Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. The Seattle Kraken’s remarkable point streak that took them from last place to third in the Pacific Division has ended at 10 games (8-0-2). The Kraken grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third period Saturday, but the relentless Carolina Hurricanes pushed back to tie the game and ultimately take a 3-2 regulation win.
While the Kraken got caved in in terms of possession and shot volume, they hung right in and gave themselves a good chance to win this contest. But the class of one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference shone through, and the Canes came out victorious.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Hurricanes.
Takeaway 1: They had it
The flow of this game felt a lot like the 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 16, though the Kraken spent much more of that game on their toes than they did in this one. Facing another elite team Saturday, Seattle took a third-period lead and appeared to be heading toward an unlikely win. But top teams are never out of games—especially when you only have a one-goal lead—and as was the case against Colorado, Carolina turned on the jets late in the third period and simply refused to lose.
The tying goal, scored by Jordan Martinook at 10:37 of the third period, didn’t involve an obvious mistake by any Kraken players. Jordan Staal delayed behind the net, which lured Matty Beniers to him, then snuck his pass between the legs of Adam Larsson onto Martinook’s stick in the slot. Because Beniers had tried to flush Staal out from behind the net, he wasn’t able to get back to the top of the crease in time to take Martinook’s stick away.
Jordan Martinook ties it. Looked like the #SeaKraken had it covered, but Staal snuck it through Larsson.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 11, 2026
2-2 pic.twitter.com/bMKRcyXK2O
The winning goal, which came three minutes later at 13:50, was more the result of a Kraken mistake. Cale Fleury—who, by the way, has been awesome in his extended stint filling in for Brandon Montour—tried to chip the puck off the glass to create an offensive rush. But Seth Jarvis stepped up and gloved down the clearing attempt in the neutral zone, and the Hurricanes transitioned quickly. As they closed in on Joey Daccord, Ryan Lindgren shoved William Carrier into Daccord—enough contact to disrupt the netminder, but not self-inflicted enough to challenge for goalie interference—and Jaccob Slavin completed Carolina’s comeback.
Canes take the lead, 3-2. #SeaKraken called timeout to decide whether or not to challenge for goalie interference, but opted against it. pic.twitter.com/YrhQEIGCtP
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 11, 2026
Takeaway 2: Pretty goals
The Kraken had a shockingly low shot volume in this one—their lowest output of the season—and were nearly outshot by a 3-1 margin, mustering just 12 shots on Brandon Bussi compared to Carolina’s 34. Those numbers don’t tell the whole story, though, because the Kraken did have some good looks either blocked by Hurricanes defenders, while Seattle’s shooters also sent pucks wide and failed to execute on a few rush opportunities.
Considering that paltry volume directed at Bussi, the Kraken did a decent job of making the most of their chances and got two pretty goals from Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton on the night.
Beniers was Seattle’s best player in this game, and his confidence appears to be soaring since being reunited with Kaapo Kakko, who also helped his game take off last season. He was rewarded with a beautiful goal to tie the game 1-1 at 14:13 of the first period, deking Slavin out of his jockstrap at the blue line, racing in, and slipping it through Bussi.
MATTY MAGIC WITH SOME SORCERY! 🧙♂️🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 11, 2026
What a goal! Jaccob Slavin's jock is in the rafters after that one.
1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/WMUQb1LZLT
The score remained 1-1 through the first five minutes of the third period, when Catton broke through for his third goal in three games after going goalless for the first 27 games of his NHL career. Ryan Winterton read Bussi’s breakout pass and picked it off, then slung a perfect feed to Catton in the slot, who whipped it inside the left post.
BERKLYYYYYYYY! 🐱 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 11, 2026
Ryan Winterton picks off Brandon Bussi's pass and sets up Berkly Catton for his third goal in three games after going goalless in his first 27.
2-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/CJAhNUNYS8
Takeaway 3: Jaden Schwartz returns
There’s no doubt the Kraken sorely missed Jaden Schwartz during his 19-game absence, which dated all the way back to Nov. 26, when he came up lame and hobbled off against the Dallas Stars. Schwartz finally returned Saturday and looked like his old self. He was fast, physical, and creative, nearly scoring on a breakaway and setting up several chances for his teammates.
He told KHN’s Piper Shaw after the game that his body “held up” well and that he felt good. Getting Schwartz back is a huge boost for this team.
Schwartz’s return coincided with Chandler Stephenson temporarily exiting the lineup, as his wife just gave birth to the couple’s third child. Meanwhile, Jordan Eberle missed his second game in a row with an upper-body injury that has made him day to day, and Brandon Montour continues to slowly work his way back.
Seattle certainly remains undermanned, but the players who were able to go hung right in with one of the NHL’s top teams. It’s a shame they couldn’t pull that one out.
Now Seattle heads to the Big Apple to take on a Rangers team Monday that just lost 10-2 to the Boston Bruins. The Kraken are now behind San Jose again in the standings, so they badly need to take care of business in that game.
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!!!
Teams are losing 9-0 and 10-2. Kraken lose 3-2 to the Canes on the road. I’ll take it.
Matty and Berkly goals were awesome!
Go Kraken!
They just looked outplayed by the Canes. Whatever speed Seattle had, Canes were faster and a more dominate defense. Obviously.
IMO the big test is how they do tomorrow against the Rangers. Would be nice to see them bounce back right away.
The NYR have to be pretty desperate after the 10-2 smack down they were handed by the Bruins.
We are well into the season now and it looks like the Kraken’s ceiling in the Western Conference is 6th place; which is not bad but not very good either. On top of that the West is very weak this year. They Kraken hardly dominated against lowly Vancouver and Calgary when they met.
At least the Kraken look much better balanced now with Marchment off the team and the kids getting more playing time.
Which of the Ducks, Flames or Canucks do you put above Seattle?
Just so I understand this correctly, we’re half-way into the season and Kraken are squarely in the mix for a playoff spot, and that’s not very good, because we aren’t “dominating” other NHL teams…because…of course all other teams dominate other teams…despite the parity across the league. But as “meh” as this all is, we’re still doing it with a bottom six of young players, including a 19 year old and Ben Meyers, so that’s kind of OK.
Oh, and we lost 3-2 to the Hurricanes away without Montour, Eberle or Stephenson. That’s probably not very good, even though we came back from behind and were up 2-1 for a long stretch.
You forgot to mention Matty being a disappointment because he doesn’t score.
Winnipeg and St. Louis made the playoffs last year and look at them now. Seattle made the playoffs once before and what happened? So, what does it mean making the playoffs? Nothing in itself.
Reality is that this team is bang on average in this league right now. The Kraken have some promising youngsters… but so does half the league, if not more than half the league. Matty is a fantastic player. Catton will be one soon. Yet there are better youngsters than them, much better, even within in our own division. That is simply the way things are right now.
@Witt below: where’d the “12” come from?
All excellent points… OR as Filipovich was pointing out on Friday’s PDOcast:
The “veterans” (they have a lot of them) looked rejuvenated at the beginning of the season and now they just look old, the young guys are making the mistakes young guys make, and after a hot start, teams are keying in on Carlsson – he can’t just barrel down the middle anymore.
As you pointed out, Matty is 23 and Leo is 21, and when Matty won the Calder, he was just 20. He won it the year after phenom Trevor Zegras won it. That guy is now a winger in Philadelphia. My point is not which is better… putting it in ink that Leo Carlsson is a can’t miss legit No.1 center on an NHL contender seems a bit premature. The Ducks have the absolute worst goals against in the entire league and until they address that, drawing conclusions about any of these young players – seems to me – suspect.
I refer to the Ducks quite a bit because I think they are the poster child for the tank, for both the enthusiasts and the detractors. You can see in them what you want.
For me, I believe the Ducks are the team of the future… and always will be.
Good stuff Witt.
Go Kraken!!!
Don’t give him air. They seem determined to be mad and have been known to make god awful takes on the regular.
Matty has 5 goals and is above a point per game so far this year. I know it’s only a six game sample size but he has started to show some offensive flair that had been missing. The goal against the Canes was slick and showed great skill.
That five goals doesn’t include the sick deke he put on Lankinen to win the shootout in Vancouver on January 2nd.
By the way… Leo Carlsson – one goal and one assist this year. Those were both last game. The goal was his first in a month (13 games) and the assist was his fourth in just as long… Elite!
Go Kraken!!!
@ Daryl W below:
Leo Carlsson has 44 points in 44 games this season. Matty has 28 points in 43 games. Leo got injured and has struggled since as you point out. Leo turned 21 two weeks ago, Matty is 23. Isn’t it a bit bizarre to pick out the stretch Leo has struggled after injury to make your point?
We can understand Matty is a great player and simultaneously admit that there are better young players around.
I didn’t have the feeling we were going to win that game, even when we were up 2-1. Almost every time we were getting control of the puck, it would end up right back deep in our zone. On the other end, we were having trouble keeping it deep in their zone.
Unfortunately, Dunn’s cross ice backhand pass in our own zone that led to the first Canes goal…classic Dunn and Dunner.
The Ranger game does make me a bit nervous. As Witt pointed out, they have to be pretty desperate, but is that enough? They’ve been challenged to defend all season, but now Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin are both out. I can’t imagine they’ll parade Spencer Martin out there again after the shelling he took last night in his Ranger debut. Johnathan Quick gave up six the last time he faced the Kraken, but that was over a year ago. Seattle should pummel this team, and that’s what makes me a bit nervous… it seems like all too often these are the games they lose.
If they truly are taking a step, they need to win this game.
Go Kraken!!!
I don’t think we’re going to see much pummeling. I’m expecting another “boring” Kraken hockey game coming down to the final 5 minutes 😄
Who called it?
You called it!
Go Kraken!!!
Comparing the last two games, Seattle played better vs Carolina but got 0 points vs playing worse and getting a point vs Minnesota. C’est la vie. Que Sera Sera. On to NYC!
It’s completely ridiculous that we were so low in shots and chances, even against the canes you can’t play like that and expect to win. We almost got a poor because of great goaltending but our own D made sure Joey had zero chance of making a routine save. Why do D push players into their own goalies, you see it so often.
That push by Lindgren was idiotic. There’s no other way to look at it.
What is the stat for stupid plays made at the worst possible moment that tilt the game in favor of the opposing team? Anyone? Seems that would be a good one to have.
STB#/60. Number of times you “shit the bed” in 60 minutes?
😂