Seattle Kraken coach Lane Lambert wondered aloud on Wednesday if his team’s rally back from a three-goal deficit to steal a standings point at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday could be the “event” that gets the group playing up to its potential again, something it has not done since before the Olympic break. After watching the Kraken play at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, there may be something to Lambert’s theory.
Facing long odds in this game, the Kraken played some of the best and most emotional hockey they’ve played in months, sticking up for each other, cutting down on (but not eliminating) defensive mistakes, and capitalizing on their opportunities. They also got a huge game from Philipp Grubauer—in the second half of the contest, especially—and rewarded him with a 4-3 overtime win.
Brandon Montour scored twice, Bobby McMann scored his sixth goal in seven games as a Kraken, Kaapo Kakko finished a dazzling play by Chandler Stephenson, and Berkly Catton had his first NHL fight and was generally awesome in this game.
“We were resilient,” Lambert said. “It was a hard game, and we had some guys get banged up. I thought Berkly Catton stepping up and fighting was a real spark for our hockey team. It just shows his character, and I just thought that we were resilient.”
Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators lost 4-2 at home to the New Jersey Devils, so Seattle is back within three points of a playoff spot with a game in hand.
Here are Three Takeaways from a big-time 4-3 Kraken win over the Lightning.
Takeaway 1: Taking their lumps, playing for each other
As Lambert indicated with his comment about guys getting “banged up,” there were two situations in this game in which I thought a player was about to leave but ended up staying. The first was when Shane Wright took a nasty slam into the end wall after an awkward hit by Charle-Edouard D’Astous. He was hunched over on the bench and talking to head athletic trainer Justin Rogers for several minutes but stayed in the game and ended up making a play to create the game-winning goal.
https://t.co/CSKSYFFMCh pic.twitter.com/m4DqcrpUDr
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 26, 2026
In overtime, Catton tried to make a cross-crease pass to Montour, but Andrei Vasilevskiy read the play and deflected the puck out of harm’s way… or did he? Wright—who had looked very hurt in the first period—reacted quickly and beat Nikita Kucherov to a loose puck at the top of the right circle, quickly sending it back to Montour at the bottom of the circle. Montour delayed and showed pass before letting a sneaky shot go that slipped through Vasilevskiy’s pads.
“Obviously, Shane [made a great play] on that one with the back check,” Montour said. “[It was] 3-on-2. I tried the five-hole a couple times, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And with a good goalie like that, you hope to catch him off guard, and luckily, we did.”
MONTY MONEY! 💰 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 27, 2026
Great play by Shane Wright to keep the play alive, and Brandon Montour scores his second of the game to WIN IT 4-3 over the Lightning! #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/eNMjWOxUiz
Also in this game, Jordan Eberle took a nasty hit from Emil Lilleberg two minutes into the second period and hit his head on the ice. Catton—of all people—challenged the first guy he found, which happened to be J.J. Moser, not Lilleberg, who had actually made the hit.
“Apparently I got the wrong guy. I didn’t even know,” Catton said. “I just kind of was looking for whoever got him, and I don’t know… one of their guys looked at me, so we just kind of dropped them.”
BERKLY CATTON FISTICUFFS?! 🥊
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 27, 2026
Jordan Eberle hit his head on the ice after a borderline slew foot by Lilleberg.
Berkly Catton responds by challenge JJ Moser for his first career fight! #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/1N9S57rkp6
This was Catton’s first career fight at the NHL level after also dropping the gloves once in the WHL. His inexperience showed a bit, but he did well to take one punch, throw one, and then get to the ice. He said his eye was partially closed immediately after, so although he didn’t know if he got punched, he thought Moser may have caught him.
The timing of Catton’s bout was funny. I had just interviewed him at morning skate on Thursday and asked him which player on the team he looked up to and tried to emulate the most, and he immediately said, “Jordan.” Watch that interview here:
#SeaKraken vs. Lightning Morning Skate Report!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 26, 2026
– Featuring an interview with TOP-LINE winger Berkly Catton
– Oscar Fisker Mølgaard is back
– Shane Wright on wing
– Defensive "hesitation" pic.twitter.com/8g8tESrf6G
“It’s your captain,” Catton said after the game. “You’ve got to pick up your captain, that’s just kind of an unwritten rule of hockey. So I did the best I could, but I had to do it.”
Catton’s fight was one of several brouhahas in a game that turned into one of the feistiest and most emotionally charged of the season for Seattle.
Eberle, by the way, went down the tunnel for a while but returned and finished the game. Matty Beniers also looked shaken up for a brief period in the second and didn’t play the first nine minutes of the third. For a time, the Kraken were down to just eight healthy forwards, because Lambert had opted to roll with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second game in a row, scratching Jacob Melanson and keeping Cale Fleury in. Lambert said he did this because he liked that it allowed him to move people around and “double-shift” Catton.
But the coach also said with a laugh, “I didn’t like [the 11 and seven lineup] when we had about three injuries and we were down to eight forwards, but it was what it was.
“It’s a huge moment for our hockey team, just guys battling through the adversity,” Lambert said. “So there’s no question that those guys [Eberle, Wright, and Beniers] gutting it out… it was a very, very gutsy win for our hockey team.”
Takeaway 2: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard shows well in first game after call-up
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, who was recalled on Wednesday from the Coachella Valley Firebirds and replaced Jani Nyman on the roster, was thrown right in on the third line.
I thought he was excellent in the game, looking fast and confident and defending like a veteran center. Lambert, too, raved about Mølgaard’s performance.
“I liked him. He’s quick, he’s fast, he’s smart. He’s a good hockey player,” Lambert said. “You can rely on him in those [defensive] areas. That’s huge for any young player—you have to be able to rely on them defensively—and certainly, you could tell he’s played the game at a higher level, Olympics, elite leagues, and all those things. He’s having a great year in Coachella Valley and well deserving of the call-up. And we’ll continue to use him, and I expect his ice time to grow.”
Mølgaard drew a penalty 13 minutes into the game when he got in first on the forecheck and was body-slammed to the ice by Lilleberg. Just after that penalty ended, Mølgaard was back on the ice for an offensive-zone face-off. The puck came out of the zone, and Mølgaard sprinted after it and used his body positioning to fight Jake Guentzel off the puck. In one motion, he bumped it off the boards to start Seattle’s transition back to offense, and in a flash, Freddy Gaudreau found Montour cutting to the net, and Montour deposited it for his first of two goals on the night.
Takeaway 3: Big game for Philipp Grubauer
The Kraken have been relying heavily on Joey Daccord lately, which Lambert said at morning skate was because of Joey’s puck play and the fact that the organization viewed him as “the guy” at the start of the season. Since Grubauer’s last start—which happened to be a 6-2 loss to these same Lightning (one could argue that none of the six goals scored in that game were his fault) on St. Patrick’s Day—Daccord went 0-2-1 in three consecutive starts with uninspiring stats.
The time was right to get Grubauer back in, and he was up to the challenge against the high-octane Lightning, making 30 saves on the night.
The goals Grubauer allowed in this one came from a blown coverage for a wide-open Anthony Cirelli, a Guentzel breakaway, and Corey Perry marching down the slot and one-timing a power-play goal.
All three of those came in the first half of the game, and from then on, Grubauer shut things down and held on long enough for Montour to find the game-winner.
His most critical save came with two minutes left in the second period when Ryker Evans fanned on a pass at the offensive blue line, which sprung Pontus Holmberg on a breakaway. Grubauer shouldered it away to keep the game tied at 3-3 heading to the second intermission.
“I think at that point, every save is critical because I gave one up on the earlier breakaway there, so if that goes in, it’s a different story, maybe,” Grubauer said.
Added Lambert: “He played an outstanding game. He played a game that we needed him to play, and certainly with some of the ice times were high for the forwards because of guys being out… Grubi made some huge saves, including in overtime.”
What a win. The Kraken have life, folks!
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.
I feel like Montour hasn’t been playing that well since coming back from the break and since he seems to never get off the ice I’m glad he’s finally scoring again
One of the gutsiest games of the year and finally showed the Kraken want to make a run. We Will see. Eli is lost out there with those speedy kids on his line though.
All that roughing in the 2nd period kept them in the game emotionally and that really helped them. I’m still scratching my head about not playing Grubauer previously. I think Joey is stronger when they incorporate Gru regularly. What do I know… I’m glad we’ve got him for another year. I hope they just let him play it out – especially if he’s going to play like this.
That was horrible hockey, if we need to play like that to get into the playoffs then we have no business being in the playoffs. That was so awful I feel bad for the fans in TB that paid money to watch a team come into their rink who were fighting for their lives to get into the playoffs actually not even trying to win but just lock down the game.
I almost feel like if that’s the hockey we are going to play we should almost have our franchise revoked, just horrible painful hockey to watch. It’s not even entertaining it just makes you want to 🤮.
Seriously if we’re that bad why exactly are we even trying to get into the playoffs? I really don’t understand what this team is trying to accomplish, we are soooo far from being a playoff caliber team and instead of trying to get better they think they can pull the wool over our eyes by playing crap hockey and making us look a little more competitive? Who exactly are they fooling?
I thought Catton played well and Grubauer after he settled in won the game for us. That was the only good I saw, but there was that.
Yes, I too wonder why a team just 3-points out of the playoffs would try to win games and make the playoffs. For that matter why would a team like the Lightning, who can’t even beat us in their own building, even try to win games anymore? They should just tank from shear embarrassment, who are they kidding? Heck, all of the teams below the Lightning should just give up and call the season quits too, lets just give the Avalanche the Stanley Cup now.
Did you not watch that game it was some of the worst hockey I’ve ever seen, if that gets anyone excited they have very low expectations.
You honestly think it matters if we scrap into the playoffs, if anything it will just make a very bad GM look a little better.
I did watch the game, by no means their best performance, but they got it done and I was happy to come away with a win.
It absolutely matters to me as a fan if we make the playoffs. The joy of fandom comes with seeing your team win and play in meaningful moments. I’d love to see this team close the season on a streak and finish with a post-season berth. Do I think we have a real shot at the cup? Of course not, the same is true for most of the 16 teams that will make the playoffs. Do I still want to see my team try their best and watch them play playoff hockey? Without a doubt.
The management of this teams lives rent free in this guys head. He’s unable to see the big picture. Getting into the playoffs is key for the long term sustainability of this team. Both from a financial point of view but also for the kids we have playing to get some experience. Getting a 10-16 pick (which is likely where we’ll net out if we miss) doesn’t help us at all. Hell even if that pick hits it’s a 5 years down the road MAYBE functional NHL player.
Agreed, would be great to get the young players some experience. I would also like to give Bobby McMann a reason to want to re-sign here given how he’s been performing and the sparse free agent market coming up in the off-season.
For someone who has strong opinions and seems intent on cosplaying as an expert on the NHL it is surprising you ask “why exactly are we even trying to get into the playoffs?” Players want to win and if they don’t then would we really want them on our team? The young guys (Catton/Wright) may have bonuses in their ELC’s and if they don’t the playoff pool is still a good chunk of money for the role players and youth. Its also good to give the guys exposure to games that matter and playoff hockey is a different beast. Management/Ownership want to get to playoffs because $$ revenue and relevance. Even if we get bounced it is a sign of hope the team is heading in the right direction and with the Sonics destined to be here in a few years we better not be a bottom 5 team still. Plus you never know what will happen in the playoffs. Just look at the 2nd season when we bounced the Avalanche who were dominant and the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Horrible hockey? They played the style of game they need to play against teams with elite talent, especially considering they were dealing with in-game injuries to 3 guys including Matty and Eberle, and only dressed 11-forwards. Playing a heavy, lock-down defensive structure is an effective strategy to steal two points. Making the game “horrible” for a more skilled opponent makes for a successful road game. I would argue that style of play is more akin to playoff hockey than high octane games you want.
They are 3pts out of the 2nd wild card spot with a game in hand and have been incredibly streaky so its possible they go on a run and make it. We would love to see them put together a dominant game where they outplay the other team. But at this point it is about getting points anyway they can no matter how ugly.
I did like that Catton grabbed a guy and tried to stand up for Ebs. It is the very thing that people have blasted the Leafs for repeated NOT doing this year. You gotta love him and Matty stepping up when the time came despite being the last two guys on the team I would expect to do it. Also keeping Gru in a regular rotation seems to be critical at this point since both he and Joey seemed to be their best when flipping back and forth.
Well overall said Smitty!
Like you mentioned. Of course the players want to win. If they didn’t would we really want them on our team…!
Go Kraken!!!
I’m convinced this guy is just a troll. entertaining in the brain rot kind of way.
Who was feeding Berkly during the Olympic break? Mama Catton or Mama Stephenson? Whomever it was, he seems to have put on a few very-much-needed pounds. He’s suddenly started looking more like an NHL rookie and not a WHL rookie.
Berkly Catton was just one whiffed shot away from the team’s first Gordie Howe hat trick. Who had that on their bingo card? Speaking of unlikely scenarios, in a game as chippy as that one was Yanni Gourde never got mixed up in any extra-curriculars.
You have to question Lamberts judgment if he honestly believes Joey has looked like the guy in the back half of the season. The same thing happened last year as well. Joey seems to run out of gas when relied upon as the starter.
Go Kraken!!!