Fall behind, tie it up, fall behind, tie it up, fall behind, tie it up… Go ahead, seal the deal. That was the cadence of scoring in a 5-3 Seattle Kraken win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, as they overcame a couple of costly mistakes and glided back into third place in the Pacific Division.
“We were playing well, other than those [mistake] situations,” coach Lane Lambert said. “I felt like we were playing well, I thought we had our energy, I thought our compete level was high against a very good hockey team.”
Vince Dunn had a big night with a goal and two assists, Jordan Eberle scored twice, and Kaapo Kakko finally broke through for his first point and goal of the season… only to go back on the shelf with a new lower-body injury on the next shift.
An 8-4-5 record and 21 points looks a lot better than what could have easily been a 7-5-5 record and 19 points. Here are Three Takeaways from an impressive 5-3 Kraken win over the Jets.
Takeaway #1: Poor Kaapo
It had been becoming an unfortunate storyline that Kaapo Kakko returned to the lineup after missing 11 games with a broken hand, only to be held pointless for six. The Kraken really needed him to start producing. He got the monkey off his back Thursday after a beautiful play in which Dunn ran over Mark Scheifele to dish it to Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz then shot it at Kakko’s stick, and the puck caromed neatly over Connor Hellebuyck’s shoulder, tying the game 1-1 at 15:15 of the first period.
KAAPO! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025
Great play by Vince Dunn, who takes… er… THROWS a hit to make the play to Jaden Schwartz. Schwartz shoots for Kakko's stick, and Kakko gets off the schneid.
Go to the net, kids!
1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/l9kpigY7Pm
The Kakko storyline became more unfortunate, though, when he played one more 18-second shift after scoring, took an awkward fall, hunched over on the bench for a while, and finally went down the tunnel and exited the game.
“I feel bad for him,” Seattle coach Lane Lambert said. “It was a beautiful goal he scored, and we need him, so it certainly is not a great thing.”
Lambert said he did not have an update on Kakko.
Here’s where the injury happens. It’s not anything obvious, but Kakko falls awkwardly, and you can tell he’s immediately in some discomfort.
Pretty good period by the #SeaKraken, who conceded a goal, but got it back for a 1-1 tie.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025
Kakko scored the goal, his first of the season, but then he disappeared from the bench one 18-second shift later.
Here's Kakko's last shift of the period. Looked like the fall stung him. pic.twitter.com/pKUXhYqSOV
The timing of the injury stinks for a lot of reasons. For Kakko, the reasons are obvious, but for the Kraken, they’re just starting to inch toward good health; Ryker Evans is back, and a Freddy Gaudreau return appears imminent. Kakko’s return to the lineup two weeks ago felt like a long time coming and the first big step in that process.
Here’s hoping this is just a blip, and Seattle will continue marching toward a full lineup.
Takeaway #2: Overcoming bad mistakes
The Kraken made some uncharacteristic defensive lapses in this game. On the first goal against, they had three players back, as they almost always seem to do. Dunn and Adam Larsson were there, as was Ben Meyers, with Tye Kartye backtracking effectively. Dunn and Meyers got crossed up for a brief moment, though, and before they could recombobulate, Alex Iafallo had fought through Larsson’s check, and Adam Lowry had found him with a perfect pass for a tap-in.
1-0 #gojetsgo, who made that one look very easy. #SeaKraken had players back, but they seemed to get crossed up.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025
Alex Iafallo gets the easy tap-in. pic.twitter.com/6tBsctbuE0
The Kraken also screwed the pooch three minutes into the second period when Ryker Evans failed to get the puck deep, and three other skaters headed to the bench for a line change. Neal Pionk rejected the shoot-in and instead sent a quick-up pass to Scheifele at the far blue line for a rare breakaway against Seattle.
…And that's why we get pucks in deep.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025
A rare breakaway against the #SeaKraken, who were caught in a line change, and Mark Scheifele scores.
2-1 #gojetsgo. pic.twitter.com/B1Fl6zYy6c
But the Kraken didn’t let those mistakes—or a questionable Kyle Connor power-play goal against Philipp Grubauer that made it 3-2—take the wind out of their sails. Instead, they dusted themselves off for the third and came out on a mission to take over this game.
Takeaway #3: The Kraken can score goals
Another uncomfortable storyline that had been becoming more prevalent was the Kraken’s inability to score. In three of the previous four games, they had notched just one goal each, with the exception being their 4-3 overtime win Saturday in St. Louis.
Seattle temporarily quieted that criticism on Thursday with a five-goal night, including the one from Kakko, two from Eberle, one from Dunn, and a power-play bomb from Eeli Tolvanen that tied the game at 4:11 of the third period.
“I think, for us, defense is going to be the backbone of this club. That’s how we’re going to win hockey games,” Eberle said. “But you’ve got to try and create offense out of that. I don’t think it’s been for a lack of chances [that we haven’t been scoring much lately].”
By the way, full marks in this “defense into offense” category to Ryan Lindgren, who had a great game and broke up a 2-on-1 that immediately led to Eberle’s game-winning goal in the third period.
O, CAPTAIN! 🫡 🚨 #SeaKraken take their first lead of the game, 4-3.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 14, 2025
The play starts with a great defensive play by Ryan Lindgren and ends with Matty Beniers finding Jordan Eberle open on the doorstep. pic.twitter.com/pMMj30xLXR
This win should reinstall any recently lost confidence in both fans and players. Hellebuyck didn’t have his Vezina-winning stuff on this night, but he’s still Connor Hellebuyck, and the Kraken beat him and his strong team for the second time in as many tries this season.
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.
Kakko was shaking out his left ankle when he was heading for the bench after the goal, and immediately started chatting with the trainer while appearing to be in discomfort. He only had the one shift after that.
+1 – He looked a bit hobbled even during the tail end of that shift when he scored. Showed some fortitude to gut it out and get that goal. He definitely was skating gingerly back to the bench to celebrate.
I commented on it at the game, he took a massive hit in the corner while chasing the puck into the zone on the shift he scored the goal and looked in considerable pain up to and through the goal. My headline would read “Kakko gets hurt again, then scores before leaving game.”
From the jump the Kraken had most of the play down in the Jets end things looked promising. This team still makes some bone headed plays and sometimes they look like the Keystone Cops falling all over each other and getting in each other’s way. I think it’s likely due to all the different line combinations and no one has really found their grove in knowing where folks are on the ice. Matty looked particularly off last night and seemed to be trying too hard. Loosing his stick, loosing his balance. Hopefully its just a one-off. Grubi stood tall in net which is great to see though. All of that being said if we can every get fully healthy we should be able to maintain a playoff spot I think.
Great win last night!
That’s Kraken Hockey Baby!!!
The real highlights on this one, for me, were on the bench during the second period. After that Scheifele breakaway they cut to Lambert and you can see the disbelief on his face, the head shaking and him muttering something clearly not meant for young ears. Then, after Marchment lollygagged off the ice and they got the too-many-men call, again, head shaking and what was very clearly “jesus-f-@king-christ”. Not sure what he had to say during the intermission, but they outscored the Jets 3-0 in the third.
Go Kraken!!!
I thought that was one of Catton’s strongest games so far. I really like him at center and that having the space down the middle lets him leverage the assets of his speed and agility and minimizes the liability of his size that makes him easy to pin down when he’s on the perimeter.
I absolutely loved the crazy no-goal scrum at the net during the second. Wright relentless at the bottom of the pile Catton on one side and Kartye on the other also battling away.
Could they be the “kid” line? Catton’s vision and quick decisions, Wright’s tenacity and shot-making abilities and Kartye’s physicality and ability to battle along the wall? I like Kartye over Winterton for that combo mostly because Kartye already has some pest reputation and can be more of a lightening rod to draw the pressure off of Catton than Winterton can right now, which Catton needs.
Those 3 were involved in the changeover issue that led to the second Winnipeg goal, but I think that was a tough decision on whether or not to change. Everyone had been out for over a minute – Oleksiak and Evans were past 1:30. Plus the long change and Scheifele coming out on fresh legs? So really hard to say if not changing would have prevented the goal or not.
I was feeling bad for Grubauer after the second period. The Kraken skaters really hung him out to dry on those first two Winnipeg goals. So I was delighted that the team rallied in the third to get him the W.
NYR fan here who has watched KK from the moment he was drafted #2 overall. It was evident early on that He’d be an absolute bust, and he has been injury prone his entire career. We were thrilled when he was dumped after his lack of production/play, his injuries, his healthy scratches by three different coaches, his excuses, and his lack of accountability. My advice: have very low expectations. What you see is what you get.
What we see is a switch-hitting forward with scoring touch and enough size and strength to play net front and along the walls. He seems to make his linemates better, which disinclines me to believe that he has been a poor teammate, at least since coming to Seattle. As for the injuries, well, they seem to happen when he is in the dirty areas of the ice doing the hard, thankless work. I am sure as hell not going to complain about that. Take good care of Belligerent Bill Borgen for us.