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Three Takeaways – Kraken lose 4-2 to Ducks in game with massive playoff implications

Darren Brown

That was not the outcome Seattle Kraken fans were looking for in what was ostensibly a critical pre-Olympic game against the division rival Anaheim Ducks. Seattle ultimately lost 4-2, but it was worse than the score indicated, with the Kraken mounting a too-little-too-late push in the closing minutes after falling behind 4-0 in the third period.

The second period turned the tide of the game, and things went from bad to worse early in the third. By the time Seattle started to push, the mountain was simply too high to climb, giving Anaheim a leg up for third place in the Pacific Division.

Jordan Eberle and Shane Wright scored late in the third, and Philipp Grubauer made several dazzling saves—finishing with 27 stops—but also had a couple of blunders that proved costly.

Here are Three Takeaways from a painful 4-2 Kraken loss to the Ducks.

Takeaway 1: Second-period struggles

When the Kraken have gotten through the first period tied 0-0, they’ve generally fared well this season. That wasn’t the case here.

Matty Beniers took a holding penalty just 1:56 into the second period. Seattle’s penalty kill did its job, but as Beniers stepped back onto the ice, Cutter Gauthier slapped at a bouncing puck from the top of the right circle, and the shot eluded Grubauer to make it 1-0 at 4:01.

From there, Anaheim seized control of the momentum for much of the middle frame.

The real turning point came late in the period, though, after Seattle tilted the ice the other way and had the Ducks on the ropes. Anaheim was hemmed in for nearly a minute and a half and clearly exhausted, with forward Jeffrey Viel limping on one leg after blocking a shot. The Ryan Winterton–Chandler Stephenson–Eeli Tolvanen line was relentless, firing pucks on net and recovering rebounds. Even when the Ducks briefly gained possession, Seattle stole it right back.

The Kraken were in the middle of a change when Shane Wright jumped on the ice and continued the attack, but his attempted low-to-high pass misfired, exited the zone, and ended the sequence.

Just over a minute later, Jacob Trouba scored with a seeing-eye shot through traffic to make it 2-0 with only 32 seconds left in the period. That goal was a killer, and the Kraken failing to capitalize on that extended pressure likely cost them the game.

Takeaway 2: An odd night for Grubauer

For large stretches of the game, Grubauer was sharp and was a big reason Seattle got through the first period unscathed. But it was also one of those familiar nights of yesteryear where strong play was undermined by a couple confusing goals that make you stop and ask whether they should have gone in.

Gauthier’s goal looked stoppable, though it came on a broken play that appeared to catch Grubauer off guard. Alex Killorn’s goal 24 seconds into the third, which effectively put the game out of reach at 3-0, was tougher to grasp. Grubauer appeared to be reading a pass across the slot and lifted his left leg to push laterally, opening his five-hole. Killorn found it.

The worst moment came at 13:54 of the third, when Grubauer took his eye off a rimmed puck behind the net, which hopped over his stick and eventually left Ross Johnston with an open cage.

There was certainly some bad luck mixed in—Grubauer tracked pucks well for much of the night and made several stops he probably shouldn’t have made—but the mishaps in this one were damaging.

Takeaway 3: Melanson catches Terry

One reason Jacob Melanson has quickly endeared himself to Kraken fans is that his physical play has generally come in the “right way.” He plays hard, makes opponents uncomfortable, and hasn’t taken many penalties.

Late in the second period, though—perhaps in an effort to spark something—Melanson flattened Troy Terry, who was playing his first game back from injury. Replay showed Melanson’s elbow coming up, delivering his first regular-season hit that crossed into questionable territory. (It’s worth remembering Melanson was suspended for a head shot in a preseason game back in 2022.)

Melanson was assessed a 10-minute misconduct and, notably, did not take another shift after exiting the box in the third period. It remains unclear why he didn’t return to the ice.

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This was a brutal loss given the opportunity Seattle had to create separation in the standings against Anaheim. Now sitting in the final wild-card spot, the Kraken head to Los Angeles on Wednesday with a chance to claw back into third place before the Olympic break—or risk falling out of the playoff picture altogether.

That game is enormous.

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.

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