Three Takeaways – The Kids lead the way in 6-1 Kraken rout over Flames

You can’t ask for a much better start to the season than what the Seattle Kraken got on Thursday, cruising to a 6-1 win over the Flames in Calgary.

The youngsters, who Seattle is relying upon to take a big step in their development this season, literally led the way. Six different Kraken scored, Jared McCann had three assists, and Joey Daccord was rock solid, despite having his shutout foiled with three minutes left.

Here are Three Takeaways from a dominant 6-1 Kraken win over the Flames on Opening Night.

Takeaway 1: The Kids™️ are alright

I loved what I saw from “The Kids” line of Shane Wright, Berkly Catton, and Ryan Winterton.

After the Flames tilted the ice for the first few minutes, it was that line that flipped things back the other way for Seattle, earning the first sustained zone time of the season and creating the first two shots on goal. A game that initially felt like the Kraken couldn’t get the puck suddenly reversed course, and within minutes, they were off and running.

Jordan Eberle credited that young line with getting the team going. “They had some good shifts, and then we obviously got one on the power play. We found a couple after. Yeah, then we started to roll from there.”

Wright drew the penalty that led to Eberle’s power-play goal at 9:10 of the first period, then had a great shift that ended with a Vince Dunn bomb to make it 2-0 just 32 seconds later.

DUNN DEAL! 🚨

Ryan Winterton goes low-to-high, and Vince Dunn just lets it rip.

2-0 #SeaKraken 10 minutes in. pic.twitter.com/1CoSAKfJUn

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 2, 2026

On that play, Catton stole the puck and chipped it low for Wright. Wright took a hit below the goal line but kept the play alive to a swinging Winterton, who then banked it up to Dunn at the point. Catton and Wright both went to the front of the net to wreak havoc in front of Dustin Wolf, and Dunn let it rip.

“They were unbelievable, and I think Shane and ‘Wints’ and the guys that we need to get going to win games—they are very committed to create things away from the puck,” Dunn said. “I thought they were pretty good and put themselves in good positions to get the puck back and create a lot of scoring chances… That was a really big team effort, and it’s good to see them get their confidence going right from the start because we’re going to need them throughout the season.”

Aside from those moments of production, the trio looked dynamic and fast throughout the night and played with a ton of confidence. Obviously, it’s just Game 1, but all three players look like they took steps in their development this summer.

“Really encouraging,” coach Lane Lambert said of The Kids. “That’s what we’re counting on. A lot of that trio—we’ll see if ‘Wints’ is on there the whole time or how that works—but certainly, they use their speed, hockey sense, and they’ve got some skill offensively. So they did a really good job, and I really liked their compete level.”

Takeaway 2: Encouraging signs from power play, too

The Kraken got a lot of chances on the power play on this night, with the undisciplined Flames putting themselves shorthanded five times. Eberle buried one early, but Seattle failed to convert on the subsequent four power plays.

“I thought [the power play was] average, at best,” Dunn said. “I think it’s obviously nice when you get one right away. I think from there we got a little complacent and a little slow. I think we can be a little bit more selfish, and I think that’s going to have to be the identity with it this year.”

So, that seems bad. HOWEVER…

Even on the four chances in which they didn’t score, Seattle looked reasonably dynamic. The two units were slinging the puck around with ease at times, and there were a few sequences with four or five shots in quick succession at Wolf, who was equal to the task.

More goals would have been nice, but it was a decent showing by the PP units and an encouraging foundation for Game 1.

Takeaway 3: Solid start for Joey

Joey Daccord (almost) couldn’t have asked for a better start to his season, shutting out the Flames for more than 56 minutes before Ryan Strome finally got one by him at 16:35 of the third.

There were some big saves, too, and at critical times. For example, with Seattle leading 2-0 in the first period, Josh Mahura took the team’s lone penalty of the contest. Matty Beniers laid out for a painful block, and Ryan Lindgren had one as well. Beniers had his knee wrapped in ice after the game.

But Daccord also stood tall during that PK, and Freddy Gaudreau’s dazzling goal at 19:30 of the first put things well on the rails.

“I liked [Joey’s game],” Lambert said. “He needed to make some saves, and he did. I thought he was square, solid, I thought his puck play was solid. So it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get the zero, but I thought he played very well.”

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All in all, that was about as solid a first outing as you could have hoped for from the Kraken, from top to bottom. Now, it’s on to Edmonton, where they’ll face a team that just went 1-0-1 in a two-game series against the Vancouver Canucks, with the teams combining for 27 goals across the two games.