The Seattle Kraken took a quick back‑to‑back trip: St. Louis on Saturday and Dallas on Sunday. Joey Daccord went on injured reserve (IR) with an upper‑body injury before the trip and did not travel. By rule, he will miss at least seven days. That meant both Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray would start.
Saturday: Comeback in St. Louis
The Blues have struggled defensively and have allowed an NHL‑worst 63 goals. Seattle started fast and controlled play early. Then a risky pass through the slot by Ryan Winterton was picked off and buried by Dylan Holloway. A sloppy line change led to a too‑many‑men penalty. On the ensuing Blues power play, a pass attempt deflected off Adam Larsson and in. St. Louis led 2‑0.
Seattle answered in the second. Ryker Evans and Eeli Tolvanen scored their first goals of the season to tie it 2‑2. It was also Evans’ first game this season. The Kraken pushed after the equalizer and carried momentum. It felt like the go‑ahead goal was coming.
Instead, Jordan Kyrou pounced after a crease scramble and lifted the puck over a sprawling Grubauer. St. Louis led 3‑2 in the third.
It stayed that way until the final seconds. With Grubauer pulled, Chandler Stephenson scored with 1.9 remaining on the clock. The league initiated a review after Jordan Eberle’s skate contacted Joel Hofer’s stick in the crease, but officials ruled no goalie interference. To overtime they went.
Seattle won the opening draw and held the puck throughout OT. Shane Wright took the first shot and buried it, and the Kraken snatched two points. It was Wright’s first career overtime winner.
Sunday: Close loss in Dallas
Murray drew the start and was sharp, stopping 22 of 24 shots. Jaden Schwartz tipped an Adam Larsson shot to give Seattle a 1‑0 lead. Dallas answered 1:09 later on the power play. Wyatt Johnston pulled the puck across the crease and backhanded it in, taking some wind from Seattle’s sails.
Dallas controlled most of the first. With under a minute left, Tyler Seguin settled a bouncing puck, slipped past Ryan Lindgren, and tucked it under a sprawling Murray for a 2-1 lead.
Seattle did not fold. The Kraken pushed hard in the second and third, outshooting Dallas 24‑14 over the final 40. They generated several grade‑A chances, but Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith turned them aside.
Seattle remains winless in the second game of back‑to‑backs over their last 15. This one felt different. The Kraken skated well and delivered a quality effort against a contending team. It goes down as a loss, but play like that will win more than it loses.
Takeaway #1 – Berkly Catton hits 10 games
10 NHL games is a key marker for CHL‑eligible players. If a player is returned before that 10th game, the entry‑level contract slides, preserving three full years. With the game against the Stars on Sunday, Catton has now played 10 games, so this season will count as the first year of his deal. It’s a positive sign he could stay with the Kraken all season, but nothing is guaranteed.
The next marker is 40 games on the NHL roster, which accrues an NHL season. Accrued seasons determine when a player reaches unrestricted free agency (UFA). If Catton is on the roster for 40 games, even without playing, he would be UFA‑eligible at age 25. If not, he hits UFA at 26.
Catton has three assists through 10 games and looks more comfortable each night. The coaching staff is managing his minutes to set him up for success. He logged 10:05 in St. Louis and 8:48 in Dallas. Trust the process; his development is trending well.
Takeaway #2 – Goalies giving Seattle a chance
Head coach Lane Lambert’s group is building around structure and defense. That helps the goaltenders do their jobs. Both netminders gave Seattle a real shot to win this weekend.
Grubauer’s win required late heroics, but those moments only mattered because the “German Gentleman” kept it within one in the third. Murray allowed two in Dallas and kept Seattle one bounce from a tie.
Last season, the Kraken often looked different with Grubauer in net, and not in a good way. With Daccord on IR, it was fair to wonder if the structure might crack. It didn’t. The group stayed connected, limited breakdowns, and remained competitive in both games.
Takeaway #3 – In it until the end
The 6-1 loss to San Jose on Wednesday felt like an early-season low point, just 16 games in. Seattle responded with two committed efforts, though. The Kraken put 61 shots on net over the weekend, up from the season 23.9‑per‑game average noted in Monday Musings. They chased in both games yet kept applying pressure while staying sound defensively.
That push earned the win in St. Louis. You could argue the performance in Dallas was even better, even if the result wasn’t. If they keep this up, the wins will follow.
Wrapping up
A win in the second leg at Dallas would have snapped an ugly streak. Still, a weekend split on the road carries plenty of positives. Seattle now returns home for a three‑game homestand, starting with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
Go Kraken!!!
“Ten NHL games is a key marker for CHL‑eligible players. If a player is returned before that 10th game, the entry‑level contract slides, preserving three full years. With the game against the Stars on Sunday, Catton has now played 10 games, so this season will count as the first year of his deal.”
I would like clarification because I recall Daryl saying that the 10 game marker didn’t apply to Catton.
I do not recall ever saying anything of the sort. It didn’t apply to Beniers because there is an exception for 19 year old players who sign and ELC and then turn 20 before December 31st. This typically ends up only applying to college players.
I have never said the 10 game rule does not apply to Catton.
Maybe I misunderstood because I was talking about Catton and you went on a rant about the particulars of the rule. May have been two minds thinking in different directions?
Whatever Nino.
High level college players negotiate signing in the spring and triggering the first year being used up when they come in for the final few games after the college season ends. That’s what caused the Cutter Gauthier issue with the Flyers. There is no exception.
From PuckPedia:
“When a player on an entry-level contract is 18 or 19 years old, their entry level contract is slide eligible. This means their team may choose to return them to junior and avoid using a year of their contract. In this case the contract slides. The net effect is that the term length of their contract doesn’t start.
Exception : A player who signs an entry-level contract at age 19, and then turns 20 before Dec 31 of that year is not slide eligible.”
The exception is that the 10 game rule does not apply in order for the contract to slide.
I worded that last bit confusingly. There is no ten games threshold for this player. The first year is automatically burned.
My understanding with the college players is that age is not the part that matters with the contract slides, it’s the “return” part.
Once a player actually signs an entry-level contract, they are officially considered “professional” and lose their NCAA eligibility. That leaves nowhere for the NHL team to return them to, and that’s why the contract can’t slide.
@RB. Here’s specifically what the CBA says:
CBA 9.1 (d)(i)
In the event that an 18 year old or 19 year old Player signs an SPC with a Club but does not play at least ten (10) NHL Games in the first season under that SPC, the term of his SPC and his number of years in the Entry Level System shall be extended for a period of one (1) year, EXCEPT that this automatic extension will not apply to a Player who is 19 according to
Section 9.2 by virtue of turning 20 between September 16 and December 31 in the year in which he first signs an SPC.
9.2 Age of Players. As used in this Article, “age,” including “First SPC Signing Age,” means
a Player’s age on September 15 of the calendar year in which he signs an SPC, regardless of his
actual age on the date he signs such SPC.
My key takeaway from the Dallas game is that Marchment actually looked like a good NHL player, I’m actually frustrated by this to the same degree as Grubauer playing great during his first playoff series vs the Avs but being an absolute basket case the rest of his time with the kraken. If he has the ability to play to that level and doesn’t do it what does that say about his motivation? He’s looked horrible throughout most of the kraken games but suddenly looked good!!!
I agree with Blaiz’s assessment that the team looked better in the game against the Stars than they did in the game against the Blues. They just got goalied in Dallas, but they played a tight, tough game. They looked better than they have in any second half of a back-to-back that I can recall seeing. The Blues game was a mess for a lot of it. Certainly the first period of that one was terrible and felt like a continuation of the sloppy performance they had against the Sharks. I am glad for the two points and do not fault them for not winning in Dallas.
Ryan Winterton had the one boneheaded play but was otherwise very good in both games. I will say the same about Chandler Stephenson. Jordan Eberle looked like a worthy captain with his relentless effort and fearless net front play. Ryker Evans dispelled all doubts I had about him usurping Josh Mahura’s spot despite a string of good games played. Adam Larsson personally erased a number of mistakes made by forwards and looked his nasty, technically flawless best. Eeli Tolvanen appears to have settled into his role on the right side, and I noticed some really slick off-handed stick work in the offensive zone, particularly in the Dallas game.
Oh, and also note Tolvanen becoming the focal point of the power play. The puck flows toward him the way it used to do for Jared McCann before the injury. Boy, do I want McCann back, but Tolvanen is diminishing the pain of his absence. Speaking of absence, I hope that Joey is not too badly hurt. Grubauer and Murray played well, but it would be good to have Daccord back. In fact, Grubauer in particular looked excellent. The goals he gave up were of the “NHL ’94 dot-to-dot one-timer” variety of impossible, and no right-minded person blames him for the goal off the Winterton turnover. The teams gets buried in the first period of the Blues game with a lesser performance in net.
I was also thinking about how much they need McCann back. Tolvanen is the only forward in the lineup right now with a shoot-first mentality. Nyman is probably the only other forward on the roster who is shoot first, but the coaching staff seems to have other issues with his play that is keeping him out of the lineup. Similarly, they need more guys than just Schwartz who are willing to park themselves in front of the net – and not just go there for a couple of seconds and then drift off.
Through 15 games, this is the lower number of shots in the team’s history…and it’s not particularly close:
2025: 378 shots / 39 goals
2024: 401 / 43
2023: 449 / 39
2022: 448 / 50
2021: 437 / 42
Even though they had 31 shots yesterday, there were multiple opportunities during the nearly 4 minutes of power play and the 6 on 5 at the end of the game where they passed on shots – that wasted my take real-time, confirmed by Lambert in the post game.
Why won’t they shoot, and why is this a problem that continues year over year regardless of players and coaching personnel? We are about 2 years (and 2 coaches) from the infamous “shoot the fucking puck!” outburst. Of the skaters in the lineup this weekend, only 8 were on the team back then (Eberle, Beniers, Kartye, Schwartz, Tolvanen, Larsson, Dunn and Oleksiak).
A couple of observations that I’m too lazy to back up with data:
1) when players come up from CV, they come up shooting, but it seems to drop the longer they’re up. Maybe it’s opponents adjusting, but is it something going with the culture internally that is making them skittish?
2) Montour and Dunn seem to be more shoot first when they’re at 5-on-5 versus when they are “quarterbacking” the power play or 6-on-5. I’m wondering if something about that responsibility is making them too conservative. Maybe someone else needs take on the qb role and free them up to shoot.
RB what is interesting about your assessment is that it goes against the current coaching structure of most of the coaches in the NHL. The goalies have gotten so good that it’s very difficult to beat a tender without a traffic/a good screen/ tip etc…. Players are being coached to wait for quality chances and not just shoot the puck when there is little chance of a goal. Your odds are 50% at best of retaining puck possession after a shot and if you just shoot every time you have a chance you’re probably going to be having very little offensive zone time and in the end might not even result in more shots on net.
Eddie O comes from a different era and I know he likes to say shoot the puck but it’s not in most cases how players are being coached currently and for good reason.
What we need is more offensive pressure creating better chances and getting players in dangerous positions. What we don’t need is simply shooting the puck whenever we can.
There’s being strategic and then there’s being anemic. There are 31 other teams with more shots than Seattle – are all of those teams being reckless by actually trying to score even if the opportunity isn’t exactly perfect?
Even Lambert said at the end of the game that there were opportunities to shoot that were not taken.
When you’re playing an extremely defensive system it will lower your shots per game simply because your system doesn’t take any offensive gamble plays. You simply can’t say that we should be having as many shots per game as past seasons with the coaching staff we have in place.
I knew that this would be the outcome when LL was hired you didn’t?
Simply saying we need more shots on goal but still playing an extremely defensive system is basically saying you don’t like the way the kraken are playing. I’d agree with you on that but saying they should be shooting the puck more is kinda stupid and an old school mentality.
Never waste a shot on a non quality play/ zone possession and quality shot selection can generate as much more scoring chances than “shoot the puck”.
But you right that they should be generating more shots, recognizing why we are not is import. It’s coaching and system based so please stop this “shoot the puck” and start calling out the real reason we are not getting shots on goal.
The power play needs McCann. The penalty kill needs McCann. The Beniers line needs McCann. The team is significantly better in all scenarios when he is in the lineup. At least Freddy is coming back soon to help with the penalty kill. That will be good, and it will mean getting another righty who can take draws.
About net front play, I have noticed Eberle planting himself there a lot this season, and it likely has a lot to do with his hot start. I don’t know what it is, but Ebs plays harder for Lambert. He was so bummed to leave Long Island in 2021. Otherwise, though, it’s usually just Schwartz and Kartye or Winterton setting screens. Occasionally Matty will get stuck in.
Guys coming up from the AHL are keen to make a big impression, so they leap at every opportunity to get some highlights on tape. I think that’s what that is.
Power play quarterbacks, like the nickname suggests, are primarily there to pass. They are supposed to draw attention and then get the puck to one of the finishers, eg. Eeli Tolvanen. If Dunn or Montour shoots from the point, it is probably because his linemates have a screen set in front or because the puck got popped from low to high with the goalie flailing. Also, if Dunn or Montour jumps up, somebody good at defense, like Matty Beniers, has to be there to cover for them on the blue line, or bad things happen like in the Sharks game.
The Grubauer I saw was the same one that played last s
…oops.
The Grubauer I saw was the same one as last season. He been the same all season so far. The numbers aside in the St Louis game – which were dreadful – he continues to play the same “all over the place” flailing game as before. That third goal, where he’s on his belly again, is a classic example of what looks like great effort is actually poor goaltending. He continues to overcommit with him sliding almost halfway to the dot one time and defending the backside of the net on a couple occasions. It seemed to me the Kraken win that game in spite of the goaltending rather than with the help of the goaltending. I’m much more encouraged by Murray so far, but if Joey is out for an extended period I’m afraid this team is in real trouble.
And yet the coach specifically called out both goaltenders as playing well unprompted. At some point you need to admit you just hate the guy and you’re nitpicking every single play due to your bias. It gets old watching all the whining from people.
I do not “hate” the guy. Everything I’ve heard about him as a person and a teammate has been exceptional. I simply haven’t seen anything in his game so far this season that makes me think his results will be any different.
That said… you’re absolutely right. All the whining from folks gets old and I’m as guilty of that as anyone. Going into last season I said Gru is what he is and I was done talking about him… and then things ended up being especially brutal. Unsurprisingly, complaining about it didn’t help so enough already.
Again, I do not hate the guy and this being an Olympic year I’m really hoping the best for him… but you’re right, enough whining.
Matt Murray is getting the start against Columbus… weird.
I honestly would call him out on Wintertons turnover as well. Yes he made a very bad mistake and put Grubauer in a position where he needed to make a good save to bail him out but the shot was above the face off circle with absolutely no screen and it wasn’t a quick shot, Grubauer had a lot of time to move into position and get set.
Absolutely agree Daryl he’s looking the same, same giving up a few goals within the first 10 or so shots. The team did a great job overcoming the mistakes against a very good team, that’s impressive.
You really need your vision checked if that’s what you think happened on the Winterton turnover.
My other comment applies to you as well
Go back and watch the goal again, it’s not my vision that’s having a problem 😂
Only been watching Hockey since the Kraken so pretty new to this but can someone explain to me the difference in developmental paths that has Matty B and Wyatt Johnson? they have almost he same size and stature, play the same position same draft year. Matty when #2 overall 20 picks ahead of Johnson, beat him out for he Calder but has since regressed offensively to a 40-50pt guy where as Johnson has improved significantly year over year and is on his way to being a point-per-game player.
1) Johnston plays on a much better team with a lot of star talent. Beniers would have more points if he were on a line with Rantanen, Robertson et al.
2) Points isn’t all that matters — Beniers is already elite defensively.
3) The NHL draft is less of a crapshoot with higher picks, but it still is a crapshoot. It could be that Johnston is just a better player, or that Beniers will just take a few years longer to hit his peak. We won’t know for a while.
Johnston also did not play at all in his draft year due to COVID cancelations. Beniers had been committed to Harvard but transferred to Michigan when the Ivy League canceled their season. Johnston may have been much better than his draft position – obviously – but teams had very little recent information to work from.
I’m really not concerned with Matty, yes he could be better but he is and will always be a good NHL player. Definitely not a bust in any sense of the word. I see him as being a solid second line center, it could be worse.
I see Beniers as a guy who is hustling and busting is rear end all over the ice.
A future captain in my opinion.
Can you help me understand why everyone says Beniers is defensively elite? Because I really don’t get what it means. What are the stats that identify these so-called defensively elite forwards (not just Beniers)? It doesn’t seem to be blocked shots, takeaways (or lack of giveaways), or hits…so what is it based on?
I think two of the biggest stats that folks in the analytics community lean into are defensive zone retrievals and controlled exits. Not this past offseason but the season before, the Athletic did an article specifically on Beniers and a deep dive into what makes him a defensive asset.
And lately – I’m working off the top of my head – Luszczyszyn and I believe someone else followed up on this calling him out among the top five defensive forwards in the league.
From his Season Preview on Beniers:…” with his Defensive Rating (3.7 projected, fourth among forwards behind only Sam Reinhart, Aleksander Barkov and Seth Jarvis)”.
I would point to the Edmonton game and how he was matched by Lambert against the best player in hockey today in Connor McDavid and completely neutralized him while generating two assists of his own. Also try to remember how often you have seen the Beniers line get stranded in their own zone for extended shifts. Of course there are the advanced (it’s not stupid) stats, but the eye test tells the story better than the statistics do.
Good observation regarding Wyatt Johnson. I’ve watched him play a several games, and he clearly has scoring touch/finishing ability that MB simply doesn’t possess. Last season he wass 33/38 for 71 points – mostly without the benefit of Miko Rantenan who only played ~ 20 games for the Stars. MB scored 43 points This season WJ is on pace for 95-100 points, MB about half that. To suggest the WJ’s superior production is a result of “better teamates” is just an attempt to rationalize the unfavorable comparison. You don’t put up WJ numbers simply by virtue of better teamates – he’s legitimately developed into a 1C on a playoff caliber team.
Matty Beniers does have a high IQ game, is “defensively responsible” and probably a coaches dream, but a 1C is on a playoff team is supposed to be a creator whose individual skill can create scoring opportunities for himself and those around him. He’s not a playmaker in that regard. As a defensively responsible, low scoring center he’s everything you’d want as a borderline 2C/3C on a playoff team. But he’s had three full season in NHL at this point, and his trajectory has been pretty flat. So while I hope he develops into a legit 1C ,that isn’t anywhere close to a realistic expectation right now.
I get that he’s an above average defensive center, even ESPN said he’s a dark horse for Selke votes, but isn’t the heavy use of Stephenson (and Wennberg before that) in defensive zone, faceoffs, lining up against “top lines” and playing 18-20 minutes a game supposed to insulate Matty B (and other youth) and allow them to focus on offensive production?
I think I’d like to see Matty B put on 20lbs and be the second coming of Barkov, a point-per-game defensive center.
The o-zone start percentage for Matty is really odd. One would think that Stephenson would be the better guy to take the draw in the offensive zone after the way that he was deployed in Vegas and given his very good passing skills, but Lambert seems to be utilizing him the same way that he did with the Capitals way back in the day. Yes, he has the slick transition moves to make it work, but Matty’s zone exits are noticably better. There is the fact that Stephenson is better at taking face-offs, but I do not know how much that matters. Maybe I am crazy, but it looks to me like Stevie actually prefers to play this largely defensive role given how engaged and high-energy he has been so far this season.
Perhaps it has more to do with Matty not getting pigeonholed into a classic 3C role. He has been producing offensively with the increase in offensive zone time, so they may be trying to find out what he is capable of there. It also may not just be about him. Frequent linemates Jordan Eberle and, until his injury, Jared McCann do their best work in the offensive zone, and, with them showing chemistry with Beniers, it may just be that altogether they are a better offensive line than a defensive line. It could be that Lambert is keeping roles as-is until McCann returns and hopefully brings back that high-level goal production we saw from the Beniers line at the start of the season.
Points are the whole game. Matty was never a super offensive center. Matty has also improved a ton year over year just not in stats you pay attention to. Even the eye test tells you he’s gotten better. Remember how often he’d end up on his in a puck battle? Pepperidge Farm remembers