While the Seattle Kraken showed once again that they can be competitive in every game—even when the flow of the game is a little faster than others—they also showed that the Dallas Stars still have their number, losing 3-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thanksgiving Eve.
All-time, excluding the 2022-23 playoff series when Seattle won three games, the Kraken are now 2-9-2 against the Stars and have lost eight in a row. From the Dallas perspective, that’s a 12-1-1 record.
The Kraken looked good in this contest, and if they play like that every game, they’ll win most nights. But Casey DeSmith was sharp, the power play was atrocious, and two fluky goals cost the Kraken standings points.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Stars.
Takeaway #1: Jared McCann in, Jaden Schwartz out
As the Kraken offense sputtered over the last few weeks, it became more and more clear how much they missed their purest goal scorer, Jared McCann, who was absent for a whopping 17 games with a lower-body injury. He finally returned to the lineup on Wednesday and registered an assist on Vince Dunn’s game-tying goal 18 seconds into the third period.
HE DUNN DID IT! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025
2-2. Vince Dunn with a simple play off a rush 18 seconds into the 3rd. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/gRse807Bse
I liked McCann’s game. Though he only put two shots on net officially, I remember him buzzing around dangerous areas on several occasions during the contest.
“He had a couple good chances,” coach Lane Lambert said. “I thought he looked good. He hasn’t played for a long time; he hasn’t played much hockey this year at all. I think he’s gonna help us for sure.”
McCann did not exactly get to ease his way back into game action, though. Just 19 seconds into his very first shift since Oct. 18, Alex Petrovic caught him with a brutal high stick to the mouth, which sent McCann down the tunnel temporarily.
“Just tried to battle for a puck, and next thing you know, my tooth was in my throat,” McCann said. He also said he felt “better and better” as the game went on. It was good to see him back out there.
Hear from Jared McCann on his… painful… return to the lineup. “Next thing I know, my tooth is in my throat.” #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/7C807l6QDC
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025
On the flip side, though, just as McCann returned to the lineup, another key piece went out with a lower-body injury. Jaden Schwartz went to the goal crease and got tangled up with DeSmith and Vladislav Kolyachonok late in the second period. He hobbled to the bench and down the tunnel and did not return to the game.
Jaden Schwartz limped off and went down the tunnel after getting tangled in the crease with Kolyachonok. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/pI1uTN7ga5
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025
Lambert did not have an update on Schwartz after the game, saying he was still being evaluated.
Takeaway #2: The power play stunk
On a night when the Kraken were either tied or a goal away from being tied for the entire game, they really needed their power play to chip in at least once. Despite getting ample opportunity—Seattle had the manpower advantage five times in the game, in fact—the PP came up completely empty on the night.
There were two especially critical moments where Seattle could have used contributions from the power play: first, when McCann’s dental incident in the early stages of the game drew a four-minute power play but did not generate a goal; and later, when Petrovic hauled down Matty Beniers behind the net with just 3:35 left. Seattle showed a little more creativity on that last one, shifting their players all over the offensive zone to try to create different looks, but it never felt like they were all that close to scoring.
“Myself included, I definitely made some plays that I want back,” Dunn said. “[We need] to simplify, make plays under pressure, and we’re the guys that need to make those plays, and we didn’t do it tonight. I thought the PK was great, and then the PP lets the team down a little bit, so that’s frustrating.”
Added Lambert: “Entry-wise, I didn’t think we did a great job, as we strove to enter the zone. Give them credit. They’re a big team, they’ve got long guys and big defensemen, but we could have done a better job there… [The power play] was needed tonight, and it’s been good for us, and it’s been there when we’ve needed it in the past. Tonight wasn’t that night.”
Takeaway #3: Better shot generation
One big positive I saw in this one was more time spent in the offensive zone than in some recent past outings. Lambert has talked about more shot generation ad nauseam lately, and I chatted with a few players about this topic for my Kraken Notebook piece a couple days ago. The message seemed to get through, though, because there was clearly a concerted effort to get things going north more often and letting shots rip whenever there was an opportunity to do so.
Case in point: Brandon Montour gathered a puck in the corner after Shane Wright missed a wide-open net and didn’t hesitate to send it toward DeSmith from below the goal line. Montour got rewarded, as it banked off DeSmith’s right foot and into the net to make it 1-1 at 9:06 of the first period.
MONTY MONEY! 💰 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025
Shane Wright misses a wide-open net, but Brandon Montour corrals it in the corner and scores from the goal line.
1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/UWv32rZXCw
What was encouraging about this was that they put 28 shots on DeSmith (a high number by Seattle’s standards) but didn’t open themselves up defensively. Two of the goals against were somewhat fluky, with a high-tip play working perfectly to make it 1-0 and a floating wrist shot with five minutes left in the third on which Adam Larsson perfectly screened Joey Daccord and failed to get the block.
Kolyachonok scores to make it 3-2 with five minutes left.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025
Larsson set a perfect screen and didn't get the block. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/hQfNdLniM0
Again, if the Kraken can generate like that consistently without sacrificing much of their stout defensive structure, they’re going to remain a playoff competitor.
By the way, they did officially get to Thanksgiving in a playoff spot, although as Blaiz Grubic wrote a while back, losing on Wednesday and dropping to third place in the Pacific Division lowers their chances significantly. Roughly 89 percent of second-place teams at Thanksgiving make the playoffs, whereas about 63 percent of teams in third place at Thanksgiving qualify.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I’m thankful for our great readers, listeners, and followers.
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.
Go Kraken!!!
Was good to see us not look at all out of place playing Dallas, despite still having lots of room for improvement. 0-5 on the PP in 3-2 home loss on Thanksgiving Eve. Sheesh. That needs to get fixed.
I’m really really curious as to why Marchment is on the PP, he flubs a lot of pucks and isn’t great at receiving passes or controlling the puck. His shot isn’t top notch and he’s not the best play maker. I could understand his usage if we were using his big body in front of the net but we’re not, he’s on the half wall or near the point most of the time. It seems to me that he’s responsible for many of the PP turnovers and doesn’t contribute much to the PP, how many power play points does he have?
Someone please explain what benefits he brings to the PP
Exactly. I wouldn’t change a word. Except add a few. Marchment is a terrible fit. So many mistakes and all it has gotten him is top line minutes where he does not mesh with Matty and Ebs. This will change as Canner will be on the top line Saturday. But then he gets moved down to the 2nd line, which is with Stevie, who gets rediculous ice time because of his 50% FOW percentage. Irony of wanting to be on Stevie’s line for the minutes and the drawbacks of the metrics of playing with him. Also, for the biggest frontliner, MM27 goes down so easily. Always on the ice.
Catton looked dangerous in this game and his passing and vision is exceptional. What I hate is how a kid mistake is held against them while MM27’s errors and some of Stevie’s turnovers are not met with any repercussions.
So close to picking up at least another point.
Kraken have failed yet to win wearing the new alternate Uni’s
Yes improved shot quantity but as Alison was quick to point out our shot quality was very low compared to Dallas. That Dunn shot goes in possibly 1/100 times if he’s lucky, again goaltending held us in a game where we gave up more quality chances than we got. Yes we shot the puck more but we’re not going to score until we get bodies in front of the net more consistently or get shots from prime positions.
When we were down a goal again we played some great hockey and put up some decent offensive pressure, I wish we’d play like we were down a goal all game long unless we just want to lock it down and get out of town during a decent lead.
We lock down the game as much as possible and hope that they make more mistakes than we do, consistently though we make more mistakes and are giving up more quality chances than we’re getting. We’re very fortunate to have Daccord but I’m not thrilled with how much we’ve been relying on our goalkeepers being better than the other guy.
So…
According to Sportsnet:
As a team in a playoff position on Thanksgiving the Kraken have a 76% chance of making the playoffs.
According the Blaiz:
As a team in third on Thanksgiving the Kraken have a 63% chance of making the playoffs.
According to MoneyPuck:
Today the Kraken have a 60.3% chance of making the playoffs.
According to Dom Luszczyszyn:
Today the Kraken have a 13% chance of making the playoffs.
All this brings to mind a question recently departed local legend Tom Robbins asked in “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”:
“If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long does it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick the seeds out of a dill pickle?”
They’re somewhere between 76% and 13%. Sounds about right.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
1. Looking at the season so far, the good things Lambert has done are to implement a system that matches the roster’s skill level and to introduce the younger players. The other side of that is that he is essentially playing playoff hockey during the regular season, which may not be sustainable for 82 games, and at least one of the younger players, such as Shane Wright, needs to break out big in the coming months.
2. With Grubauer’s recent better play and Stuart Skinner getting torched by the Stars, now is the time to try and trade PG for SS. Edmonton desperately needs better goaltending and the Kraken need out of PG’s contract before he reverts to form. They can add salary retention and draft picks as necessary, but this could be win-win for both teams, as both goalies need a fresh start elsewhere.
3. Can the Kraken stay in the top eight of the Western Conference all season? The Avs, Stars, and Wild have separated themselves, LA and Vegas will push themselves to the top of the Pacific, and the Oilers and Jets will come. That leaves the question of whether the young Ducks, Hawks, Sharks, and Mammoth can keep it up. If at least one of them do, then the Kraken will miss the playoffs and end up with a 1R pick outside the top 10, which won’t help the talent base sufficiently. What is the long-term strategy being deployed here? Good Kraken story in The Hockey News: https://thehockeynews.com/news/latest-news/the-seattle-kraken-shut-their-door-but-can-t-open-the-other
Good to see you back, Chuck.
1. It sure would be nice, but why does “a younger player have to break out big in the coming months”? Personally, I would just like to see Catton get a goal or two to reward him for his already excellent play. I think Shane, Matty, Berkly and Ryker have all been playing NHL caliber hockey, despite not lighting up the scoreboard.
Regarding the “playoff style hockey,” I agree with you when it comes to the stinghy defensive style, but they aren’t playing overly physically. In fact, sometimes they look very relaxed and casual to me. Not sure if that will wear them out. Really, we just needed an ugly goal or two every game and we would have won 5 more games, and it doesn’t matter whose shin it went off. Younger player, older player, opposing player. It just doesn’t matter.
2. Is Stuart Skinner who we really need to make this team better? I’m just hoping Murray gets healthy again. Grubauer has been playing pretty well. I’d rather see us get Sherwood. Seems like a scoring RW who can play up and down the ice and be physical would be a better addition than an area like goaltending, that frankly hasn’t been an issue dogging the team at all this season.
3. Do the Kraken look like they have peaked to you? Are we playing the best hockey we are capable of at this 23 game mark in the 82 game season? I would strongly argue we are not, and other teams should be asking your same question, and be worried about The Kraken finding their game.
Regarding having to pick a player outside top 10 of round 1, I don’t know…I guess my list would start somewhere with Wyatt Johnston (23rd), Pavel Dorofoyev (79th), Pavel Datsyuk (171st) and end somewhere with Mark Stone (178th) or Geoff Courtnall and Adam Oates (both undrafted).
By the way, Kraken have a bunch of players picked in the top 10 already. Beniers (2nd), Kakko (2nd), Wright (4th), Larsson (4th), Catton (8th) and O’Brien (8). Picking lots of players in the top 10 actually means you have a chronically terrible hockey team. Like the Oilers, who have mostly been terrible…and lost 8-3 to Dallas on Tuesday with both McJesus and Draisaitl playing. But hey, they had Taylor Hall, so that’s something.
When was the last time the Kraken gave up 8 goals?
Given all the negative chatter around McKenna and the fact that even with that he’s still the consensus No.1 overall… is this really the draft to tank for? I’m hearing more and more this isn’t a group – especially at the top – to get too excited about.
Umm, what? I don’t know why we’d get rid of PG and pick up SS!? PG finally playing like we need him to. Sweet Jesus
Not to mention the negative impact it would probably have in the locker room getting rid of a guy like Grubauer when he’s playing well because you think the guy you are missing is…Skinner. On top of that, your team is having its best start in 5 seasons.
It’s odd one can think they have a super competitive team sport on the one hand, and then think of the players as simple poker chips you just arbitrarily move around without any negative consequences on the other. Bizarre.