For a game in early November, coming away with two points felt oddly important for the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday against the Calgary Flames.
With their schedule altered for the upcoming Finland trip—and even some extra extra days between games for some reason—getting spanked Friday in Calgary and then having four days to stew over it left a long-lasting bad taste.
Looking ahead, Seattle now has two more practice days, a game Saturday against the New York Rangers, then just the two Global Series games against the Carolina Hurricanes in Finland next Thursday and Saturday, before four more days off. So things are really spread out right now, making points feel extra precious.
“I mean, I think you could kind of see it with our celebration there in OT. [We were] pretty ecstatic,” Berkly Catton said. “I think we really wanted that one and maybe didn’t come out the way we wanted, but finished the way we wanted. And that’s what’s important.”
This one took overtime heroics from Matty Beniers, a desperately needed solid performance from Joey Daccord, and some good, old-fashioned stick-to-itiveness. But the Kraken ultimately prevailed and earned the critical standings points.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 2-1 overtime Kraken win over the Flames.
Takeaway 1: Feel the rhythm
I asked Lane Lambert on Wednesday morning if he likes having games spaced out the way they are right now, so his team can recuperate and work on things in practice, or if he prefers to play more regularly to keep the team in a rhythm. He said unequivocally that he prefers to stay in a rhythm, and we saw why Wednesday.
Seattle looked flat as a pancake in the first 15 minutes of the game and—thanks to a controversial goal—came out of the opening frame trailing 1-0.
That goal was controversial because although a clearing attempt by Seattle traveled the length of the ice, it hit a Kraken player on the bench, which should have stopped play in the neutral zone. Instead, the officials still ruled it icing, which meant the face-off would be in the Kraken end.
Of course, soon after that face-off, Yegor Sharangovich tipped a Zach Whitecloud shot through Joey Daccord’s wickets at 12:45, and Seattle was again chasing the game early, just like it did at the Saddledome on Friday.
So, the #SeaKraken "iced" the puck, but it hit a player on the bench, and the refs still gave the icing call. Seattle didn’t like it. Lo and behold, #Flames score off the offensive-zone face-off. You’ll see Lane Lambert’s reaction at the beginning of this clip… Regardless, terrible start so far for Seattle. 1-0 CGY.
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
The Kraken continued to sleepwalk through the opening frame until Berkly Catton appeared to score to tie the game 1-1 with about five minutes left in the first period. Calgary coach Ryan Huska successfully challenged for offside, though—Catton was a few inches over the line before the puck—and the goal was overturned.
Looked like Berkly Catton tied it, but CGY challenged for offside. Still 1-0 Flames. https://t.co/07ZZkZjbOF
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
Usually, those kinds of calls kill momentum, but in this case, it seemed to be just what the Kraken needed to give them a jolt and start believing they could generate offensive opportunities.
Still, things didn’t come easy at any point in this game for Seattle, but from that moment on, the Kraken did seem to find themselves and shake off whatever rust they were feeling from the oddly long layoff.
“With the time off, I thought it took us a little bit of time to get our legs,” Lambert said. “I was concerned about that potentially, but I think once we got our legs going, we started to have a push, and we were better from there. I thought Joey Daccord played very well for us tonight, made huge saves when he had to, and so that helped us out a lot as well. But certainly, an even, pretty even hockey game if you look at the chances.”
Catton scored a “real” goal at 13:09 of the second off a rush with roommate and new linemate Mackie Samoskevich. Samoskevich found Catton in stride at the blue line, and Catton flew into the zone and zipped a snap shot over Dustin Wolf’s glove to tie the game.
THE LI’L CAT! 🐱 🚨 This one counts. Samoskevich finds Berkly coming over the line with speed, and he snipes it over Wolf’s glove. 1-1 #SeaKraken https://t.co/JSRq4oRdxC
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
That was the last goal of the game until Brandon Montour intercepted a pass less than a minute into overtime and sprung Beniers on one of the clearest-cut breakaways you’ll ever see.
MATTY BENIERS WITH THE BREAKAWAY TO WIN IT IN @ENERGIZER OVERTIME!!! ⚓ https://t.co/mz80CtzAUH
— NHL (@NHL) November 5, 2026
“That was probably the longest breakaway I’ve ever had,” Beniers said “There was a lot of ice. [Montour] made a great play to intercept that and then give it to me.”
Takeaway 2: An important win for Joey
Kraken goaltending has shown some blemishes, with both Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer having rough nights in the last few weeks.
Daccord, especially, needed a solid game both for his own confidence and the confidence of the team, and he delivered Wednesday with a 25-save performance, one of his best statistical outings in 2026-27.
But it wasn’t just the volume; it was also the quality in the third period, when Daccord stopped a full-on breakaway by Joel Farabee and a partial breakaway off a scary-looking speed play by Simon Nemec. Daccord handled both opportunities in an unruffled manner.
Oops! Wood loses it just inside the blue line, two #SeaKraken (Dunn and I *think* Beniers) overcommit, and that springs Joel Farabee on a breakaway. Joey Daccord wins the battle of the Joels, though. https://t.co/GndYt5WVDv
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
“It felt really good to make big saves,” Daccord said. “Honestly, I feel like I’ve been pushing myself to come up with the big save when the team needs it, and to come up with two in the third period felt really good. Yeah, I was fired up. I was celebrating a little bit internally because I just I think it’s really important, especially when the team’s playing well.”
He did so despite Seattle’s old nemesis, Martin Pospisil, running him over twice during the course of the game. On the first one, Vince Dunn—who has been injured by Pospisil in the past and desperately wants to make him “answer the bell”—jumped right in and gave Pospisil a few good shots. And when Pospisil did it a second time, leaving Daccord down for a moment, Brandon Montour skated down from the blue line and flattened Pospisil.
Martin Pospisil is at it again… He runs Joey Daccord for the second time in the game. Brandon Montour comes in and flattens him. That guy… #SeaKraken #Flames https://t.co/I5xJC52IQa
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
“It’s great to feel the support from the guys like that and know they have your back,” Daccord said. “Obviously, just got run into, and yeah, wasn’t really expecting to get collided into, so I wasn’t exactly bracing for a hit. Maybe I should start bracing for hits. Next thing I know, I was on the ice, and I saw ‘Monty’ go after him… That’s always a good feeling as a goalie to know that your team has your back like that and will stand up for you. So I really appreciate ‘Monty’ there.”
Daccord was unfazed by Pospisil’s shenanigans and ultimately got the last laugh.
That Pospisil guy sucks.
Takeaway 3: Matthew Wood debut
In this game, we got our first look at Matthew Wood in game action after he was acquired from the Nashville Predators in a trade for Shane Wright on Sunday. Interestingly, Lambert used him quite a lot. Wood finished the night with 17:35 of ice time, which was fourth-most among forwards behind only Matty Beniers, Bobby McMann, and Chandler Stephenson.
I thought it was a rocky start for Wood, who turned the puck over on one of his first touches in deep sea blue. But like the rest of the team, he settled in as the game went along.
Although I can see what people have said about his agility—his straight-line speed is fine, but when he needs to turn on a dime, it does take him longer than other players—there were a few flashes of brilliance, with shifty puck plays and at least two deft little passes that created scoring chances.
He also came within inches of scoring his first goal as a Kraken in the third period off a rush with Chandler Stephenson. As Stephenson slowed to pull defenders toward him, Wood continued toward the net and got behind Zayne Parekh. Wood then went backhand-to-forehand and chipped a shot that hit Wolf’s mask and then the crossbar.
Didn’t clip this last night, but Matthew wood came verrrrry close to scoring his first goal as a #SeaKraken. https://t.co/UAqYESE6Kl
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 5, 2026
“I thought Matthew did a good job for his first game,” Lambert said. “There’s a couple things that he’s still getting his footing, you could tell that early on, but I thought as he got more comfortable, you can see the things that he can do with the puck. [He had a] great move in the third period… [when his shot went] off the crossbar. That’s kind of what we’re looking for out of him, for sure.”
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.
Catton shrugging of the off-sides no-goal and simply scoring feels like such a good sign of the player he can be. He’s still just scratching the surface, but man is his speed and skill top tier and what this team needs. Awesome bounce back game from Joey. I know Matty hasn’t exactly been lighting up the box score this season, but it seems clear he has it in his DNA to just be absolute nails some nights when the team needs to close things out late. A good, gritty win in a game where both goal tenders were outstanding when the Flames have been clicking lately. Need to stack this win with another against NY before the Finland trip to keep a good hold of that 3rd spot in the Pacific.
beniers is a lot of fun to watch, he looks like a missile and seems to always be an inch away from making the sickest play ive ever seen. im not making fun of him, he always LOOKS dangerous and fast and when he winds up he looks like hes trying to obliterate the puck and 3 generations of its forebears. and then a poke check or a slightly high shot off the glass or some other thing that makes it not quite work. he is literally inches away from being amazing every night. i cant wait for the last little lurch forward when his antication is just a split second faster and he can do what i can see hes trying to do. he has the tools and the ability it just needs to click one more notch.
catton looks better every game. most skilled player in the org and he has the look on his face i kept wanting to see on shanes. the look that says “im not going to be denied, im going to exert my will”. as soon as they took away his first goal i could see on his face he was going to get another. wasnt shocked at all when he buried that shot.
game conditions being what they were im glad nobody got an extra penalty but im still waiting for someone to screw pospisals head on backwards. i cant stand that guy.
We could hear Lane Lambert yelling about that icing call in the first period from the opposite corner of the lower bowl last night.
Once the Kraken got their rusty legs going they played a good game. The real winner of the night though was the sharp looking Remix jersey. Gets my vote as the best alternative Uni yet. Needs to be worn more often beyond just this season…
this offseason i made a few comments about wrights lack of “you will not deny me” that elite players possess. you can see it in catton. that kid WANTS to be better every night, he WANTS a point every game. he WANTS to outplay who is on the ice opposite of him. the future is bright with that one. what was flashes last year is turning into sustained bursts.
The thing is…
Berkly Catton is playing in Shane Wrights role – centering the third line – not Matthew Wood. How is Berkly Catton doing given the opportunity Shane Wright was given?
Yeah, that was surprising how much ice time he got. I imagine it was due to playing beside Stephenson and Gaudreau, but Lambert did not keep Jani Nyman out there the same way when he played on the Stephenson line. Wood made the one mistake, but otherwise he did not look at all out of place. It was a good first game for Wood.
That was a big bounce-back game from the defensemen in general and Vince Dunn in particular. They regularly cleared the front of the net, got physical, and interrupted the plays in the low slot that killed them in the previous game. The Flames were clearly trying to get those cross-crease passes going again, and the Kraken defensemen were having none of it. Despite a couple long shifts, the only real offense the Flames were able to generate was off of transition, and even then when there was a defenseman back to face the rush that defenseman (Vince Dunn on a couple occasions) neutralized the opportunity. It was a stifling performance by the blue line. Magnificent.
Who had “Freddy Gaudreau finishes the season as the team’s top goal scorer and top-line center” on their bingo card? That would be hilarious, but it assumes that Barkley Catton and his linemates do not take that distinction down the stretch. Right now they are feasting on lesser opposition, but they still tend to get trapped in their own zone when the opposing team manages to get their top line out against them. With the defensemen playing like they did last night that is not too terrible a problem, but it bears watching. Oh, and it was another great game from Kaapo Kakko. Catton is getting the goals, but Kakko is creating the opportunities.
Of course Matty Beniers was going to score that goal. I nearly started celebrating when I saw that he was free with that much room, because a breakaway that wide open and with no backcheck within six feet is like a shoot-out attempt at which Beniers has been outstanding this year. Wolf didn’t stand a chance. On the other end, Daccord snuffing out the breakaway and odd-man rushes in the first period was a pleasant surprise. It is reassuring to see that game-stealing version of Joey Daccord again.
I know Dunn and Montour went after Pospisil a little *both times* he ran Joey, but I don’t think those were adequate responses. The second time was especially hard and reckless. And the fact that there was a second time says that the response to the first was inadequate. Even if Pospisil won’t answer the bell, you can’t let that happen.
I personally would not mind seeing Ville Ottavainen throw Pospisil to the ice and wail on him like he did with Brennan Othmann, but in a hard-fought tie game against a division rival where standings points are on the line the Kraken could not afford to take a major penalty where the punk on the other side does not respond, especially with the penalty kill looking the way it has. Giving the little rat what for would have likely cost the Kraken the game.
I get the game situation. I do. But running the goalie from behind at full speed without the puck is not something you can let go. I’m sure they’ll take a number for next year. Fine. But that’s a soft response and he’ll continue trying to injure our players until someone makes the Flames pay for his recklessness.
It would have been idiotic to go after him the second time when you’re going on the man advantage and you know Pospisil won’t fight. He plays dirty and never answers the bell.
I understand why he stayed disciplined, but the broadcast said they didn’t call a penalty until Montour jumped in and play was dead. That doesn’t even hold up.
I’m not a big eye for an eye guy, but he *plowed our goalie from the blindside at full speed after the puck was gone*! I don’t care about the game situation, some things are just unacceptable. I don’t care if you take it out on Pospisil or Gridin or Coronato, or Wolf, but that was a soft response.
wolf caught a puck to the head after the whistle blew. that was a message.
echoing everyone else, the game situation warranted composure over retribution. unfortunately. they (dunn and montour) both made the right choice even though you could tell they wanted more. calgary somehow has a top power play and we have a bottom penalty kill. thats great for them, not great for the kraken.
I get it, I do. And I actually thought Dunn walked the line well in the moment. He got some shots in and didn’t take the penalty. Fine.
That second hit crossed the line for me. We’re very lucky Joey didn’t get hurt on that play. I just think there are things that are unacceptable regardless of the game context.
It sounds like Joey was fine with the response, so whatever. If my take is out of date or unsophisticated, I’m fine with that. But Calgary will keep taking cheap shots and injuring our guys, and it doesn’t sit well with me that we just take it.
Wood was OK in Kraken debut. Lil Cat is looking like maybe Kraken’s best skater, but Montour’s extraordinary take-away and assist and Matty’s finish argue that they may be the Kraken best, not that it matters. Monty had a late game push with a pirouette with a backhand shot that was an insane level of difficulty.