The Kraken closed out their four‑game road trip through Calgary and California with the kind of gritty, resilient win that was a staple of this team in the early stages of the season, edging the Kings 3–2 to complete the first three-game Golden State sweep in franchise history.
All three victories came in regulation against teams sitting above Seattle in the standings, a detail that matters a lot more than it sounds. And on top of that, the Kraken finally snapped their long‑running curse on the second half of back‑to‑backs, a streak that stretched all the way back to March 5, 2024. It wasn’t always pretty, and there were long stretches spent absorbing pressure, but Seattle’s structure held, their depth delivered, and they flew home for the holiday break with six massive points in their pocket.
Takeaway 1: No Dunn, no Montour, no problem
The Kraken walked into Los Angeles missing their top two defensemen and still found a way to clamp things down when it mattered. Vince Dunn’s late injury in Anaheim forced him out Tuesday, and with Brandon Montour already sidelined, Seattle needed someone to step into the void. Enter Ryker Evans.
Evans logged a season high 21:36 and carried 82 percent of the team’s power-play minutes. Evans always looks comfortable when taking an expanded role, and no game was probably bigger than Tuesday night. The team needed him to step up, and he delivered.
Seattle also got Berkly Catton back in the lineup for the first time since Dec. 6. He didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he flashed the skill that makes him such an intriguing piece of the future. The little shake-and-go moves, the space creation, the confidence. Yes, there were turnovers. Yes, there was a penalty. But for a player jumping back in cold, it was an encouraging return.
And the fourth line? They were outstanding again. Tye Kartye, Ben Meyers, and Jacob Melanson continue to give Seattle honest, heavy minutes. Meyers’ goal stood up as the game winner, and he’s quietly become a reliable penalty-killing option. That line is earning every shift it gets.
Ben Meyers gets in on the party. Kraken 3-0…but LA would add a response goal…now 3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/sijgHhouRa
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 24, 2025
Takeaway 2: Special teams is back
Two weeks ago, the Kraken’s penalty kill was in freefall, giving up seven goals on eight opportunities over a brutal three-game stretch. Since then, the turnaround has been dramatic. Seattle has posted kill rates of 83.3 percent over the last eight games and 88.9 percent during the California swing, driven by a structural adjustment the team made earlier this month.
The power play has been just as impressive. With nine goals on their last 28 opportunities, Seattle is converting at 32.1 percent since Dec. 7, the third best mark in the NHL over that span.
O' captain my captain. Eberle gets the #SeaKraken on the board first. Kraken up 1-0 early in the second period. pic.twitter.com/8V86z5Io9k
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 24, 2025
Special teams were sinking this team earlier in the month. Now they’re helping to drag it back into relevance.
Takeaway 3: Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in
Let’s be clear: the Kraken still have a long climb ahead if they want to be taken seriously as a playoff contender. But sweeping the California teams — all in regulation, all above Seattle in the standings — is a massive step in the right direction.
The underlying numbers won’t blow anyone away. The Kings carried long stretches of play, and Seattle spent plenty of time weathering pressure. But the Kraken defended the interior, kept L.A. to the outside, and found timely goals despite missing four key players.
Help is coming, too. Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz are inching closer to returns, and their presence should give this team a much needed offensive jolt.
Three straight regulation wins against division opponents is enough to make things interesting again.
Odds and Ends
- Seattle scored first in all three games and trailed for just 1:19 across the entire 180 minute trip.
- Tuesday marked the Kraken’s 27th one-goal game of the season (excluding empty netters), second only to the Kings.
- Eeli Tolvanen extended his points streak to five games, equaling a career best he set back in 2022-23.
- Jamie Oleksiak might have had his best game of the season. His defensive play led directly to the Ben Meyers goals, and he was stellar defensively.
- Goaltending has been outstanding for the Kraken lately. Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord have really carried them through these three games.
- And a quick nod to the Seattle Torrent, who held on for a tense one-goal win of their own against Montreal. For those of us running dual screens, those final 10 minutes were… not relaxing.
Go Kraken!!!
The Kraken very well may have a special diamond in the rough in Berkly Catton. It’s going to be fun to watch him grow into his full potential.
Great California road sweep!
Catton looks good apart from the fact that he is still getting ragdolled like he was before the injury. It is well that he missed the Ducks game. At this rate he is going to get hurt again, but until Schwartz and McCann return he has to play big minutes. A teenager should not have to endure the upcoming scheduling nightmare in the top-nine, but there may be no alternative. It is a suboptimal situation. With luck, the team will get healthy enough in time to platoon a lot of the players and especially the young players like Catton.
you know, this entire season this team plays well when the 4th line is configured like this. i think ben myers or melanson need to stay up with the big club. whatever theyre doing (besides trying to put every other opposing player through the boards and forechecking like fiends) is paying dividends to the rest of the lines 1through 3. as much as i want to see nyman get more ice time hes obviously doing something (or not doing something) that doesnt make lambert happy and at this point the impact is being made by the call ups. i hope they carry this momentum into the restart because outside of the calgary game this has been a fun stretch of hockey to watch going back to the avs game.
The tough thing about Nyman’s situation is that, despite the fact that his defensive game appeared much improved in the past few games that he played, Jacob Melanson simply cannot be sat to make room for him at this point. He has done what all backups dream of doing: making themselves indispensible when they finally get their big chances. The good news for Nyman is that, if I am right, Coach Lambert is going be handing a lot of guys rest days leading up to the Olympics break to keep them at least somewhat fresh. Nyman should get plenty of opportunities to spell guys across the forward lines, because they are going to need it. Now he just needs to make himself indispensible.
Go Kraken! Another fan of the 4th line here. Meyers’ skill seems like it would fit with top 6 forwards, and Melanson and Kartye checks have rattled the opposition.
Just for fun, would you take Meyers, Kartye, and Melanson over Geekie, Donato, and Sprong?
The fourth line is doing what a fourth line is supposed to do, pressure pressure pressure, keeping tops players from gaining momentum. Scoring the odd goal doesn’t hurt either. I gotta say that this game that luck was involved in the last few minutes when an open net was missed. If you can’t be good, be lucky. I haven’t watch a Canuck game all week