Another game, another early deficit for the Seattle Kraken, who—despite starting the first couple minutes on their toes—quickly gave up two goals in the early stages against the Pittsburgh Penguins and found themselves chasing throughout the game.
The Kraken did rally back, as they often have during this stretch of losses, but after Seattle tied it in the second period, Brett Kulak scored 50 seconds later to regain the lead, and Pittsburgh pulled away in the end.
That’s Seattle’s fourth straight loss (0-3-1) and sixth loss in seven games (1-4-2) after winning eight of their previous nine (8-0-1).
“What’s happening right now is we’re making mistakes that are going in the back of our net,” coach Lane Lambert said. “And we’ve got to correct those mistakes.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a frustrating 6-3 Kraken loss to the Penguins.
Takeaway 1: What is with these early goals against?
Just when you thought they’d bucked the trend of giving up an early goal—after getting an impressive penalty kill from 3:29 to 5:29 of the first—the Kraken surrendered a benign-looking shot to defenseman Parker Wotherspoon at the point. His attempt found its way through traffic and in. There were no terrible, glaring mistakes on the play, but Joey Daccord couldn’t see it, and the puck got through.
Death, taxes, #SeaKraken giving up an early goal against.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 19, 2026
1-0 Penguins. Parker Wotherspoon scores through traffic. pic.twitter.com/TGUEwWQrIU
“I think it’s everyone just playing better,” Ryan Lindgren said when asked how to nip the early goals against. “I think we’re just too loose right now in the D-zone. We’re giving up too many chances, we’re hanging our goalies out to dry a little bit. When we’re playing our best hockey, we’re a hard defending team.”
Seattle had a chance to quickly level the game with a power play of its own, but instead of evening things up, the Kraken put themselves in a deeper hole. Chandler Stephenson tried to make a little chip pass at the blue line, but Connor Dewar read it and stepped up, springing himself for a breakaway. He scored his first of two goals on the night, and once again the Kraken were hiking up a mountain, as they have been on several occasions lately.
Wow. And now another short-handed goal against, and the #SeaKraken trail 2-0 early.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 19, 2026
Loose play at the offensive blue line, and Connor Dewar picks it off and scores on the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/rjnCoshrEJ
The shorthanded goals against are also an alarming trend. This marked the Kraken’s third straight game in which they’ve given up a shorty.
“It’s always correctable,” Lambert said. “We have a face-off battle in Utah the other day, and they end up coming out of that with a 3-on-2, we play that very poorly. Tonight, we knew that they were locking the bench side with their forward, and their forward was going to step, and that was pre-scouted for our players. That was indicated to them. They saw a video on it, and they stepped, got a breakaway. So we’ve got to be better.”
Takeaway 2: Goals through traffic
Three goals against in this game floated through traffic and eluded Daccord. Wotherspoon’s icebreaker just missed Jordan Eberle, then flew between Brandon Montour and Anthony Mantha as they battled at the top of the crease.
Brett Kulak’s goal—which killed Seattle’s momentum and put Pittsburgh back in the driver’s seat—followed a face-off in Seattle’s end. Sidney Crosby won it back, Kulak walked the line, and sent a soft wrister that fluttered past Adam Larsson and into the top corner.
Penguins answer right back and regain a 3-2 lead. Gaudreau loses the face-off, and then Brett Kulak just sends a wrist shot through traffic. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/VrU8uCfXHy
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 19, 2026
Then, just 2:21 into the third period, Justin Brazeau scored what proved to be the eventual dagger, using Jamie Oleksiak as a screen and firing through his legs to make it 4-2.
Justin Brazeau makes it 4-2. Joey's had a hard time with shots through screens today. This time, it goes through Oleksiak's legs. pic.twitter.com/jm19hxbnBK
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 20, 2026
It’s hard to decide where the blame falls on goals like these. Defenders are trying to block shots and/or box players out, but when the block is missed, the goalie is left in a brutal spot.
Meanwhile, Daccord certainly didn’t have his best night, allowing five goals on 31 shots. But when pucks come from distance and you can’t see—or even hear—a wrist shot leave the stick, all you can do is read the body language of the players in front of you. You hope the puck finds you, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot. Daccord got no puck luck in this one.
“I have to go back and take a little bit of a look at some of the goals,” Lambert said, when asked about Daccord’s performance. “But, I’ve got to think that there’s maybe a couple we’d like to have him back there and put us in a better chance to have an opportunity to win the game.”
Takeaway 3: Jaden Schwartz on the fourth line
I wrote a Kraken Notebook on Sunday that touched on the challenges of having veteran players return to the lineup and potentially disrupt the team’s chemistry. Lambert had implied at practice that some line shuffling could be coming as he searched for the right mix again.
I knew he experimented last game with Schwartz on the fourth line alongside Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton, but it was still a bit surprising to see Schwartz start this game on that bottom trio while Freddy Gaudreau moved back up to reunite with Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen.
For Schwartz, it might be a tough pill to swallow, but if he was bothered by the demotion—even if it was purely a numbers thing—it didn’t show in his performance. The fourth line was the only truly effective line for the Kraken in this one, creating both of the team’s 5-on-5 goals.
The first came off a textbook forecheck by Ryan Winterton as the F2 and Schwartz as the F1, with Winterton prying the puck loose to Schwartz, who then found Ben Meyers—the F3—trailing in the right circle. Meyers sniped it over Stuart Skinner’s right shoulder.
BENNY BOY! 🚨 #SeaKraken
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 19, 2026
Nice forecheck by the fourth line (which today features Jaden Schwartz❗️). Winterton gets in first and pops it to Schwartz, who finds Ben Meyers.
Great shot by Meyers.
2-1 Penguins pic.twitter.com/PiXbR1TmDT
The second goal was pretty as well. Ryker Evans set Meyers up for a Grade A chance, but Skinner slid across and robbed him. Winterton jumped on the rebound and—instead of shoveling it back into Skinner—found Ryan Lindgren in the slot, giving the defenseman an open net for his second goal as a Kraken.
THE LINDY HOP! 🕺🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) January 19, 2026
The newly assembled fourth line does it again. Meyers with the shot, huge save by Skinner, but Ryan Lindgren cleans up the rebound.
2-2 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/fc9CVECjS9
I don’t know how I feel about Schwartz on the fourth line. There’s still something off about the makeup of this team with a fully healthy roster and Jacob Melanson back in the AHL.
But Schwartz did seem to jell pretty nicely with Meyers and Winterton.
“I liked the fourth line,” Lambert said. “I’ve liked the fourth line for a while. We need the other lines to be better.”
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.
Ugh.
That game was painful to watch. Every time they seemed to be getting things going their way they shot themselves in the foot. I hate to say it while they are still in the mix for playoffs, but the time has come for a roster shake up. They played better and seemed to have an “Identity” when some of the core pieces were on IR. I hope they are actively shopping Oleksiak and Schwartz at this point because I don’t see them as long term fits in the plan. Both have been great guys for us and it would be sad to see them leave but I don’t see them resigning here so it makes sense to see what we can get for them.
It is still to early to go into burning it down stage but I don’t think it will be a big dip to move Oleksiak. And what is the point of keeping Schwartz if we are gonna use him on the 4th line.
It’s not “too early” to go into the “burn it down stage”. There barely is anything to burn down to start with. This is a perennial borderline-bubble-hopeful-nothing-team, playing in the by far weakest division in the league – crucially without any immediate help on the way in terms of impact from the prospect pool. Next year they will have a lot of ammo to go for UFA help, but you cannot build a team with UFA players, they are best signed to strengthen an already strong core, which the Kraken lack. The lack of a genuine core is the root problem the Kraken have and until that issue is fixed, they will continue to be irrelevant (i.e. pretenders).
Stop slapping random training wheels onto this mess of a team and FIX the root problem. The rest will fall in place over time with good management.
wittmont12: “The lack of a genuine core is the root problem the Kraken have and until that issue is fixed, they will continue to be irrelevant (i.e. pretenders). ”
That appears to be very correct sir. You show good insights on this team.
I really cant tell if you’re being serious or not. No core, yeah, GREAT insight. This reads like a bot
There is no “4th line” on this team; there are 4 3rd-4th lines, and some of them play more than others. It doesn’t matter where Schwartz plays if he helps the team score.
I am not happy with the way the Kraken are handling Shane Wright. He is an asset that the Kraken will only have on the cheap for so long. He has the potential to be one of our best players, but they aren’t giving him the minutes to develop him as they should.
Currently he is getting the 18th most ice time per game. I think the GM needs to have a talk with the coach about that. The GM could call me; I’d be happy to speak on his behalf.
Shane Wright is not and will not ever be a best player, accept in the AHL. He has some offensive talent but he isn’t strong enough or smart enough. He consistently makes the same errors and his checking (if any) is without physicality or intention. He fails at his 200 ft.responsibilities and is Defensively weak.
Nit being the best player is an easy prediction and I would agree, but he doesn’t need to be that. A solid #2 line C would be a tremendous result.
Maybe more ice time wouldn’t help him figure it out. But maybe it would? He must know they don’t believe in him with the limited TOI.
I’ve gotta agree. Every time I check in on him im shocked hes 6′ 200lbs. He plays small for centerman.
Correct. The mismanagement of Wright is a symptom of the org’s lack of direction.
-> “Build the youth up to become a core capable of contending for the cup” is a PLAN. (A)
-> “Aim for the playoffs” is a GOAL. (B)
-> “Sign UFA players to overpriced contracts in the hope they will push the team into the playoffs (B) and screw the kids (point A)”… is NONSENSE. This is the New York Rangers approach to hockey management that has failed over and over again.
I feel like the Rangers rushing Anderson, Kravtsov, Kakko and Lafreniere to the NHL was a large part of why all four of their top ten picks have been disappointing with two ending up as outright busts.
Sir, I believe you might be incorrect in your theory.
The Isles and Schaeffer, the Sharks and Celebrini, the Hawks and Bedard, the Habs and Slavkosky, Hutson, and Demidov, the Ducks and Carlsson and Gauthier, the Pens and Kindel, the Stars and Johnston, etc. There are many success stories for young players in the NHL now. They just do not play for the Kraken.
Yes, Daisy I agree, there are players who can go straight into the NHL. There are also quite a few – many, many more – who cannot. Several of those players are truly exceptional in a way that is simply well beyond compare. Some, like Hutson, played college against “men” for two years after being drafted. And some, like Slafkovsky, it could be argued, have been slowed in their development by being pushed straight into the NHL.
The point seems, to me, that simply putting young players in the NHL isn’t necessarily the best path for their development. All things considered, as difficult as development and evaluation are, I’m nowhere near capable of proposing to know who should be where. I do know the Rangers had all four of their top ten picks in the NHL the season after their draft and the results were not great.
This whole thing about young players needing to be coddled and carefully promoted is nonsense. For most of them, they either have the talent or they don’t. No Kraken prospects are going to become the top line play-drivers that the team needs just by spending an extra month or year in the AHL. It MIGHT make a slight difference, but there’s no way it makes a huge difference, and there are literally no prospects that project to be good enough to carry a line, let alone the entire team.
The mistake the NYR made with their kids is related to the expectations the Kraken have on theirs. The NYR had a mandate to make the playoffs. They also had a culture of valuing hard working vets and bringing in UFAs as their stars. This put their kids in the awkward position of being expected to play like veteran grunts while simultaneously playing like team leading young stars without ever having the conditions for that to materialize. They need time, opportunity and patience to grow into stars in the league but were deployed differently by NYR management and dino coaches.
Just like the Kraken have the most success with hard working 3rd line prospects (Winterton, Melanson), the NYR have with theirs (Cuylle, Laba), and for the same reasons. This issue goes back to simplistic leadership and hockey vision at the top levels.
It is my hope (against hope) that GM Botterill can take a firm grip on the Kraken, but honestly, I expect more of the same old same old. Until perpetual futility, again like the NYR, forces them to throw in the towel on a rebuild. Only years too late and with more painful consequences than it would be to begin to sort things out starting today.
“It is my hope (against hope) that GM Botterill can take a firm grip on the Kraken…”
So what, specifically, does this look like? Honest question.
Also, I think you and I believe the Rangers have done a poor job of developing their young players. I’m open to that argument, but I’m not sure I’m seeing the parallels otherwise between an expansion team and one that is a season-and-a-half removed from a Presidents’ Trophy and a couple Conference Finals. A team that had and an absolute elite forward at the peak of his powers, a Norris Trophy defenseman, and arguably the best goalie in the world.
It seems to me – and I’m just speculating here – but the undoing of the Rangers was Drury treating their players like shit… something I don’t see the Kraken ever doing.
For every player the answer may be different, but I question having a player the age and skill level of Wright getting so few minutes.
In some cases the answer would be sending them down. Personally I have seen enough good to increase his minutes which might SLIGHTLY hurt the chances of a win on a given night. But would increase his feel for the game quicker and help the team soon.
To me the TOI seems like a big hindrance to rapid development, maybe it isn’t as important as I believe? From my experience in other sports practice just isn’t the same. You develop more in the games.
I don’t think there has been a good trade/FA opportunity hit the market since Botterill took over.
In terms of off-season activity, there was 0 chance Marner was going to sign here and he was really the only FA worth pursuing.
Since the season began, the biggest deals have involved defensemen, which isn’t necessarily what Seattle needs right now and, again, 0 realistic chance of getting either.
The teams that are selling right now are Vancouver, the Rangers and St Louis.
St Louis has a couple of intriguing options in Kyrou and Thomas, but a deal for Kyrou has already been attempted and failed and it’s still not clear of Thomas is actually on the market or not.
I don’t think either NY or Vancouver has anyone worth pursuing. With the new playoff salary cap, of more interest with them would be seeing if/where they manage to trade any of their high-dollar contracts (Petersson, Panarin) and if the teams they go to need to immediately shed salary cap.
Overall, I think it’s a waiting game. It’s still not clear if Seattle is in a position to be a buyer or a seller this season. If they are a buyer, I don’t think they’re looking for a rental. They need young(ish) players, preferably still under RFA protection or with some term remaining on their contracts.
For a deal to happen this season, it’s likely either going to require the bubble popping for more teams to put them into sell mode, or a serious cup contender running into cap problems. Otherwise, I don’t think anything will happen until the off season.
On a related note…news today is that the Robertson brothers are switching agents to Andy for Scott. Though they’re primarily small-dollar contracts, the Kraken have more of his players than any other team…
@ Daryl W re: NYR
The New York Rangers went to the final in 2015 and lost to the Los Angeles Kings. The NYR team was built on heavy grunt work through four lines and Henrik Lundkvist in goal. However, the NYR leadership group realized that the team was ultimately not talented enough to win the cup, so they decided to tear it down. In 2018 they wrote a letter that the team would rebuild, a rebuild which they began but then abruptly aborted when the owner decided playoff revenue was more important. GM Gorton was fired and Drury was appointed.
Drury then went to work to push the NYR team to become playoff worthy. He started to burn up the ample resources the Rangers had saved up for the rebuild. Panarin had come in just before because the NYR couldn’t help themselves to this shiny toy, even if acquiring him went against the tank principle.
Drury managed to create a team that, as you say, went to the Conference finals and won a President’s Trophy. I watched nearly all of those games. To most NYR fans it was clear that the team never was solid enough to be a genuine Cup contender. Yes, they had some talent and top players in the league: Panarin, Igor, Fox, Zib, Kreider etc. BUT they never had the correct balance, it was a hodgepodge of players. Those top players by themselves never were nearly enough. There is a lesson in that. A lot of NYR fans, that had seen the team make the 2015 finals, were saying that all along. They eventually crumbled against Tampa (winners) in the Conference finals. The loss against New Jersey was downright ugly.
No doubt Drury and some of the core players never saw eye to eye. There was always friction in the room, something I believe is endemic to the NYR culture. The Rangers have a very outdated outlook on hockey, a peculiar, deeply ingrained culture that seemingly worship “blue collar” worker grunts but overly adores the Big Stars at the same time. It’s typical that the Rangers brought in Drury and Sullivan (Boston alumnis, following Gorton from the Bruins) yet never were able to create a winning Boston replica.
Talent alone is not enough (something that Botterill to his credit does seem to understand since he puts great importance on culture and the togetherness in the room). But you also don’t get anywhere with lack of cutting-edge talent. That is the core of the Kraken’s issue right now. This is why I’m saying the Kraken are making the Rangers’ mistake, only with less talent to lean on from the start.
The lesson for the Kraken is that they cannot let “hockey politics” get in the way of creating a proper team. Nor can you be distracted by secondary goals (putting the playoffs before creating a true foundation).
I appreciate the recap on the Rangers. While I didn’t watch all of their games, I feel like I’ve kept up to speed going back to when they signed Panarin.
I 100% agree with you on the culture issue in New York and I personally think a great deal of it comes from Dolan. You’d know this better than I, but it seemed to me he was the driving force behind the bloddletting of Davidson, Gordon and Quinn that, to me, accelerated their transformation into a broken organization. A brief bit of on ice success, but ultimately short-lived. I don’t know if he was motivated by “revenue” or by the embarrassment of the debacle with the Capitals. I’ve always assumed it was the latter.
Personally, I think the Kraken are less motivated by the “playoffs” and revenue and the impending Sonics than folks think. I think they hired Francis knowing it would take patience and as I’ve mentioned before, I think folks misread some of their moves. Again, I get the notion of the “mismanagement” parallels between New York and Seattle, I just understand the dynamics differently.
Interesting and a good read. I can definitely see some parallels there especially your point about ownership playoff pressure. I can seriously see that happening here. But they cant really be that dumb can they? Surely they know they’re sellers not buyers. The ownership must know that this thing is a long term project. right? right!?
RB… Andy Scott’s second second most represented team is Dallas with three players… Rantanen, Johnston and Harley – three guys who just signed long-term deals for big money. I mentioned this yesterday on Darren’s Sunday post. I like the idea that this could be an in for a negotiation, but I could also see it being a prelude to Robertson signing in Dallas.
If they are moving him I do think Seattle could have the inside track.
He’s just not that good. It really is that simple. Embrace that 3rd line center position and be a catalyst for that line. There’s an advantage to be had against other teams if you get that 3rd line clicking. I could be wrong but he doesn’t even play against the other teams best players. Catton and right now, winterton are the better looking prospects in my option. Meaning, they’re more likely to meet expectations. This guy was drafted #4 overall. yikes. And if you think he will be playing over Stephenson you’re delusional, not that anythings wrong with that. There’s way crazier takes in this comments section.
Same players early i the game making the same mistakes. Change is need. I thought this was a defensive coached team but the lineups is an offence built team.
“But, I’ve got to think that there’s maybe a couple we’d like to have him back there and put us in a better chance to have an opportunity to win the game.”
Yeah that right LL the only way you know how to win a game is hopefully your goaltender is better than the other guys. Just lock down the game and cross your fingers, Jack Adam’s coaching at its finest.
You’d definitely be too afraid to piss off the front office that built this “lineup” and bench a bunch of middling players so you could put out a energy line kinda like what we had during our “winning streak”.
Obviously LL the key to winning in the NHL is trying to keep your shots below 20 per game and asking your goalies to get to bed before 9:00 on a game night.
Clearly you have learned that the reason you were fired on the island after a year and a half was because you didn’t lock the game down hard enough. You didn’t try to live off your aging vets enough and goaltending enough!!!
We clearly are soooo lucky to have the LL that has learned his lessons so well in his failed career and is ready for the Jack Adam’s trophy. I’m sure he’s got a great spot picked out, maybe on his fireplace mantle?
Need Melanson back up. He was a surprising difference maker.
At the very least put Kartye back in the lineup
4th line scored 2 goals without Melanson and combined for +5. Melanson is not the solution. Dunn continued his +/- struggle with -4 for the game and -19 for the season. Top two lines must be play better defense. Short-handed goals are unacceptable.
I completely disagree AK Jack.
The 4th line isn’t put out to score goals, it’s to set a tone and bring energy into the team. It doesn’t matter if they scored two goals, completely irrelevant. If Winterton and Schwartz were on the third line maybe that line would have still scored two goals…. And we’d have some emotion in the game.
We have too many players that are only on the team because they have the experience but we’re not getting results. LL talks the talk that you have to earn your spot but he doesn’t back it up he just plays players that have bigger pay checks.
I don’t understand this obsession with the 4th line. They are not difference makers, if they were they would play more.
I appreciate Melanson and his style but that wasn’t why they went on a win streak. Hot goalie play got them a nice streak. They regressed and now own a pretty ugly streak. The underlying team is not good and Melanson isn’t the answer.
No clear plan from management, other than get to the playoffs before the sonics come back. There is no logic to there FAs, coaching changes, or general player development. I’m no hockey expert but I have a pretty good idea how to spot a competent management team. They don’t look like this.
Your right Melanson isn’t the answer for all the teams troubles. What is he a hard working player that gets on the forecheck fast and plays the body. What he also is is a glaring example of how poorly our lineup is constructed, it isn’t him in particular but it’s players like him and Kartye that the team needs to balance out the lineup… so in a way he is the answer.
Or is the answer really to get rid of the redundancy that fills most of the teams roster and make room for a little more energy in the lineup?
Would it even help that much, I think it would to a certain degree although part of the problem is LL doesn’t want the team to have energy. He wants very controlled play, slowly get set up, slowly exit the zone, slow the game down…..
As much as I appreciate Dunn’s play driving and love his passion/fire…I wonder if it is time to move him if we can get a really high return. The market for him would probably be really strong considering his skill and contract.
This year it seems he is making many more boneheaded plays, ill advised passes, costly turnovers, over aggressive moves, etc that really cost the team than past seasons. Unfortunately Larsson isn’t fast enough to cover for those fumbles even if he is well positioned.
Dunn is such an emotional player and sometimes that works against us. You’re right, it might be a good time to move him.
Don’t fix what’s not broken. They could have at least kept the core intact. So dumb
We’ve won that exact game many times this year. Pittsburgh had a smart strategy, they were shooting into screens from the blue line the entire game. We were not interested in being physical in front of the net and Daccord wasn’t seeing the puck well.
It’s hard to see a puck you can’t see. He only had a chance of making the save on the breakaway, other than that he would have had to be lucky that it hit him and he wasn’t.