In their final home game of the year, the Seattle Kraken actually found a fairly ideal outcome. In classic 2025-26 Kraken fashion, they fell behind by three goals and then tried fruitlessly to stage an epic comeback in the third period. It ended up being too little, too late, but it made for a reasonably exciting game and gave home fans something to cheer about, while also keeping themselves alive in a race for a top-five draft pick.
“A couple of bounces over our stick, and [Quinton] Byfield made us pay,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Certainly our game management at times in the second period wasn’t great… But I thought we generated some chances, some opportunities, and I wasn’t unhappy with the way we were playing, I just didn’t like the scoreboard.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Takeaway 1: Oh, that’s how you make the playoffs?
One thing Los Angeles coach DJ Smith alluded to after the game is that his players have largely rallied around legendary two-way center Anze Kopitar, who is set to retire after the season, closing out an outstanding 20-year NHL career. Kopitar impacted this game with an assist on Adrian Kempe’s goal that ended up being the game-winner at 12:29 of the third period.
#SeaKraken line up to shake Anze Kopitar’s hand on his final visit to Seattle. pic.twitter.com/6unQXzMkW3
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
Whether Kopitar is the reason the team has earned a postseason berth is open for debate, but what Los Angeles has done down the stretch is exactly what I kept expecting the Kraken to do after the Olympics, but they just never did it. They never got on even a small hot streak, which could have solidified a playoff position, instead winning no more than two consecutive games from Feb. 25 onward.
The Kings, on the other hand, got hot at exactly the right time. As the Great Pacific Pillow Fight raged on deep into the season, Anton Forsberg rose to the occasion and backstopped Los Angeles to wins in five straight starts, and the Kings as a whole won six of their last seven. That was all they needed.
That kind of run is not crazy. If Seattle had just done that at any point since the break—they had plenty of opportunities with strings of beatable opponents—they may have been the ones celebrating after this game instead of the Kings.
Takeaway 2: More chemistry from Kakko and Gaudreau
The Kraken may have missed an opportunity earlier this season to get Kaapo Kakko and Freddy Gaudreau together. They’ve played a total of 59 minutes together, most of which came on the wings of Chandler Stephenson in the last month or so. But the last couple of games, Gaudreau has been the center with Kakko on the wing. The other wing against Calgary on Tuesday was Jared McCann, but he was shut down for the last three games, so Berkly Catton slid into that spot for this one.
The constant in those last couple has been Kakko finding Gaudreau to create Grade-A looks, and Gaudreau converted for the second game in a row Monday after previously not scoring since March 19.
In this one, Ryan Winterton had a shift playing with that duo, and he made an outstanding play to win a puck battle against three LA defenders. The puck popped out to Kakko at the right side of the crease, and he found Gaudreau at the left side for a wide-open net.
FREDDY G! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
For the second game in a row, Kaapo Kakko sets up Gaudreau, this time after a great forecheck by Ryan Winterton. #SeaKraken back within 3-2. pic.twitter.com/5xWvim4lzt
“I like to play with him,” Kakko said of Gaudreau. “I mean, I feel like we kind of think the same on the ice. I already know where he is, and he knows where I am.”
Kakko, by the way, has arguably been Seattle’s most consistent player in the later stages of the season. He said the Olympics helped his confidence.
Meanwhile, there’s no question this has been a frustrating year for Gaudreau, who was traded to Seattle from Minnesota, a team that has emerged as a true Stanley Cup contender this year. After scoring 18 goals there, he’s managed just seven this season, with two of those coming in the last two games.
Perhaps Kakko and Gaudreau finding each other is better late than never, and they can be reunited and find that chemistry again next season.
Takeaway 3: Tough night for Ryan Lindgren
By the 13:19 mark of the first period, Quinton Byfield had scored two goals—one off a 2-on-1 and one off a breakaway—with both coming thanks to Ryan Lindgren-related mishaps at the offensive blue line.
On the first goal, Matty Beniers cleanly won an offensive-zone face-off back toward the side boards. It didn’t come off the wall as hot as Lindgren expected, causing him to hesitate in stepping up for the puck. That little hesitation was enough time for Byfield to jump off his hashmark and poke it around Lindgren, creating the 2-on-1 and giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game.
The second one was just a bad break. Jordan Eberle’s pass intended for Lindgren at the point hopped over his stick, and Byfield was off to the races.
https://t.co/ykJWMsVd74 pic.twitter.com/1waj1AKUQr
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
“You know what? [Lindgren] gives it everything he’s got,” Lambert said. “I think that over the last little while he’s definitely had some, I guess you could call it, bad puck luck, with a couple of those power-play goals a couple games ago that go off his stick. But he’ll continue to battle, he’ll continue to grind. That’s just the way he is, but… I thought there was some frustration on his part.”
Bonus Takeaway: Jacob Melanson is a psycho
How about Jacob Melanson, getting challenged to a fight by Samuel Helenius, having it broken up by the refs, then stepping out of the penalty box and immediately dropping the gloves in earnest?
Helenius is WAYYYYYY bigger than Melanson and has fed him his lunch previously in the AHL.
https://t.co/ykJWMsVd74 pic.twitter.com/1waj1AKUQr
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
“I just wanted to fire up the crowd there and wanted to get the guys going,” a stitched-up Melanson said after the game. “We had a fight a couple years ago, but I wanted some redemption.
“I don’t think I can say what I said in the box. I talked to him before the game, just seeing what he was up to, and he kind of jumped me at the start. I wanted a fair square off, and he gave it to me, so I appreciate that from him.”
On Melanson fighting to try to spark the team, Lambert said, “Loved it. We need more of it.”
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.
Cmon, ping pong balls, help us out.
Question for John/Darren or the group: What are the success of Lane Lambert as the coach that qualify him for another season compared to Hakstol or Bylsma?
I see the same amount of wins as the previous 2 seasons, who both got coaches fired, and from what I can tell, no marketable improvement or signs of life from the team going into next year. At least last year we all felt good going into summer that Wright and Nyman were on their way to becoming stars (or star adjacent).
I find it very disappointing that all season we have had “low event, defensive minded hockey” beat into us as the fans. We are going to have as goals against this year, having top 10 team goaltending, as we did last year under “no defense Dan” having bottom 10 goaltending.
What i also have a problem with Lambert is what seemingly was an strict adherence to “the system” despite evidence of it not working for long stretches. This includes the PK, ( I get they changed it up half way through the season for mild improvement but 2nd worst is still not “working”). It probably true that the players are not be good enough to execute the system, but to me, it shows poor coaching that the players didn’t seem to get better at executing the system and that the system wasn’t getting tailored/bent (or keep trying) to fit the players so that they could succeed when they weren’t
In October Seattle had their best start in franchise history picking up 12 points in 10 games, a 98 point pace. On Thanksgiving the Kraken were solidly in a playoff spot sitting second in the Pacific. The night before, they lost to Dallas 3-2. Had they won that close game, they would have been in first. Certainly the Division has been weak, but going into the Olympic break the Kraken had a middle of the league -3 goal differential… now it’s -32.
Certainly on the whole the season has been “uneven”, but it seems to me a mistake to simply look at the final points total and say this season was the same as last season which was the same as the season before. The part I find so confounding is the absolute collapse coming out of the break.
This is purely anecdotal, but the start of the season following their playoff run, it looked to me like the puck handling and passing were atrocious and the results matched. This season, since the break, it looks to me like that same thing all over. I’d wondered previously if Hakstol had made changes or “upgrades” to the systems that resulted in the chaos on the ice and I also wonder if a similar dynamic may have unfolded coming out of the break. Obviously, I don’t really have any idea what occurred, but it seems to me looking at this season there are two different teams to look at – a middling team that spent most of their time in and around a playoff spot and the atrocious train wreck that showed up after vacation.
I think investigating that disparity would go a long way towards figuring out what actual changes need to occur.
Coaching is usually to blame when a team has inconsistent results. What is key is that lambert had very inconsistent results on the island as well before he was fired within a year and a half. What is concerning the most is that the team got the new coach bump then eventually fell apart after they should have been getting better under his “system”. Was it that other teams had enough time to scout our system and LL wasn’t on the ball enough to make adjustments that were needed? Was it that he lost the room? I don’t see us getting better under LL, we’re actually worse this season than last when you fully look into the stats.
So Nino, would you say management gave Lambert a team that should have been expected to play consistent and win more games than not?
Every team should be consistent, not necessarily good or bad but consistent. Sure a hot or cold streak can happen but it definitely shouldn’t be at the end of the season. You have some locker room issues if you can’t get your team up.
I’ll answer the question Daryl – that would be a “no”.
Most analytics had the Kraken at around 32-34 wins at the beginning of the year. They’re sitting at 34 wins with two games to go. Unless the Kraken’s proprietary models were significantly different, my take is that this is exactly where they thought they’d be – unless they captured lightning in a bottle.
That, to me, suggests LL coached just fine this year. Not great, but also not the harbinger of doom many have claimed him to be. Contrast this with last years expectations where the Kraken significantly UNDERperformed expectations and you can understand why the Kraken were quick to get rid of Bylsma but seem more inclined to hang onto LL.
The Almighty Ducks started the season off 10-2-1 and then over next two months (November 10th – January 10th) they were the second worst team in the league going 10-18-2 and posting a .367 points percentage. Two months later (March 10th) they’re leading their division. Now, they’ve lost seven of their last eight – six of those to teams not making the playoffs…
Is Joel Quenneville to blame? “Coaching is usually to blame when a team has inconsistent results.”
All LL has is inconsistent performance in his entire coaching career…..
We’re not comparing apples to apples.
They were failing the eye test early in the season and racking up a bunch of loser points on the back of exceptional goaltending. It wasn’t sustainable. Then they went on a cold streak where they got unlucky and a hot streak where they got lucky. Maybe they could have ridden the hot streak a little longer without the Olympic break, we’ll never know. In the end the law of averages put them exactly where they were projected at the start.
So because coaching is not quantified in the projections and because this team finished where they were “supposed to”, is it fair to conclude the coaching had neither a positive or negative effect on the teams performance?
I have no idea what influence coaching had on this team. They ended up with basically the same number of points as the prior season, so I would conclude that they played a different style of play but got the same result from similar personnel.
Oh come on. Last years team had Gourde and Bjorkstrand. This team had a bunch of 1st and 2nd year players (and Marchment) to replace them. By all counts (and analytics) this team should have been WORSE than last year, yet there is a very good chance they will be (very slightly) better. I would suggest that coaching likely impacted that in a positive way.
Well it sounds like the Ducks must really have some locker room issues. Here at the end of the season they’ve lost eight of their last nine… most of those to non-playoff teams. Their one win came against a team that has the same number of regulation wins as the lowly Kraken.
Well said.
We had a historic meltdown post Olympics break. It’s important for the team to figure out if that was coach related but given the players have had these loans stretches in the past, the keen eye would look to something going on with the players.
I think a marked difference between the two that has stood out to me this season is the record on back-to-backs. Having no success on those last season was a big stain on Bylsma in terms of the discipline he instilled as the head coach. That focus was a clear point of emphasis for Lane, and was a big improvement this year.
Things need to improve under Lane, there is no question, but I trust him more than I did Dan to know what needs to be done and credit those moves. I give LL some credit for the Bobby McMann trade. A lot of us were scratching our heads at that move at the time, but his production has been so consistent and apparent. Lambert identified him as the type of player he needed, and now we desperately hope we can hang on to him. This roster needs turnover, and he’s been vocal enough to this point that I trust him to have a hand in this offseason.
I don’t by any means think he’s a perfect coach. But you can’t build a team properly while constantly changing the hands at the wheel. There needs to be some consistency from season to season to accurately judge how the job is being done and to measure progress. I think its a no-brainer to bring him back for another year and to give him more say in the roster construction over this off-season.
The MCMann trade will be judged in the offseason. If we sign him to a reasonable contract it was a good trade but if he walks then what was the point. What worries me is that Toronto obviously had time to work on an extension and they traded him, I’m wondering what he was asking for or what his plans are in the offseason.
You can separate the evaluation of the player added from the overall impact of the trade. The role of the coach is to have influence in identifying the players they want. Cost and long term outlook is all on the GM. Lambert identified McMann as a player he had familiarity with and wanted. I think everyone is in agreement that he was a great add from a talent perspective that we’d like to keep around.
My only concerns with re-signing him is wondering whether he wants to stay. Toronto not extending him gives me no pause given that A) they clearly identified the need to tank and re-build, and B) that organization has had front office issues for years and just fired their GM.
I agree CG with everything you just said. Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
Go Kraken!!!
I agree. I don’t think LL is a big problem. He was the kind of coach a bunch of bottom sixers needed to produce. I think 2 things happened after the break: putting Tye Kartye on waivers and Ryan Winterton’s brother passing. I know- I am female in a room full of males but to not consider how losses affect people is not looking at the total picture. My 2 cents!
Darren – thanks for your excellent coverage of the Kraken, and sorry for the gulag-like experience you’ve had to endure this season.
So, the Kraken currently sit at 6th place in the loser Olympics. A (very) slight possibility for the 4th loser seed exists, but would require (obviously) the Kraken losing out in regulation with both Calgary and Toronto winning out (maybe some other weird-ass scenario exists as well, but I’m keeping it simple here).
Odds for the top draft pick has engendered a lot of manic obsessive behaviour recently. So, naturally I want to contribute – but from a slightly different angle. As many have already point out, 4th => 6th seeding doesn’t impact odds for #1 overall pick significantly, and per below it doesn’t actually impact odds of top a three pick that much. However, it does significantly impact the odds for a top 5 pick (15.4% – 79.3%). So here’s hoping for the best (worst).
Odds of draft pick
Loser
Seeding Top 3 Top 5
4th 19.30% 79.30%
5th 17.40% 41.90%
6th 15.40% 15.40%
I have not seen a ton of talk about getting the #1 draft pick, what I HAVE seen is talk of getting a better pick. Or even a pick in the top 5 or so.
Every year their are tiers of talent. What can be found at pick 4 or 5 is frequently better than what can be found at pick 9 or 10.
Go 5th place!, we can’t get $1 but can we do better? 3th place maybe?
Thanks Darren. Good stuff as always!
Sadly at this point this game was exactly what we needed. I did appreciate that in his presser LL seemed to direct some criticism at Stephenson for his total zero effort on the empty netter. I also noticed after Monty snapped his stick against the post he looked right in Stephenson’s direction with some anger in his eyes. Rewatching the highlight showed he made absolutely zero effort while Monty was doing everything he could do to stop it.
Curious to see if they try to trade him this offseason. I am sure it will require some big retention but at this point it might be worth it.
It’s fine to criticize Stephenson there and he deserves it. But Stephenson’s work also got us one of the goals. I can’t think of a scenario where it’s worth it unless they somehow land a stud C but given every team is looking for that it’s a long shot.
It’s easy to see the blown plays and totally miss a key assist that even got you to the place where you were one goal down. A lot of what Stevie does goes under the radar.