In what felt like a must-win game, the Seattle Kraken delivered in the second leg of a back-to-back, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings struck first on a power-play goal from Andre Kuzmenko, and after Tuesday night’s loss to the Anaheim Ducks, everyone held their breath wondering if the Kraken were in for another rough night.
Seattle put the doubters to bed quickly, though. The team scored three goals in the next 7:39 to take the lead for good.
The Kraken head into the Olympic break going 11-6-2 in 2026 and have reclaimed third place in the Pacific Division. The win also created separation in the Western Conference playoff race. A three-point buffer now exists between the last wild-card team (Anaheim, 63 points) and the first team out (LA Kings, 60 points). The Kings and Predators play Thursday, so the gap could shrink. But one thing is certain: the Kraken will maintain third place for the duration of the Olympic break.
The Kraken improved to 3-0 against the Kings this season.
Here are the Three Takeaways.
Takeaway 1: Shane Wright heating up
Shane Wright scored two goals for the second time in four games. After netting only seven goals in the first 52 games, he has increased his total to 11. Wright’s first goal came on a nifty steal and pass from Ryan Winterton. Wright pulled the puck to his backhand and beat Darcy Kuemper to tie the game at 1-1.
Wright answered a question from Piper Shaw about his increased scoring:
“Guys are finding me. That’s a big thing. Putting myself in areas to score, trying to get open and shoot the puck as well. Guys are making good plays on the goals, so I’m not having to do too much on them. But it’s always nice to chip in there.”
The key is Wright is getting to the right spots and making himself available. His second goal came on the power play from a Freddy Gaudreau feed. It extended the lead to two goals and provided breathing room.
Takeaway 2: Penalty kill on the struggle bus
The Kings converted twice on the power play, both by Andre Kuzmenko. The Kraken have allowed power-play goals in eight of the last nine games. The one game they technically didn’t surrender a power-play goal was last game. But they gave up a goal five seconds after a penalty expired, as Matty Beniers was still trying to rejoin the play. This will be an area of focus when the Kraken return from the break.
The good news: the Kraken didn’t allow any other goals and emerged with the 4-2 victory. The Kings pushed hard, though. They had two goals waived off immediately as the whistle had blown before the puck crossed the line both times.
Trevor Moore gave the Kraken a scare and nearly tied the game in the opening seconds of the third period. The post did its job, though, and after a couple of odd-man rushes for each team, the Kraken settled down and eventually converted on Wright’s power-play goal.
Takeaway 3: Scoring is up
After getting shut out for 55 minutes Tuesday against the Ducks, the Kraken found their scoring touch. They scored four goals and have averaged 3.47 goals per game in 2026. That would rank them third in the NHL for the season.
Chandler Stephenson, Gaudreau, and Wright all enjoyed two-point nights. The offense was clicking.
Jaden Schwartz was out with a lower-body injury. Oscar Fisker-Molgaard was called up to fill in. As a side note, the Kraken are now 3-0 in games Molgaard has played. He wasn’t a big factor in this game, though, as the fourth line played only about six minutes and 30 seconds of ice time. Molgaard and Tye Kartye started the third period, but that was their only shift. Jacob Melanson’s last shift came around the 18-minute mark of the second period.
Although the fourth line didn’t play much in the third, Molgaard’s presence allowed Gaudreau to fill in for Schwartz alongside Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen. Gaudreau looked great in this game and earned the primary assist on Wright’s second goal on his way to two point night.
Wrapping up
With 19 games played in 2026 and momentum rolling, I’m a little nervous the break is here. The team basically played a playoff hockey schedule, playing almost every other night for the past month-plus and thrived. But the break is well deserved. They definitely have areas to improve—cough, penalty kill—so hopefully they come back Feb. 25 ready to play. After the break, they don’t ease back into it. They head right into a back-to-back, first against the Dallas Stars, then the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 26.
The Kraken have three players—well, now four with Molgaard on the roster—heading to the Olympics. We wish them the best of luck. Dallas has seven players and St. Louis has five in the Olympics, so hopefully the Kraken will be the more rested team and start on time.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
In the Pacific:
3rd by points
2nd by points percentage
1st by regulation wins (tied with Edmonton but two games in hand)
Good to go into the long break on a high note. Looking forward to Strive For 95.
Go Kraken!!!
Thanks, Daryl. The next Strive for 95 will run closer to the end of the break on Feb. 25. That said, with tonight’s win, the Kraken are back on pace for 95.
We should have started the Shane trade rumors back in November. He’d probably be leading the team in goals by now. Lol!
Don’t forget 21-0-0 if they pull ahead by 2 or more.
It is actually
2221-0-0. 🙂 Kraken had 20, then beat Vegas and the Kings.Edit: A 20-0-0 graphic was put up during the Vegas game, but I guess they must have already counted that game.
Go Kraken!!
May now, for the break Schwartz can get fixed and be ready but remember, Shane is scoring because Catton is out of the line up, This is my biggest question mark for after the break. Winterton and Write are playing well and the Firebird magic is clicking.
Thanks, Blaiz! Good article! I wonder if Catton will be good to go after the break, or was it more serious?
I’m also curious if they’ll return Melanson so he can get a couple games in before the 17th.
I am not aware of any update on Catton. He was put on IR yesterday, but that was more to allow Molgaard to come up as they were at the 23 man roster limit.
Taking 2/3 on that road trip after the crazy January schedule is impressive. And they were both well deserved wins. Maybe it helped that some of our guys who missed time have fresher legs?
I’m excited to see how they do against top tier competition. They have been awful so far but it feels like they have gelled enough to start stealing a few wins against the big boys.
They’re 2-0-0 against Vegas. Unfortunately they’re 0-5-1 against Colorado, Carolina, Dallas and Minnesota, but every single one if those games was within a goal excluding the empty net.
Vegas wouldn’t even be in the playoffs in the eastern conference!
Nobody in the Pacific would be… but that’s where the Kraken play and who they have to compete with. They don’t have to outrun the bear…
Wright seems to play his best when he gets results and builds some confidence. Not sure if it would be supported by data, but it appears he is getting to the front of the net more than he had been earlier in the season. I am very glad he didn’t traded, especially for 4yrs of Panarin @ $14MM that was in the press. Even if he cools off a bit, he is still young and showing growth. Plus his contract is cheap and he is still controllable for a long time.
OFM didn’t play much, but he did step up and make a great block. It is also noticeable how he scans the ice and is looking for the smart low risk reads. Will be interesting to see how he plays in the Olympics.
It really scares me that the were even potentially going to make that trade, I hope they get fired before they destroy our future.
It’s gotta be an ownership request. The FO knows they are all getting fired if we don’t make the playoffs.
No, they’re not going to be fired. There was no realistic expectation going into this season that the team would make the playoffs. If anything, Botterill and the new coaching staff have exceeded expectations for this season.
Put the pitchforks down. Shane has been attached to zero concrete trade rumors. Panarin also makes a ton of sense on many levels. If you think Panarin destroys our future, it might be worth re-evaluating why you think that? We literally have zero elite wingers in the system. We have $20 million coming off the books (including two wingers) next season and that’s before trades. We also have no large contracts in the immediate horizon that need signing.
He’s 34 years old and he’s not going to be around long, to trade a player that would actually be an important addition to our team when we’re actually ready to contend for a short term solution just so they can sell a few more tickets in the next couple of seasons is just brain dead thinking. If they do trade Wright it should be for a player under 28 at the minimum but who wants to trade a younger player… someone who isn’t interested in Wright but wants a short term solution for a closing window.
Shane was not in any deal. Why even bother replying if you’re not going to read and comprehend the comment you’re replying to? You replied below too showing similar reading comprehension issues. There’s rumors we talked to the agent and made an offer to the agent. There’s zero evidence Panarin’s camp told NY to proceed to trade talks with us. Shane’s name has been mentioned by precisely credible insiders in relation to any of this. Get your facts straight
There was zero evidence Shane was in the trade for Panarin. In fact there’s zero evidence it even got to trade talk.
While there were some rumors about his being available, he was notably absent as a trade piece in the contract rumors. The fact that LA got him for an OHL prospect and a 3rd rounder suggests the Kraken weren’t offering him up.
Everything I have read and heard said Panarin said only the FL teams or Kings. Both FL teams couldn’t make it work. It does sound like some teams (e.g. Kraken) talked to his agent and had longer/higher $$ offers but he rejected them. It is unlikely the Rangers really got to discussing players if he wasn’t even willing to contemplate extending with other teams.
With no ability to shop him Greentree seems like a pretty good return considering the negotiating position Rangers were in. His numbers last year were crazy but that appears to be inflated because he was playing with Protas who put up even wilder numbers. With his size, skill, and tools he should at least be a solid middle 6 guy. Unfortunately for him the Rangers have a habit of ruining prospects – maybe we can trade for him in 5 years for a #6 d-man.
I think this is right, he selected where he wanted to go. He must have gotten tired of the NYC winters 😉
No he had control of his destination and didn’t want to play in Seattle. The reports are he wanted California or Florida teams only.
Our front office admitted that they were in talks with his agent…. Whatever zero evidence 😂
Nino, his agent doesn’t negotiate the trade package, they negotiate the player. The fact that the Kraken were in talks with his agent says nothing about who would be going the other way. There are some dots out there, but so far you’re the only one I’m seeing connecting them into Shane Wright being in the deal. Maybe he was, but I’ve yet to hear that from anyone but you.
I seriously doubt there was any rational belief that Seattle was going to be able to land Panarin.
I think the rumored deal more likely served two other purposes: 1) gave Panarin’s camp some negotiation leverage with his chosen destination team and 2) shows the other front offices (and potentially players) that Seattle is willing to play ball and lay out the dollars and contract term for a high-end player.
My main concern with them trying to jump in on Panarin is that I don’t think he was the right player and would have been a seriously bad fit for both the locker room and with Seattle fans. So it worries me a lot that the team is not going to have the patience to wait for the right player and they’re going to end up with Pettersson or overpaying for Kyrou.
RB… I heard your No.2 on both the DFO Rundown and 32 Thoughts today.
There was an article about Shane being offered in this potential trade, nobody will ever know the truth most likely but what I can say is this. Wright was rumored to be on the block for a top six forward and panarin is exactly that. We also know that our front office had talks with his agent regarding. Why would the kraken be talking with his agent if no potential trade was possible????? It’s not hard to connect the dots this isn’t rocket science, not saying that it’s 💯 percent sure but we’re talking about a pretty solid possibility and to just flat out deny that is borderline insanity.
I see you’re new to hockey. Extension offers are made to agents and not teams. The rumors were we made a very large extension offer to the agent. There’s zero insiders saying that it got past the offer stage thus there’s zero chance it made it to the trade phase.
Hope this helps.
I’d make sure you know what you’re talking about before using emojis in a childish fashion
Makes zero sense??? When a team is in the process of trying to trade for a player that can pick his own destination, the most logical process would be a pending trade with the condition that the player sign the extension that the kraken were offering. The kraken would be insane to make this trade without a contract extension and would request the ability to negotiate a deal before the trade would be finalized. It would actually be considered tampering IF the NYR had not agreed on allowing the kraken to contract the agent regarding an extension, what this points to is that a deal was in place that the player turned down as he had the power.
… koist I would add… I see your new to hockey 😂
Nino, I have not seen any article about Shane Wright being “offered in this potential trade” because – this is important – there was no trade offer.
Please try and wrap your head around this. The Kraken made a CONTRACT offer to Panarin with the permission of the Rangers. Panarin rejected that offer so it sounds incredibly unlikely that New York and Seattle actually discussed assets. It sounds to me like you’re assuming a trade would have involved Wright because of the recent reports. I can understand how you might arrive there, but I think it’s rather simplistic.
First of all, just look at the package LA sent for Panarin: a guy Pronman has at 134th in his U23 player/prospect rankings and some “picks”. I think it’s safe to call Greentree a prospect considering he has appeared in zero NHL games. On top of that, the Rangers swallowed half Panarin’s remaining salary for the year. Now of course, I’m going to assume you’ll push back that the Kings had leverage and the Kraken had none… but that’s why it was $14m+ x 4… that’s the leverage. Whoever could convince Panarin to accept was going to have leverage and $50m was certainly a concerted effort.
Now here’s where I think, in my opinion, you’re losing the thread. Friedman speculated about a Wright/Panarin trade… and Wright/Lafreniere trade, and a big swing… but as far as I can tell, no one has reported the Rangers and Kraken even got to the point of discussing a trade. You assume Wright – an NHL player rather than prospect – would be involved, I think, for a couple reasons. First, the rumors and speculation and second, because everyone in the Kraken organization is an idiot and they’re certainly going to get fleeced in a trade even though they actually have a solid history on trade returns. Sure, even though Pronman has Wright at 46 in his ranking and both Julius Miettinen (92) and Blake Fiddler (130) are ahead of Greentree, the Kraken were gonna send Wright – and probably a first – because they’re idiots and all the rumors said they’re trying to move Shane Wright.
Could Wright have been packaged in a trade? Sure. Would that AND 4x$14m have been a mistake? Probably, but I guess we’ll never know because it sounds like it never got that far. I know they’ve won a few games lately and you haven’t had a chance to hate on the coach or the front office, but this seems to me a pretty weak effort. Try and enjoy the break even though the Kraken are in a division playoff spot, are second in the Pacific by points percentage and have won five of their last six.
Go Kraken!!!
This actually might be one of the worst assumptions I’ve ever heard, and let’s be honest we’re both making assumptions.
First off if you actually believe that the Rangers would give the Kraken permission to work on a contract extension without a deal worked out then I’ve got a very nice floating bridge to sell you.
Second you are assuming that if Wright was involved in the potential trade that it was a one for one deal.
A lot of assumptions going on and finger pointing in a situation that isn’t known. Keep going along and tell everyone all the other reasons that there is no way Wright was almost traded to the rangers. We all know there is absolutely no way you’re wrong and it’s absolutely impossible that you’re not.
No where did I say in any way whatsoever that Wright was part of the deal but it is a very strong possibility regardless of what you might think.
👍
It’s fascinating seeing him so unwilling to listen to what the actual insiders said about Panarin’s agent being permitted to talk to teams. This is common. He’s clinging so hard to trying to be the smartest person in the room and he’s just dead wrong.
Yes Nino, we’re all aware of the Friedman speculation and no one is saying it couldn’t happen. I think folks – myself anyway – are reacting to you ripping the front office for something that isn’t something. As I said a while ago, when you complain about everything, you have no credibility on anything.
I see you’re incapable of reading articles fully. I have to reply here as your other comments are not reply able. I’ve never seen someone (you) want to be wrong so much they won’t listen but here goes at another attempt.
You’re just wrong here. If you actually followed the news around Panarin, you’d know the agent was given permission to shop the player to teams and then come back to the team with where he was willing to go due to his NMC. This is common with player with NMC as they hold all the leverage. Further proof you’re new to this sport
Again, you’re welcome for the education. Talk less, listen more!
Ok here’s the thing Koist, you came out guns blaring trying to pick a fight just because you didn’t like it’s a possibility that Wright was potentially part of the trade talks? Very mature.
Then you try to tell me I don’t know anything about hockey when you don’t even know the tampering rules.
Now you go out and find some obscure article that probably took you hours to find to try to save face. If that article even exists that is I’m actually wondering if it’s a figment of your imagination or some dream you had last night.
I thought maybe I missed something and went looking around but to no avail. I couldn’t find anything published that said what you are claiming. Not that it doesn’t exist but if it does it’s hardly widely reported and definitely not something you should be stating as a widely well known fact as you seem to be implying.
Take a chill pill buddy. On message boards people talk about things, you might not agree but don’t be a jerk.
Oh and wait here’s bit from a sportsnet article that was actually pretty easy to find.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggests that a trade for Panarin involving Shane Wright isn’t out of the picture, and that Panarin is the player the Kraken would be looking to acquire if they were to trade Wright.
“Seattle has been looking for a scorer forever,” Friedman said. “The whole Shane Wright thing, I think that’s Seattle’s goal. If they are going to trade him, they want him to get them someone who scores, really can make a difference. If they are going to step up to the plate like this, it’s not to bunt, it’s to swing from the hills. In theory, I could see them putting Wright out there for Panarin. Wright, plus for Panarin.
Yeah written before the trade but I’m not the only person that had things connected and thought it was a pretty darn good possibility. But oh yeah you’re the smart guy. 😂
I don’t think it’s that complicated. Chris Johnston reported that literally half the league was in talks with Panarin’s agent on a contract extension to see what if they could make it work – this is just what you have to do if you are trying to move a player with a NMC. I doubt there were significant trade discussions occurring (although NY likely had an asking price in mind) before 1) Panarin agreed to waive his NMC and 2) The team signing him felt like he would agree to an extension.
I’ve never seen someone (you) work so hard to avoid admitting they were wrong. C’est la vie. The mental gymnastics you’re doing are impressive though.