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Three Takeaways – Samoskevich scores two, Catton/Wright dazzle, Kraken roll again against Flames

Darren Brown

Berkly Catton 041326

The Kraken should petition the NHL to play the Flames every game. At such an early stage in the season, it’s a little hard to say if Calgary is that bad or Seattle is that good, but for the second time in two chances against that same opponent, the Kraken rolled to an easy 6-1 win in their home opener Sunday.

“[Scoring goals] obviously gives them the opportunity to gain some confidence that way,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Certainly, we’re making some pretty nice plays, and guys are shooting the puck in the net. So it’s nice to see.”

Mackie Samoskevich scored twice in his home debut, Shane Wright and Berkly Catton showed more chemistry, and Joey Daccord was stellar with 32 saves.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 6-1 Kraken win over the Flames.

Takeaway 1: Mackie was the belle of the ball

That was quite the way for Mackie Samoskevich to “officially” introduce himself to the home Kraken crowd at Climate Pledge Arena.

After a relatively quiet first game for him on the fourth line Saturday in Edmonton, Lambert elevated the 22-year-old offseason acquisition to the first line with Matty Beniers and Jared McCann. That meant Kaapo Kakko moved back down to the line with Berkly Catton and Shane Wright, while Ryan Winterton got bounced back down to the fourth line.

“We had Mackie in there for most of Training Camp,” Lambert said. “I liked what I saw during that time, and I thought [Kaapo Kakko] was good with those kids in Training Camp as well. So we just made the flip. I think that, certainly, Mackie’s speed with McCann and Beniers is helpful for those guys.”

The move worked wonders in this game, with Samoskevich potting his first two goals as a Kraken, and Catton and Wright each getting their respective first goals of the year.

It was Catton who got the scoring started just 2:22 into the game—more on that in Takeaway 2—and Samoskevich who followed it up two minutes later to start ripping out the hearts of Flames players who came in hoping for a bounce-back after two poor outings to start their season.

Samoskevich’s first goal came off a beautifully weighted high flip from Brandon Montour, which sailed about 110 feet and dropped at the far blue line for Samoskevich to skate into. He burned around two defenders, then deked and slipped it through Dustin Wolf.

“I was going as fast as I could, and then [Flames defenseman Kevin Bahl] fell over, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I definitely can get there,’” Samoskevich said. “I’m glad he fell over, but yeah, it was a good one to start the game for sure.

“That is my game, the speed part of it. I love skating as fast as I can, and when you do that, things like that happen. So I’m just going to keep doing it.”

Mackie’s second goal, which truly put the nail in Calgary’s coffin at 5-0 with 26 seconds left in the second, showed some of the chemistry Lambert saw in Training Camp between McCann, Beniers, and Samoskevich.

Facing even 3-on-3 numbers, McCann recognized he didn’t have a lane in the middle, so he drove wide. He dropped it to Beniers at the top of the left circle, and Beniers one-touched it to Samoskevich driving down the right side. Samoskevich whipped it over Wolf’s left shoulder.

“It feels really good,” Samoskevich said about playing on a line with McCann and Beniers. “I think we played pretty well in that first preseason game too, and I think it’s only getting better. So I’m excited for it.”

Takeaway 2: More chemistry from Wright and Catton

I wondered if moving Winterton off the third line would be a detriment to Wright and Catton, but that wasn’t the case in their first game reunited with Kakko. Instead, the chemistry between Wright and Catton continued to build, and both players came away with a goal, Berkly with two points.

After waiting 27 games to score his first NHL goal last season, Catton scored the very first home goal for the Kraken this season. Off a 3-on-2 rush, Kakko’s pass to Wright got intercepted, but Catton stayed with the play and stole the puck right back from Connor Zary. He then cut to open space in the left circle and flung it against the grain to beat Wolf.

“I think just getting that first goal of the year is always nice to get it out of the way,” Catton said. “It took a little long last year, so it’s nice to get that out of the way and just kind of keep going from there.”

Catton wasn’t done. He got on the scoresheet again when Vince Dunn found him cutting across the offensive blue line. Catton turned on the afterburners and flew down the right flank, then hit the brakes to create a seam and threaded a hard pass to Wright in the slot.

Wright then made a skilled play to A.) catch a hot pass and B.) spin to his backhand and get good wood on a shot that glanced off Zach Whitecloud’s skate and through Wolf’s five-hole.

“I think Shane in front of the net is super dangerous, as we all know,” Catton said. “So if I can get the puck to him in there, good things will happen.”

We’ve talked ad nauseam about how encouraging Training Camp was for Wright and Catton and how they’ve looked in the first couple games, but these guys really do look different this season.

Takeaway 3: Another Joey shutout bid… FOILED!

The Kraken have gotten great goaltending for three straight games to start the season. While Seattle ran away on the scoreboard again in this one, the Flames did have plenty of looks at the net, but Daccord was excellent for the second time in as many outings against them.

He was again closing in on a shutout until Ville Ottavainen high-sticked Yegor Sharangovich at 13:33 of the third period. Morgan Frost converted on the ensuing power play, finally sneaking one by Daccord with 5:35 left in the game.

There is something that happens for goalies on certain nights when, no matter what, it feels like pucks are going to find them and somehow stay out of the net. It was clear from the jump that this was one of those nights for Daccord.

“We love those nights. Yeah, those are the best nights as a goalie,” Daccord said.

Of course, it can also go the other way. There are those nights when pucks are going in no matter what, so having them stay out builds confidence.

“There were a couple flurries in the first period that I thought were maybe a little bit frantic, just like chaos in and around the net,” Daccord said. “And sometimes those bounce in, sometimes they don’t, and when they don’t, you start to settle in a little bit. So it was nice to have those go my way.”

Daccord was so sharp on a three-save sequence in the second period that all of Climate Pledge Arena was chanting, “Joey! Joey! Joey!” in perfect unison for a few rounds. While Daccord tried to play it cool and pretend the fans weren’t chanting his name, you could see his posture change slightly in net, indicating he was well aware of what was happening in the building.

Asked what it’s like to have that many people chant his name, Daccord said: “Ah, it’s the best. It’s like the coolest thing ever. I was thinking, actually, during the game, I was like ‘I’ve played a lot of hockey now over the years, and it’s still so cool to be out there.’ And I love just looking around the arena and realizing I’m in the NHL. It’s just the best, and I’m super grateful for every opportunity that I get to play out here and even more grateful when the arena’s supporting me and the team. The Joey chants are my favorite thing in the world. So yeah, it’s great to be back.”

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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