When the home team is down 5-0 entering the third period, you assume things are over, and the rest will be boring to watch. With that scenario in place Tuesday for the Seattle Kraken, who were getting spanked by the Vegas Golden Knights on home ice through 40 minutes, a good chunk of the fans in attendance did not return to their seats for the final frame.

No, the Kraken didn’t mount a miraculous comeback, but the third period was anything but boring.

There were shenanigans galore, Seattle scored twice (Vegas scored another), and the final horn left us wanting more of this Vegas/Seattle matchup. Alas, these teams won’t meet again until January.

“I really liked our fight to the end,” Lambert said. “You don’t want to have a home game where, certainly, you’re losing 5-0 after two periods and fans start to leave. I’m proud of our team for coming out in the third period and continuing to battle right down to the bitter end, including some pushback and things like that. I think there was a lot to be said for that. I think that was a good step for us.”

It ended up being a stat-padding night for Vegas, with Mark Stone getting a Gordie Howe hat trick, Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel each racking up four points, and Victor Olofsson scoring twice before leaving with an injury on a bad hit from Ben Meyers.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 6-2 Kraken loss to the Golden Knights.

Takeaway 1: A comedy of errors

This might sound crazy, but I didn’t think the Kraken looked as bad in this game as a 6-2 final would suggest. They came out fast and dictated the tempo in the first few minutes, but despite several looks at the Vegas net, Carter Hart stood tall and kept the Kraken off the board.

But halfway through the opening period, the Golden Knights started getting some chances, and Seattle started slapping the puck around, failing to connect on passes and struggling to get it out of their zone.

Unsurprisingly, Vegas eventually converted, with Olofsson scoring his first of two goals on the night, deflecting a Rasmus Andersson blast past Joey Daccord at 13:02 of the first. Tomas Hertl added a power-play goal at 15:58, and the Kraken were officially in “chase” mode.

You knew it wasn’t going to be Seattle’s night when Mark Stone scored a shorthanded goal to make it 3-0 at 1:43 of the second. The Kraken had gone onto the power play to start the period, a good chance to get back into the game. With an open look, Brandon Montour took a huge windup, ready to launch a puck toward Hart from the right point. Instead, his stick exploded, creating a 2-on-1 for Jack Eichel and Stone against a stickless Montour.

3-0 Vegas. Short-handed goal by Mark Stone off a terrible… break… for the Kraken. Montour wound up for a slap shot, and his stick exploded, creating a 2-on-1 against a stickless defenseman. https://t.co/WsjHxTbCgY

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 7, 2026

Mix in some more mismanagement of the puck—like Bobby McMann’s fumble at the offensive blue line to give Eichel a breakaway goal—plus Daccord’s off night (he allowed five goals on 21 shots and was pulled for Philipp Grubauer in the third period), and a decent effort turns into a lopsided result.

Takeaway 2: Shenanigans galore

Seattle did get on the board in the third period, with Shane Wright scoring for the second game in a row and Jared McCann breaking through for his first of the year in garbage time. But what made the third period interesting were all the shenanigans, of which there were many.

For context, it’s worth noting that Marc Gatcomb boarded Ryan Lindgren 15 seconds into the game. I’m not saying that started the extracurriculars, but it definitely contributed to the bad blood, because although Lindgren played the first period, he didn’t return for the second. The teams played on from there with no immediate response from Seattle.

Things ratcheted up, though, when Ben Meyers caught Olofsson in an awkward position along the side boards. Olofsson went down awkwardly and was injured to the point that he needed help getting off the ice.

Ben Meyers catches Victor Olofsson in an awkward position and injures him. Olofsson needed help getting off the ice. Looked pretty bad. Meyers got a 5-minute major and a game misconduct for boarding. #SeaKraken #VegasBorn https://t.co/hVZc6wk8Bc

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 7, 2026

Seattle was already on the PK at that point, and Meyers was given a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for boarding. Some pushing and shoving occurred immediately, but proceedings really took a turn when Montour challenged Stone during the ensuing 5-on-3 Vegas power play.

Montour had a remarkably honest response when I asked him after the game what led to him dropping the gloves with Stone. The below is worth a watch.

#SeaKraken #VegasBorn https://t.co/bCl3XAP7Ml

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 7, 2026

Stone corroborated that statement, saying that Montour had been saying some things about his team that he “didn’t like.”

The third period only got chippier from there, with old friend Jeremy Lauzon cheap-shotting Shane Wright when he was down on the ice, and Ryan Winterton avenging Lindgren by dropping his gloves with Gatcomb.

Even more fisticuffs! 🥊 Ryan Winterton takes on Marc Gatcomb immediately following a #SeaKraken goal https://t.co/JnjclMsQwX

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 7, 2026

Takeaway 3: Lots to learn

I was feeling good about this team after the first three games, in which Seattle dominated a bad Calgary team twice and narrowly lost to Edmonton. A 6-2 loss to Vegas is a bitter dose of perspective, but I’m not yet convinced we’ll see ugly losses like that all season.

Like I said, I didn’t think the gameplay was as crooked as the scoreboard in this one. Seattle just made a bunch of mistakes that got compounded by bad breaks, like Montour’s ill-timed stick explosion, and the Golden Knights capitalized, as they do.

“There’s lots to learn from this game,” Lambert said. “There’s certain things that— like I said this morning, things that matter most are the things that maybe you can’t measure on the stat sheet.”

Now, the Kraken will head out on a long road trip to the East Coast, on which we’ll get a better idea of exactly who they are.