You just never know what’s going to happen when you go to the rink. The Seattle Kraken won 4-1 over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, and they did so in a way that I certainly did not expect at the start of the game: by riding a dazzling Philipp Grubauer relief performance through a challenging second period and taking advantage of the few opportunities they got in the frame to ultimately cruise past a team that beat them up 10 days ago.
“Clearly, at that point, we rode off our goalie’s coattails to a certain degree, and then we were able to capitalize timely on a couple of our opportunities,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “We spent a little bit too much time in our zone, we all know that, at the start. But our goaltender played fantastic, and sometimes you need that.”
On Hockey Fights Cancer night, Jaden Schwartz—whose sister Mandi died of acute myeloid leukemia at age 23 in 2011—scored twice, Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen each scored once, and Chandler Stephenson sent out a couple tasty dishes.
Here are Three Takeaways from a remarkable 4-1 Kraken win over the Sharks.
Takeaway #1: One of Grubi’s best games as a Kraken
There are nights as a goaltender when you start to sense that, for whatever reason, the puck is going to stay out of your net. You make a few big saves, the other team hits a post or flubs an open opportunity, and suddenly you get this clarity that you have better stuff in that particular game than the opposing shooters. The hockey gods are on your side, and even if you find yourself down and out, the puck will find a way to stay out of your goal.
Grubauer surely felt that on this night, although when I asked him about it after the game, he said he thinks about it a little differently. He pointed to a break early in the game, when Will Smith’s goal was waived off for a distinct kicking motion that easily could have been ruled a goal.
NO GOAL!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025
Grubauer robs Will Smith, but Smith's foot drags it into the net.
Refs review and determine no goal due to kicking motion.
Still 1-1. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/SzsqzeM51P
“I personally take it situation by situation,” Grubauer said. “Obviously, sometimes you get a little bit more lucky than other nights. I mean, that breakaway where they reviewed it, right? It could have gone one way or another. If there’s a slight push from the D, it’s a different story, and they score on the breakaway.
“They had a couple situations where they sling the puck right across, it hits a guy in the shim pads, or something like that, right? So, yeah, sometimes you’ve got to get lucky, and there’s not a moment, like, ‘Oh, wow!’ and now I feel it. It’s make the save, give the puck back, next shot is coming up.”
What made Grubauer’s showing even more impressive is that it came in relief of an injured Matt Murray, who played well in the first period but exited immediately after former Kraken Alex Wennberg tied the game 1-1 on a power-play goal with 18 seconds left. Grubauer came in to close the period and was then tested early and often to start the second.
Here's the bad news: Alex Wennberg ties it on the power play for San Jose.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025
Here's the worse news: Matt Murray also got hurt on the play and immediately went down the tunnel. Grubauer in. #SeaKraken tied through 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/1bmnOyCPgY
“I think going into the second period there, right away, the way the first two minutes went were not ideal from a team perspective, but it got me into the game with a lot of shots early on,” Grubauer said. “And it’s always tough, right? If you’re not starting, it’s another situation where you don’t get too many shots in warm up, so it was helpful to get into the game right away.”
🗣️GRUUUUUUUUUUUU! pic.twitter.com/mbDFRzBia7
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025
It really was just the second period where Grubauer had to be stellar, but he made massive saves on plays that looked like they should absolutely be goals. He held Seattle in long enough for Larsson and Tolvanen to score 38 seconds apart at 16:05 and 16:43, respectively. From there, the Kraken—despite taking three penalties in the third period—kept things mostly locked down.
Takeaway #2: Great game for Chandler Stephenson
I know Chandler Stephenson has been polarizing among the Kraken fanbase, but I personally love what he brings. It’s interesting that in a game in which Alex Wennberg scored for the Sharks, Stephenson really stood out. I mention Wennberg because I view Stephenson as an upgraded version of what the Kraken used to get from Wennberg. He can play in all situations, he’s a great skater, and he has a pass-first approach—but he does all of it at a higher level.
In this game, Stephenson’s speed and passing created two of Seattle’s goals.
On the first, Jamie Oleksiak’s pass through the neutral zone missed the mark, but Stephenson caught up to it and made John Klingberg look foolish in creating a 2-on-1 with Schwartz. Then he threaded a pass between Macklin Celebrini’s stick and skate to Schwartz, who redirected it into a yawning cage.
THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025
Heckuva play by Chandler Stephenson to burn John Klingberg and find Schwartz crashing to the backdoor.
1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Ss38jSXMPS
The second goal also came off a 2-on-1, this one with Tolvanen, who scored for the second game in a row.
“[Stephenson] is an awesome passer,” Tolvanen said. “Power play, 2-on-1’s, every time he has the puck, you have to be ready because you know it’s coming. He can make those passes that a lot of guys can’t.”
EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025
Another great pass off a 2-on-1 from Stephenson, and Tolvanen scores his second in as many games.
3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/FueoRAoZeE
The Kraken don’t win this game without Grubauer, but they also probably don’t win it without Stephenson, who finished the night plus-three with three assists.
Takeaway #3: Another game, another injury
It’s strange how things have been playing out lately for the Kraken and their injury situation. Last game, Kaapo Kakko went down with a lower-body injury that Lambert said will keep him out week to week—never a great designation. But his placement on injured reserve meant Seattle could activate Freddy Gaudreau for this game without sending somebody to Coachella Valley.
Now we wait to see what happens with the Kraken goalies. Lambert said after the game that Murray was still being evaluated. Joey Daccord is on IR but appears to be getting closer to a return based on recent practices. If Murray hadn’t gotten hurt Saturday, then Daccord returning would force a roster move. But if Murray also ends up on IR, no move would be required.
The plan may have been for Daccord to return next game anyway, but if I had to guess, I would surmise he could be ready to at least back up Grubauer when Seattle visits Detroit on Tuesday.
Also worth noting: Jared McCann was a full participant at Saturday’s morning skate, so we’re wondering how close he could be to game action. If he returns in the next couple games, that would most likely mean somebody is bound for CV, and I wouldn’t be shocked if that somebody is Jani Nyman, whose time on ice was limited to just 6:34 in his first game since the last time Seattle faced the Sharks on Nov. 5.
One last note on Murray: he’s had some serious injury woes in his career and told us during our Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview at training camp that he was feeling fully recovered from the double hip surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2023-24 season. Here’s hoping that whatever he injured on Saturday is both unrelated to that previous issue and minor.
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.
Couldn’t agree more with your game takeaways Darren.
Both Grubauer and Stevenson have daily been consistently criticized more than any other players, but Wow! What a tremendous performance by both of them.
That’s Kraken Hockey Baby!!!
Agree with you regarding Murray’s injury. Hopefully it isn’t serious given his hip replacement history. Also wouldn’t want to rush Daccord back if he isn’t quite ready. Great night for Grubi!
Good teams find ways to win, and it’s an 82 game regular season. I love your takeaways, and I have a few of my own.
1. The Sharks came out physically dominating the Kraken, and I kept wondering how we would respond: (a) turn up our physical game in kind or (b) stay focused on our own play and stick to our system. The guys didn’t back down and they stayed focused…and sometimes you need good goaltending, which brings me to #2…
2. Gru was a very good backup goalie in Washington and Colorado, and last night he might have shown he’s a great backup goalie. Maybe even an elite backup goalie.
3. Not a takeaway specific to just last night but something that was going through my head. When you have good coaching and a stable of the right players who can play to your structure, you find yourself with depth. Additionally, our defensive depth right now just looks really impressive. How many teams have three legitimate puck moving D (Monty, Dunn and Evans) who can all handily QB an NHL PP? Add Larsson, Lindgren and a competent looking Oleksiak and you have a pretty solid group. Mahura has shown he can easily play in the lineup and Fleury having to step in when needed would not bother me. Now contrast with current noise coming from Leafs’ pundits and fans about their defense.
Go Kraken!
Let me start by saying nobody was “Gruuuuuuu!!”ing louder than me last night. However, he still was way, way out of position a couple times but got bailed out by huge shot blocks by Schwartz and Tolvanen. He’s still the same old Grubauer, swimming around and falling over out of position. But, it was nice to see him make some huge saves in the 2nd, plus stop all the other ones he should’ve stopped, which historically has been an issue for him. Hopefully Daccord comes back soon…
Stephenson looks rejuvenated. Last year, he would just float around lazily before turning the puck over. Maybe that bug has been passed on to Marchment, who has looked ROUGH. There was an awful sequence with like 7 minutes left in the 2nd where he sloppily turned the puck over in the O zone that led to 2 chances against, and then he had the puck alone in the slot and tried to pass it through a Sharks player instead of shooting. He kept getting outmuscled in the first period, too, and he’s really, really slow to boot. If he weren’t a deadline trade candidate, he’d be getting scratched.
I think with Stephenson it had a little to do with a 1st year transition to a new team and city combined with vague structure and often having to play with Burakovsky last season. At the core, he’s a very solid pro who knows how to play deep into the playoffs and most teams (maybe every team?) would want in their locker room.
Marchment is pretty raw and definitely tougher to watch. I see the same things every game. I’m hoping it’s the same 1st year transition (though we can’t blame lack of structure or linemates). Not sure we will even find out. I have a feeling we will be leveraging a 1st round pick or two to buy at the deadline. He’s definitely a different sort of player. More “bottom 6” grinder and I think brings a lot of emotion. He can make an amazing game breaking play on one shift, and then can totally sh*t the bed the next.
I think a player like Roslovic would have been a great addition.
He has been great on my fantasy team. LOL
I agree 100% with what Seattle G has commented. Last season Stephenson seemed like he had a chip on his shoulder (and not in a good way) to me. I thought maybe he was miffed at being traded from VGK. But he was being coached by DD and had to deal with Burkey, who’s ego is gigantic. He easily ranks as one of our fastest skaters and I barely register that when I watch him. My point is that he makes it all look easy. He’s exactly the veteran player the Kraken needed to grab.
Marchment IS rough… it’s feast or famine. I hope it’s only a bump in the road. You can see him spark but not hold on to it for long.
Also, Stephenson taking Catton into his home, is big in my book. That says a lot about both of them.
Stephenson was not traded from VGK. He signed as a UFA.
You’re right, but he also was resigned by them.
Another Saturday Home win!!!! About time we start putting that scale back in balance.
On the pregame show on the KHN
Piper had an interview piece on how Stevenson is taking Catton into his home where he can be taken care of and fed properly.
Basically getting him out of where he was staying which was in local hotel rooms. I thought that was pretty cool of him to be doing that and shows leadership off the ice.
Phillip Grubauer was making highlight reel saves like the legendary netminders of old, but the save of the night belongs to Jaden Schwartz. What a play! It really showed what kind of guy he is. Eeli Tolvanen’s save was also a game changer. On a night when defensive structure was discombobulated, those three guys made the difference.
Chandler Stephenson was outstanding on the night. That man can really check–not hit but check. It’s the kind of checking that creates turnovers and odd-man rushes when coupled with his speed and passing ability. If anyone wants to know why Lambert gives him so much ice time, take your eye off the puck for a while and watch Stephenson defeat zone entry attempts. …which, again, makes me wonder why he is not deployed in the offensive zone more often. Just think, he tallied three assists in a game where he almost exclusively started in the defensive zone.
Matty Beniers also put on a great performance. You can really see his offensive zone creativity taking shape this season, and now he is big enough to play net front, which he has actually been doing lately. He won some big board battles, even two that I counted where he was outnumbered. He keeps plays going when challenged by good defensive players. It is only a matter of time now before the counting stats begin to favor him. His game is just about complete.
Berkley Catton is a center. He creates passing lanes like a center. He back checks like a center. Unfortunately, he keeps getting knocked around like one would expect of a guy who tries to check guys who have forty pounds of muscle on him. He is remarkably skilled and only knows how to play full-speed, but I worry for his health. Maybe the IIHF tournament will give him the break that he will no doubt need in December. I hope so. Besides, it will be fun to see the NHL-level skills and instincts he has developed this year get deployed against other players his age and size.
Chandler looks like a different player this season, nice to see. I’m still concerned about his contract long term mostly because of the log jam he’s going to cause in the center position in the second half of his contract. This season though he’s looking very good.
Grubauer plays these games, he’s a capable goalie but can’t seem to maintain any consistency other than inconsistency….. he’s very consistent with that. I think Boist nailed it, he relies heavily on his defense to clear rebounds and block shots when he’s out of position. If your defense pulls through he can have good games. There are a lot of games where he just doesn’t make the save he should even if he’s in position but mostly I feel like his mistakes tend to be overreacting to shots and putting himself down and out. Hopefully this is his last year as a Kraken, I’d rather not have that stress in net.
I’ve been hoping that Nyman would come up a little bit. He ‘looks’ like the perfect, young player. Big, fast, incredible shot. He must not be ticking the boxes that Lambert wants checked. Fingers crossed that will happen.
I watched the coach’s interview on Friday and he was talking about Catton and how he was “like a sponge.” I love that. He’s being rewarded with ice time.