talking Tatar or Sprong level, not Jason Robertson gamble since this team doesn’t do that) followed by the sending of Catton to waste away in Spokane to make it all complete. All just so they can draft 8th again.
Those Chandler Stephenson 5v5 numbers were brutal last night…
xGF% 26.58… Ugh!!!
I mean sure, he only had 26.67% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone and he was a +1 at 5v5… but it’s obvious he’s a black hole on defense and clearly Lane Lambert doesn’t understand this, otherwise he wouldn’t keep sending him out there in these defensive situations.
I actually think that overall Chandler has had a much better season under LL, his system is made for Chandler. That has nothing to do with last night’s game just referring to his season so far.
Yes exactly, when your primary focus is on defense sending less men up the ice in transition is less risky but also creates 12 shot games. Pick your poison, get on a few islanders boards and ask what they thought of the Lame Train.
Seriously talk about boring hockey, the Lambert system is painful to watch. All on the Lain Train, hope the train has comfortable beds.
He can complain all he wants about not catching a few passes but it’s his system that to blame for the lack of offense and zone time. We will definitely get more points with Lambert at the helm but is it worth it? He basically parked the bus the entire third period, benched the 4tb line which included Catton at that point and didn’t even give the green light to try and score until the last 30 seconds.
This is not my vision of how hockey should be played, hockey is an exciting fast paced game, I’m not even sure what Lambert calls the sport he’s trying to coach?
Agree with your comments. But LL is a defensive coach and (per comments above) he surely feels employing his defensive strategy is the only way to offset the Kraken’s skill disadvantage versus other teams. Basically, keep the game close late into the 3rd period then hope for the best. A play not to lose, rope-a-dope strategy. So, we can probably “look forward” to many situations where the Kraken are outshot “28-18” but find themselves tied in (dreadfully) low-scoring games late.
Also agree this style of play is excruciating and unwatchable. Given what it costs to buy a club seat, I want to see speed and skill. Unfortunately, the Kraken don’t have much of either and this formula – while eliminating bad losses – it unlikely to result in a playoff run.
The FO needs to acknowledge that this team simply doesn’t have the roster or prospects to either create a borderline playoff team or even present an entertaining style of play. As painful as it seems, a roster teardown and rebuilding is only way to break this cycle of mediocrity.
The FO had better act fast. Be honest with themselves and explain to ownership why radical changes are necessary and unavoidable. This will buy themselves time. If they do nothing, this season’s empty club section) seats will become next season’s unbought tickets – at which point ownership will take notice. And the inevitable rebuilding opportunity will be driven by a new FO of Samantha Holloway’s own choosing.
I’m super curious to see who is scratched for Monday’s game. Will it be Nyman again? Catton? Meyers, Kartye or Winterton? Catton and Kartye played only 2 shifts each in the third period last night; Meyers played 1 shift. Winterton got more minutes, but the kraken also needed cover a hole at RW once Kakko moved up with Eberle and Beniers…
Other semi-random thoughts:
The pace got frantic again – there were several times it seemed the team should have taken an opportunity to regroup in the defensive zone and get some control of the pace but they did not. Also many passes flung with unnecessary vigor that bounced off of sticks.
Thank goodness Marchment is only signed through the end of this season. Is there any more easily pluggable position than third line LW? Seems like literally any forward on the roster could play there.
Tolvanen really needs to get things going. Can we send Marchment to Tampa and get Bjorkstrand back?
I went to practice on Friday and once again noticed the same thing I’ve seen whenever I’ve watched the team outside of game situations for the past couple of seasons, which is how little Matty Beniers interacts with the rest of the younger players. Maybe it’s where they play in the lineup, but as the only under-30 player on the team wearing a letter, I’d like to see him being more of a leader of the younger crew.
Yes I agree about marchment, I would have much preferred to see Nyman in last night over Marchment and I also feel like he would have done a better job. He’s got stone hands and is very slow, I feel Nyman is a little slow but he’s not Marchment slow and has 10 times the skill.
Whoever is scratched next game is probably not going to be the player that deserves it most likely one of our young players with skill. I feel like it’s unlikely to be Meyers as he’s center and also unlikely to be Kartye because he’s used heavily on the PK. Catton or Nyman are good bets. Should be Marchment though.
I don’t disagree with any of the comments on Marchment – last night was brutal – but I’m gonna wait a bit before I “pronounce him a bust”… as if that means a thing.
Regardless if he’s a bust or not, he’s not a great player overall and is only around for a year (hopefully). We could seriously use his ice for Catton or Nyman. WHY DO WE KEEP SIGNING MIDDLING PLAYERS!!!!
It’s games like last night that make me think all those gloomy preseason predictions were correct. This looks like a legitimate bottom 5 team to me, and the expected stats back that up (26 xG% last night! holy moly). The only thing saving them right now is their exceedingly boring style of play and Joey making most of the saves that he should. That’s Kraken hockey baby! Yaaawwwwnnnnnnnn.
I believe you have concisely addressed and clarified all my frustrations after last night’s game, and maybe a few leading up to it. Thank you!
With injuries suffered, we are bit behind the 8-ball with our line chemistries. Hopefully we will have Gaudreau and McCann back in short order, and then we will still have to see how well Lane and staff can operate a blender. A good start might be trying the Schwartz/Beniers/Kakko line that seemed to have some juice end of last season. I’d love to see Catton with Shane anyway, and I would like to see Gaudreau with some wingers who can bury it when he magically gets to puck to them, rather than in a “grinder” role.
Putting my NHL coach hat on…
Schwartz/Beniers/Kakko
Catton/Wright/Eberle
McCann/Gaudreau/Nyman
Marchment/Stephenson/Tolvanen
We could rotate Karts, Winterton in with Nyman and Tolvanen until we find something works.
Your talking about redoing the Pk karts has been the go to on it.
Catton did not have a good game. The puck handling and passing… he had multiple gaffs last night and considering that’s supposed to be his biggest strength… that would explain why he got just two shifts and 1:17 in the third.
Looking at the overall standings.So far there seems to be a lot of OTL’s especially with Western Conference teams. If they play no Overtime with each team just getting a point after regulation seems like the standings would be more equally balanced.
Like they say, we should know by Thanksgiving the direction each teams path is heading.
I patiently read all the comments and by the time I got to the bottom it was dooms-day! You are all correct, it was a boring game and thank god for Joey Daccord because otherwise it wouldn’t have been boring at all! We are one month into the season. There is still a lot of time for things to come back together and gel. A week ago people were jumping on the Lane train! So, now we don’t believe in it?
LL needs to get back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going on with his team. It’ll be interesting to see what happens once the injured make their way back to the ice.
The thing about his system is that in its essence it’s boring hockey. When you win well at least you won the game. This town and most likely the players as well will turn on him quickly if we don’t perform well. Boring hockey isn’t fun to watch or play. I’ve never been on the Lame train because I understand how it worked out on long island and have never enjoyed watching hockey with coaches similar to him coaching.
@PAX. I’m still on the Lane Train… but I doubt anyone on here is surprised by that. I get that folks think tight games are boring and run-and-gun is where it’s at… but we tried that last season and it sucked. My hope is they can stick with the defensive structure, tighten up the puck play, and improve the special teams. None of that seems beyond reach and I’ve got more hope there is a path there rather than trade everyone and start over.
Go Kraken!!!
There is a middle ground between the LL system and run and gun. He’s we need structure and defensive responsibility but you also have to encourage a good clean breakout and apply offensive pressure. Having the player hanging back as much as he does in his system just creates boring hockey. Honestly players (the ones with skill) don’t want to play for a coach like that, exactly how do we attract this new talent?
Well like I said earlier, I’m just some guy on a couch. I think I understand what he’s trying to do, but I don’t have the temerity to think I can outcoach an NHL coach.
The problem is transition out of the D zone. That did not work in the game against the Rangers. No team is going to play well if the transition is poor. Good transition requires timing, coordination and precision, which is exactly what Lambert said was missing when he talked about the team’s bad passing (since bad passes obviously messes everything up). Getting out of the D zone with control and speed is crucial. The Rangers did a good job of blocking lanes, the Kraken seemingly didn’t know what to do once their “usual” plays to exit were blocked. The first or second pass needs to find a player with speed going up the ice, but if the pass is bad or there are no forwards/players who have made themselves open and have speed everything gets wonky. And everything was wonky against the Rangers.
A good coach makes in game adjustments, if LL’s system has been scouted (not a hard system to figure out) then it’s his job and responsibility as the head coach to make adjustments. I feel that the game went exactly as he wanted and planed other then not scoring in overtime. He’s an over the top defensive coach that puts offense at a very distinct second. You hear it he wants to hang around games by just parking the bus, is this the kind of hockey that we want in Seattle?