This was the third meeting between the Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken in October. Seattle won the first two by identical 6-1 scores, but this game felt different coming in.
Calgary entered with four straight home wins as it tries to make the most of its final season at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames have also beaten some good teams lately, with wins over Carolina, Minnesota and Toronto. They had some swagger and a chip on their shoulder after getting embarrassed by the Kraken in their Oct. 1 home opener.
It had all the makings of a trap game, and the Kraken fell right into it. Calgary extended its home winning streak to five games with a 6-2 win over Seattle.
The Kraken played a decent first period and went to the intermission tied 1-1. Then things fell apart over the final 40 minutes.
After the game, coach Lane Lambert did not mince words.
“I would say probably the worst 40 minutes I’ve been a part of here since I got here. Losing battles, turning pucks over, mistakes on the wall, allowing power play goals. List goes on and on.”
Philipp Grubauer started the game but was replaced by Joey Daccord after allowing four goals. Neither goaltender was primarily at fault, but neither delivered the timely save Seattle needed.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
Takeaway 1: Douglas decision disrupts the lines
In his pregame media availability, Lambert said Curtis Douglas would be a game-time decision. Douglas ended up playing but logged just 4:29 of ice time, his lowest total of the season.
The 6-foot-9 forward has appeared in all three games against Calgary but only four games overall.
Douglas dropped the gloves for the first time this season on his opening shift, squaring off with Adam Klapka at center ice.
The fight itself did not amount to much, but Douglas also received an extra roughing penalty for throwing punches after both players had fallen to the ice.
On the ensuing powerplay, Morgan Frost scored his fourth goal of the season. The goal seemed to set the tone for the evening.
With Jani Nyman on the roster, it was a suprise to see Douglas get the nod. That decision also shuffled the Kraken’s forward lines, and they looked disjointed at times.
The changes moved Freddy Gaudreau to the second line. Gaudreau scored his team-leading seventh goal, but the shuffle also broke up a fourth line that had been working well.
Takeaway 2: Penalty kill rides the struggle bus
The Kraken were disciplined and took only two penalties. The problem was Calgary scored on both powerplays, leaving Seattle’s penalty kill 0-for-2 on the night.
Seattle entered the game ranked 27th in the NHL on the penalty kill. Allowing two more powerplay goals certainly will not help.
Frost’s opening goal started with Calgary’s zone entry. Vince Dunn and Jordan Eberle both got pulled toward the boards while chasing the puck. Matt Coronato slipped a pass to Frost, who skated into open space and beat Grubauer short side.
Calgary’s second powerplay goal came with a little more luck. Matvei Gridin was credited with his fifth goal after the puck deflected into the net off Ryker Evans’ skate.
Seattle looked to have a good defensive box established. Gridin appeared to be trying to pass the puck through the slot. Had it gotten through Evans, Coronato was waiting for what likely would have been a tap-in.
Coronato had success all night, finishing with four points on one goal and three assists. He is now tied for the Flames’ team lead with 14 points. Joel Farabee, who had three points Friday, also has 14.
Penalty killing was also a major problem for Seattle last season, when it finished 31st in the NHL. It remains an area the Kraken need to address and certainly will come up in practice before facing Calgary again on Nov. 4 in Seattle.
Takeaway 3: Even strength play mistakes pile up
The Kraken surrendered four goals at even strength, and all four stemmed from lost battles or turnovers. On each goal, Seattle had an opportunity to get the puck out of danger and failed to do so.
The Flames made them pay.
Aydar Suniev put Calgary ahead for good in the second period. The puck bounced around before Dunn tried to move it to Adam Larsson. Instead, he put it directly onto Frost’s stick. Frost quickly moved it to Suniev for the one-timer.
The play happened quickly, and Calgary deserves credit for its forecheck and pressure. Still, those are mistakes the Kraken need to clean up.
On Calgary’s fourth goal, Evans tried to clear the puck by ringing it around the boards. Chandler Stephenson could not secure it at the blue line. Coronato held the zone and then found Farabee in the slot. The fourth goal ended Grubauer’s night and Joey Daccord would finish the game.
The final two even-strength goals followed a similar pattern of mistakes.
Mackie Samoskevich turned the puck over at center ice, creating a Calgary rush. Coronato snapped a shot past Daccord just 39 seconds into the third period.
The timing made the goal especially damaging. Samoskevich had pulled Seattle within two goals late in the second period, but Calgary quickly restored its three-goal lead.
With the game out of reach, Calgary’s sixth goal came off a dump-in. Cale Fleury appeared to have good position, but the puck got past him. Gridin collected it and found Ryan Strome for the final goal.
Gaudreau summed up the night pretty well afterward.
“They were better than us tonight”
It was not the way the Kraken wanted to finish the month, but October was still a successful one. Seattle went 8-5-1 and sits in third place in the Pacific Division.
very puzzling game… WTF was Was Douglas doing in the lineup. We put him in the lineup to not play!!! This is completely bull crap it’s time to admit that the goon phase of the NHL was dead over 10 years ago and it’s not coming back. The extra shots he took because he couldn’t get anything done during the actual fight was disgraceful and set the stage moving forward. Very good coaching to put in a played that can’t play hockey and forces you to rearrange most of the lineup… three cheers LL well done.
why was Gru put into this game to start with he didn’t look good last game and if maybe wasn’t the best call to put in a goalie coming off a bad game. Yes we won but did you see the other guy…. Going past that why was Gru pulled but Joey was left to fester in net as the team was falling apart. Sure I get it Joey wanted to keep playing but they always do, this was very interesting that there seems to be a different standard.
Chandler agin had a very bad defensive game, this is starting to become the norm watching his line fall apart during tough games.
My three takeaways.
This was disappointing in a number of ways. Perhaps most disappointing are Larsson and Dunn. They suck. Bad.