The Seattle Kraken rolled into Ottawa on Thursday night for Game 2 of their six-game road trip. The Ottawa Senators were on the second game of a back-to-back, having lost the first leg to the Buffalo Sabres 8-4 the night before. The Kraken got some respect from Ottawa, as the Senators started their No. 1 goaltender, Linus Ullmark, after opting for backup Leevi Meriläinen the previous night. Ottawa was also without captain Brady Tkachuk, who is out six-to-eight weeks with a hand injury.
With Shane Wright’s grandparents in attendance, the Kraken got off to a quick start with Wright scoring in the first five minutes. The Senators and Kraken then traded goals before ending regulation tied 3-3.
Seattle dominated puck possession in overtime but couldn’t find the winner, ultimately falling in the shootout. Shane Pinto and Tim Stützle scored for Ottawa to seal the 4-3 victory. Still, the Kraken earned a point and improved to 2-0-2, maintaining a .750 points percentage through their first four games.
Takeaway #1: First goals
Wright and Chandler Stephenson both scored their first goals of the season, with Stephenson lighting the lamp twice. The forward lineup stayed the same, but Ryan Winterton and Eeli Tolvanen swapped spots. Neither recorded a point, but their lines contributed offensively, and we all know scoring from all four lines will be needed for Seattle to have success this season.
Stephenson’s first goal came from an aggressive forecheck and takeaway by Jaden Schwartz and Tolvanen, followed by a laser shot that hit the post, bounced off Ullmark, and in. Both Wright and Stephenson scored on rebounds—a good sign that the Kraken are getting pucks to the net with support to clean up the scraps.
Takeaway #2: Backup goaltending
After starting the first three games, it was nice to see Joey Daccord get a full day off. This is one benefit of carrying three goalies—a situation I’m not advocating for—but it allowed Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray to share the workload.
Grubauer wasn’t perfect, but only one of the three goals (the tying goal) against felt like one he should have stopped. To the naked eye, it appeared Grubauer just whiffed on it, but Jamie Oleksiak may have screened him on the shot from Dylan Cozens, who fired quickly off the boards before Grubauer could track the puck. Regardless, this one came at a tough time, with the Kraken trying to secure a regulation win deep in the third period.
The first Senators goal came off an unlucky bounce that went right to Pinto, who buried his league-leading sixth of the season just seconds after a power play expired. Ottawa’s second goal came on the man advantage, with Claude Giroux threading a cross-ice pass to David Perron, who fired it home short side.
Grubauer did enough to keep Seattle in the game, earning the team a point. Just a hunch, but we could see Murray in net when the Kraken face the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 20, the first leg of back-to-back games.
Takeway #3: No quit
The season is young, but in both games of this road trip, Seattle has trailed at times and battled back. In both contests, they also held a third-period lead—a positive sign. Unfortunately, they surrendered late goals in each that forced overtime before losing, but they still earned points both nights. The Kraken aren’t folding, and that resilience has them collecting points in all four games this season. If they keep competing like this, the points will keep rolling in.
The Kraken improved as the game went on. After trailing 2-1 in the first period, they outshot the Senators 25-16, including a 5-1 edge in overtime. Although they left with a shootout loss, Seattle outplayed Ottawa and, on most nights, would likely come away with a win.
Strong start to season continues
The Kraken are off to a strong start but will need to dig in as the road trip gets tougher. Next up is the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team Seattle has struggled against, going just 1-7 all time. After that, they face their first back-to-back set of the season.
Freddy Gaudreau left in the second period after going awkwardly into the boards. There was no update on his status, but he did not return. Of course, Berkly Catton is still on the roster and waiting in the wings for his NHL debut.
Go Kraken!!!
Good: Wright TOI, scores, shoots more
Bad: PG .875 SV%. CV beckons
Mystery: Nyman 06:19 TOI
Concern: Eberle 23:21 TOI might burn him out early in season.
WTF: No show again by Catton. Hope he is practicing well.
No WTF at all. Catton showed he wasn’t ready in the preseason. Has a lot to work on.
I thought the guys did a nice job talking about this on the pod this week.
Of course, a 19 y.o has a lot to work on and with the choice of WHL (waste of time), AHL (a few games) or the NHL (all games), it seems clear where he should be learning. That is of course unless he is getting the “Ron” treatment in the press box that Wright got.
I say let him play a game, then sit a game, and so forth until his 9 games are up.
Again, if folks haven’t listened to the pod this week I think the insights on Catton around the 40 minute mark are worth a listen.
“I’ll come out and say right now that they probably don’t have three points in five games right now if Catton is in for Winterton. I think Winterton has been the right choice so far, and I’m as high on Catton as you can be”.
– Curtis Isacke
You might want to read Curtis’s new article, where he updates that opinion, leaning towards scratching one of Winteron, Nyman, or Hayden in favor of Catton. We will see shortly if that happens.
“Catton COULD enter the NHL lineup on Saturday in Toronto in place of Gaudreau, Winterton, or Nyman. If not that, the team has back-to-back games in lower-exposure spots Monday and Tuesday of next week. That may be a natural chance to rest a veteran and get Catton into the lineup over John Hayden, for example.
There is also the possibility of a conditioning loan to the Coachella Valley Firebirds.”
Yeah, I read it. I’ll go with what the guys were saying on the podcast… the professionals know more about player development than Chuck Holmes.
From the way Gaudreau was clutching his wrist/arm leaving the ice, it looks like Catton may be taking his rookie skate on Hockey Night in Canada.
Gaudreau leaving the game also accounts for part of Nyman’s lack of playing time. Kartye’s minutes took a hit as well (though he still was on the ice for 3/4 Ottawa goals…ouch!). Seattle essentially played the third period with 3 forward lines…which also contributed to more TOI for the rest of the forward lines.
Kartye was on the PK for the majority of those goals and the first goal was a wide open net thanks to Gru taking a swim.
I’m thinking at this point that Catton is sitting regardless of who’s injured so he can get a few weeks on the farm. I’ll be very surprised if he plays next game and question the previous decisions
Gaudreau is now on IR and Hayden has been called up. I think maybe the Kraken are going the route Austin suggested Monday and starting Catton’s season in the press box until he’s eligible to go to Coachella for a conditioning stint. That would be after tomorrow’s game. PHR dove into this very thing just now.
So now with Hayden in the lineup the question is how long will it take HNIC to call him the “bear guy”
…and now Montour is out.
Ugh!
Just watching the Habs highlights and Gorton and Hughes have really done a job turning that team around.
Loved the end of the third period play by David Goyette that turned a sure loss into an eventual victory.
Caufield shows that there is room in the NHL for the smaller Kraken prospects.
Stephenson haters are probably disappointed that he scored 2 goals. The team getting at least a point in every game so far is encouraging.
Go Kraken!!!
That was his best game so far. It is no wonder that he has had a rough start after the injury kept him out of the preseason. Hopefully, this means that he has finally found his footing and is ready to be That Guy again.
“Grubauer wasn’t perfect, but only one of the three goals (the tying goal) against felt like one he should have stopped.”
This says everything, doesn’t it? It’s been this way for his entire tenure, that he can’t make all the stops that he should (like an unscreened shot from the wall 50 feet away), and it was the tying goal to boot. Just a classic Grubauer heartbreaking goal. He made some nice saves too, but I couldn’t tell if they just looked nice because he was out of position and constantly scrambling. He also seemed to have trouble holding on to easy saves, like that slow bouncer in the 1st. Watching him, it seemed like we were lucky he only gave up 3 goals. I really hope Matt Murray isn’t totally washed. I’m sick of watching Grubauer cost us games, I’m sick of reading/hearing excuses for his awful play, and I’m sick of talking about him. I wish him the best, but he needs to just go away.
Dunn still doesn’t look quite right. He looked downright wussy in OT, he exited the zone with possession like 10 times. Considering the shootout is pretty much an automatic loss, I’d like to see a little more urgency especially towards the end of OT. Maybe Lane has struck some fear into him about his recently developed tendency for horrible turnovers, and his jump/offense will return once he gets that under control.
Only other thing of note is Winterton being very noticeable again. He was stealing away pucks left and right and was generally a nuisance. He is looking more and more like an NHL player. LGK!
You seem to have selective reading. He was screened on the tying goal. Stephenson, unprompted, also praised his play. I’m sick of seeing people whine about a position they clearly don’t understand but here we are. That was as good a performance as you could expect from a backup goaltender. This fanbase seems to need a scapegoat. Last year it was Gru and Stephenson (both ignorantly so). Who is it gonna be when their favorite whipping boy is gone?
Stephenson also said Grubauer would probably want that last one back.
Ha exactly. Also when is the last time a player said “wow our goalie sucked tonight!!”
“To the naked eye, it appeared Grubauer just whiffed on it, but Jamie Oleksiak MAY have screened him.”
This isn’t some huge body parked in front of the net, taking away Grubauer’s eyes. This is someone who was skating in the general area who “may” have screened him. Grubauer doesn’t deserve any benefit of the doubt at this point.
Yes, we fans who were fans of hockey for years before Seattle even got a team, don’t understand the game or goaltending. Forget that he has the worst…ah never mind. So sick of this conversation.
I understand something about the position…. I’m surprised that nobody has mentioned the position he was in for the first goal… completely out of the net. He over reacted to a shot from the side and pushed himself right out of the net. Wide open shot for the goal. He also had two posts on shots that shouldn’t have caused him trouble, clearly not a good game for Grubauer.
He’s the same goalie he was last season… but like Boist said, “So sick of this conversation”.
Nino, are you a former goalie? If so, will defer to you on all things in the blue paint. Not my area of the ice.
Agree, not a good game from PG but when is there really anymore? As Boist so accurately said “Just a classic Grubauer heartbreaking goal.”
No I’ve played a little net but not that good at it. I’ve coached goalies and more importantly been involved coaching with goaltending specifically coaches as they did a better job coaching them than I. Lot of people in hockey know more than me especially when you get into advanced stats but I know my way around the rink.
Dunn took puck to the face on the opening faceoff of the third period. Actually returning to the game and managing to make it through OT? Not a wuss move.
I didn’t mean wuss like that, I meant very passive offensively, which is not his MO or his value. But again, if it means he fixes that big and costly turnover problem he had last year and then the offense follows, then I’m fine with it.
“A shootout is pretty much an automatic loss”
21-22: 3-1
22-23: 0-4
23-24: 3-4
24-25: 2-3
It’s not an “automatic” anything.
On that note what a boring overtime, I’m so sick of the three on three. I feel like it should be an automatic whistle and a face off if the puck is intentionally played out of the offensive zone during an offensive possession.
I think it is called the No Return Rule. https://www.chl.hockey/en/news/chl-introduces-new-no-return-rule-for-3-on-3-overtime, I can’t remember if other leagues have already adopted it,
Personally I would rather watch the game eventually end on the three on three than in my opinion the boring shootout.
I’m no expert on goal tending but that looked to me like a pretty poor night by PG. Clearly no confidence as he overreacted for the first, and wiffed the third. I thought that all three were saveable.
Not the first or the last time he’ll be responsible for a loss.
Even when he has space, Beniers has a propensity to shoot directly at the goalie’s midsection. Would expect more skill than that, particularly for a “1C”