The Seattle Kraken end their six-game homestand Tuesday night and welcome in a familiar enemy in the Nashville Predators. If you remember, it was in Nashville, back on Oct. 14 when Brandon Tanev’s empty-net goal gave Seattle its first win in franchise history, 4-3 against the Predators.
Tanev (out for the season with an ACL injury) won’t be scoring any goals on Tuesday, and the Predators have played well since that Kraken win.
Nashville comes into Tuesday with 55 points and winners of two in a row, which ties it with the St. Louis Blues for second place in the Western Conference. On the road, the Predators are 13-7-3 which means they play consistently, no matter where the puck is dropped.
“We’ve only seen them once, but they had a big win here a couple of nights ago and they’re playing pretty well right now,” Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm said of the Kraken after Tuesday’s morning skate. “I think we are as well, we got back out of that skid with a couple wins. So, we got some confidence back and hopefully we can just keep building our game, focus on what we need to do out there. Go out and execute all that good stuff. And hopefully get a win here. It would to be fun to come into a new place, new arena [and get a win].”
Calle Jarnkrok revenge game?
Jarnkrok missed his chance at revenge the first time the Kraken played his former team in Nashville but is looking forward to playing against them.
The feeling is mutual.
“I think I played with him for eight seasons and know him well, I know his family well,” Ekholm said. “It’s obviously weird that first time but I think I speak for both of us that when the puck drops, it’s game time and we both want to win with our respective clubs. So, it’d be fun to chat with him after and hopefully we can win the game.”
Jarnkrok also played briefly for the current head coach of the Predators, John Hynes.
“One, he’s a great teammate, he’s a great person,” Hynes said. “He was a great guy to coach, I think he plays the game the right way, all the time. You can rely on him. He’s dependable. He’s a smart player. He can play multiple positions, power play, penalty kill, he could play all three [forward positions]. And I just always really appreciated the work ethic and commitment that he had night in and night out.”
Just who are these Predators?
Nashville has a deep offensive attack with 12 players who have at least 15 points. At the top of that list is defenseman Roman Josi who leads the team in scoring with 42 points (13 goals, 29 assists). He won’t be afraid to jump into the rush tonight, so be aware.
The Predators are getting great seasons out of Matt Duchene with 38 points and former Portland Winterhawk Ryan Johansen with 33 points.
That balanced attack has the Predators averaging just over three goals per game, and they’re sixth overall on the power play with a 25.6 percent success rate. The scary part is that they’re even better on the road, with a 27.4 percentage which is fourth best in the NHL.
So, maybe don’t give them too many opportunities. The Kraken have been getting into a lot of penalty trouble lately.
Who will stop the puck for Nashville?
Hynes didn’t confirm a starter, but it is expected that he’ll start 26-year-old Jusse Saros in net tonight. Saros has won his last two starts and is one of the better goalies in the league. He’s earned a 22-11-2 record, 2.38 goals against average, and .925 save percentage.
It won’t be an easy task for the Kraken, although they did score on him thrice during their first matchup this season.
Predators talking Predators
“Guys are making an impact whether it’s on the scoresheet, or physically, or with their work ethic and intensity and guys have been very consistent. When you play the game the right way and you play a real strong team game and you have really good players, and they’re dependable and reliable and bring it every night… and you bring those things to the table night in and night out, more often than not, you’re going to get rewarded.” – John Hynes
Folks, it’s official. Winning is far more fun than losing. The Kraken beat an outstanding Florida Panthers team for the second time in as many tries on Sunday in an electric game that went down to the wire and brought a deafening roar from the home faithful in the final minutes.
Since snapping a nine-game losing streak, the Kraken have now won three of their last four and bounced back in brilliant fashion Sunday after a lackluster 5-0 defeat to the Blues on Friday.
Coach Dave Hakstol indicated that the St. Louis game was largely a result of the Kraken playing on the second of back-to-backs with tired legs, facing a good team on three days’ rest. “That has something to do with it,” he said Sunday. “Nobody brought that up. Nobody talked about that in our room. Nobody made that an issue. But you know, we had a tough time against a heavy team that defended well and didn’t give us a whole lot of space.”
So why was Sunday so different?
“Tonight we had energy. We played well from the drop of the puck, and we responded at the right time. We had great goaltending and timely plays offensively.”
That pretty much sums it up, but we’ll still give our Three Takeaways from a memorable 5-3 Seattle Kraken win over the Panthers.
Takeaway #1: This is the Philipp Grubauer we hoped to see
The version of Philipp Grubauer we’ve seen over the last couple weeks has been refreshing. He’s calm and collected, and he’s not only making the saves he’s supposed to make, but he’s also bailing the guys out from time to time. When he is giving up goals, they aren’t the stinkers that we were seeing so frequently at earlier stages of the season, and they aren’t compounding like they did before.
He was awesome Sunday, especially down the stretch.
With Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky off for an extra skater, Grubauer faced a shooting gallery in the closing minutes of the game. The best chance came when Sam Reinhart made a cross-crease pass to Anthony Duclair for a sure goal. Grubauer went post to post in the blink of an eye and stretched his glove out to rob Duclair.
With exhausted Kraken players penned in their zone for what felt like an eternity, Grubauer gave everything he had to keep the puck out of the net and finally froze it for a whistle with 36 seconds left. Fresh Kraken players were quickly able to close out the game after that stoppage thanks to a Calle Jarnkrok empty-net goal.
“He’s been great lately,” Yanni Gourde said of the Kraken netminder. “He’s more confident, he makes those big saves for us. We’re controlling, maybe, the rebound a little bit better than we were, so that allows him to find the shot.”
The third Panther goal scored against the Kraken was an odd Aleksander Barkov shot that deflected off Gourde and floated over Grubauer.
“Strange goal off our guy, up and over his shoulder,” Hakstol said. “But Grubi went right back to work and was rock solid the rest of the way, including— obviously, it might be the save of the month; it was a hell of a save on Duclair on the back door.
“That’s the biggest thing that I see is being able to just shrug off a goal against and move on to the next save, and that’s been really important.”
Grubauer’s save percentage on the season is still an uncharacteristically very low .884, but in these last three games he’s been at .922. Sunday was another step toward righting his numbers from earlier in the season.
Takeaway #2: Players off the schneid
Gourde had been conspicuously quiet in the month of January. He had been moved up and down the lineup, playing with a whole host of different linemates, as Hakstol tried to find a combination that would get him and others going offensively. On Sunday, Gourde was more noticeable than he had been in a long time, and he got rewarded with his first goal since Dec. 30.
Just after the Panthers had killed off a five-on-three Kraken power play in the second period, Adam Larsson sent a pass across the tops of the circles to Gourde. Gourde leaned into a one-timer and blasted it past Bobrovsky, giving the Kraken their first lead of the night over the Panthers.
Colin Blackwell stretched the lead to two with a hilarious goal 17 seconds later (more on that in a bit), but then the Panthers stormed back to tie the score before the end of a thrilling second period.
As soon as the third period got underway, Mason Appleton broke through for his first goal since Nov. 29, a tally that would ultimately hold up as the game winner, thanks to stellar play by Grubauer.
Appleton also assisted on the Blackwell goal, giving him two points and second star honors, while Gourde also fought a much larger Radko Gudas and fell an assist shy of the Gordie Howe hat trick. It was a nice performance by those two guys and hopefully a catalyst for more production moving forward.
Takeaway #3: Tough night for Carson Soucy and Joonas Donskoi
Though the Kraken got a win, Sunday was a tough night for Carson Soucy and Joonas Donskoi. Duclair was credited with a goal 4:57 into the game, but really he was just the last Panther to touch the puck before Soucy—battling for position with Sam Bennett—inadvertently deflected the puck into his own net.
Five minutes later, Soucy tried to hit Frank Vatrano in the corner to Grubauer’s right. It was an awkward collision, though, and he went down in a heap before writhing around in pain for a bit. He did get up and skated gingerly to the bench, then came back later to test out what appeared to be a left leg injury. But he clearly didn’t like how it felt, went down the tunnel, and did not return.
As for Donskoi, well… the $3.9-million-per-year veteran forward was given his first healthy scratch of the season on Sunday, after playing in all 40 of the Kraken’s games up until now.
We knew something was up when he was on the ice for morning skate but did not have a place in line rushes. Hakstol then indicated in his morning availability that a change to the forward group was coming, though he wouldn’t say what the change was.
Sure enough, there was no Donskoi to be found when the Kraken took the ice for warm-ups against the Panthers.
Hakstol said after the game that he wanted to get newly acquired Karson Kuhlman—who did play well, by the way—back into the lineup. As for why he chose Donskoi to come out of the lineup, Hakstol said, “He’s playing so hard for us and doing good things for us defensively. Things haven’t happened for him offensively yet, so it’s an opportunity for a little reset also for him. He’s a real important player for us and a really well respected player within our dressing room.”
The coach did also imply that Donskoi will be back in for next game. Still, that’s quite the message to send to a guy who seems to do everything right, but just hasn’t found the back of the net this season.
Bonus takeaway: Goal of the year?
Blackwell’s goal 17 seconds after Gourde’s was an absolute beauty, right off the noggin. He followed it up with an awkward fall while celebrating, the perfect way to cap off (pun intended) such a unique goal.
We asked Hakstol if Blackwell’s goal is how he draws ’em up, and Hakstol—with a laugh—said, “Absolutely! We talked about it this morning, we showed video… That’s the way we wanted it.”
The Seattle Kraken play game No. 41 Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena. It’s the half-way point of the season, and the schedule makers didn’t give Seattle any breaks for this one as the Florida Panthers will be in town for a 6 p.m. start.
What do we know about these Panthers?
Well, for short, they’re good. Florida is tied for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference top spot with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Each club has 61 points, but the Panthers have two games in hand.
This will not be a matchup for the faint of heart, and the Kraken will need one of their best performances of the season if they wan’t to claw out – pun intended, they’re Panthers – a win on Sunday.
“It should be a fun atmosphere,” Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said after his team took morning skate at Climate Pledge. “It’s our first experience in here, so that should bring some energy to the group and some excitement.”
Previous meeting between the Kraken and Panthers
Seattle spoiled the Panthers’ chance to set a record with 12 straight home wins to start a year by winning 4-1 in Florida Nov. 27, which surely the Cats have not forgotten. It was only the fourth regulation loss of the season for the Panthers, but they seemed to have overcome the emotional strain that loss brought with it. Since that game Florida’s record is 14-4-2.
On the road, the Panthers are 7-5-5 so maybe Sunday is less daunting than it appears. Still, when you see that the Panthers are 8-1-1 in their past ten, that feeling of daunt comes right back.
Last game
Florida was in Vancouver on Friday and won 2-1 against the Canucks in a shootout. Spencer Knight was in goal that night – Sergei Bobrovsky will start against Seattle Sunday – and made 27 saves.
The shootout was highlighted by this sweet move from Anton Lundell.
Florida is one of the top scoring teams in the league and have scored more goals (114) at five-on-five than any other NHL club this year. Leading the charge is Jonathan Huberdeau who leads the Panthers with 55 points.
“When he jumps on the ice, he’s ready,” Lundell said. “He’s always doing the right things. Very hard to defend with the puck and he’s such a smart player. He finds the passes… Whatever option is available, he finds it.”
Huberdeau makes those around him – tonight that will be Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart – better, leading the NHL in assists with 40. It’s pick your poison with Florida and their seven players who have scored double digits or more.
If Seattle can contain the Huberdeau line, the Panthers can still beat you with players like Anthony Duclair, Aleksander Barkov, and Aaron Ekblad on the back end.
Sam Bennett has been injured for the Panthers. Brunette said Bennett would be a game-time decision, although it looked like he was ready to go during Sunday’s morning skate.
Panthers special teams
Florida’s power play is ranked 13th in the league and is better at home as opposed to the road where it is three percentage points lower and ranked No. 18 in the league. When it comes to killing penalties, the Panthers are at No. 27 on the road so the Kraken should take advantage of any opportunities they get.
It’s all about the start
You don’t need to be a hockey savant to know that the start of a game is important, but against a team like Florida, it’s perhaps vital.
The Panthers are 19-3-2 when they score first and 15-1-1 when leading after one period. If you do fall behind, you might also like to know that Florida is 20-0-0 when ahead after two periods.
Welcome to the SOH Liveblog for Sunday’s game between the Florida Panthers and the Seattle Kraken. We will update this throughout game day, so check back often!
The Seattle Kraken face a tough test Sunday against perhaps the NHL’s best team, the Florida Panthers. Seattle surprised the hockey world by beating this team 4-1 in their barn back on Nov. 27. The Panthers entered that game with a perfect 11-0-0 home record, before the Kraken handed them their first loss.
Florida has only gotten better since then and is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games. Under interim head coach Andrew Brunette, this team is scoring goals in bunches and running opposing teams out of the building with regularity. The Panthers have hung nine (!!!) goals on opponents on two separate occasions in the last month, though they did just squeak by the Vancouver Canucks on Friday with a 2-1 shootout win.
Regardless, the Kraken need to really bring it if they want to hang with the high-flying Panthers.
There were a couple interesting developments at morning skate on Sunday. First, we can’t confirm this, but we saw signs that Joonas Donskoi could be a healthy scratch for this game. He was on the ice and is available to play but did not have a spot in line rushes. Instead, Karson Kuhlman looked like he would be back in a fourth-line role after being scratched Friday. Kuhlman’s healthy scratch against the Blues came after he got just 7:46 of ice time in his debut against the Sharks.
Donskoi—traditionally a decent scorer—is remarkably still without a goal, despite having played in all 40 games this season for the Kraken. He does have 14 assists, but still, it’s bonkers that he hasn’t found the back of the net yet.
If we’re correct on our theory that he is out Sunday (and that it is, indeed, a coach’s decision), that would be quite the message to send a veteran forward making close to $4 million. UPDATE: This is confirmed. Donskoi is not dressed.
Also conspicuously absent on Sunday were Jamie Oleksiak and Chris Driedger. Driedger was confirmed to still be in COVID protocol, while coach Dave Hakstol told us that Oleksiak is day to day with a lower-body injury. That last piece was surprising because as of Friday, Oleksiak had officially been out with a non-COVID illness.
The Kraken had a rather poor outing on Friday against the Blues and came away with a deserved 5-0 loss. That was the third time they have been shut out on the season and the second time at home. After opening the game in slow and sloppy fashion, Joey Daccord held Seattle in it through the second period. The wheels came off in the third, though, and the result was a thorough spanking on home ice.
Seattle was in the second of back-to-back games and looked tired, while the Blues entered that game rested. The Kraken had the day off Saturday, so here’s hoping they come out looking fresher against the Panthers.
Top six needs to get going
It’s interesting how this team always seems to have either its top forwards scoring or their depth players scoring, but almost never both at the same time. Two games ago, Calle Jarnkrok and Carson Soucy provided the offense, while the top line was held off the scoresheet.
Jordan Eberle mentioned Friday that the top six forwards have been “pretty dry” offensively, so clearly they’re aware that the production hasn’t been there. We asked Hakstol if he thinks those guys might be pressing a bit, and he said, “I believe you see a little bit of that. One or two players—and it’s been that way all year—but one or two players out.
“But, everybody deals with that. I think it’s natural for players to want to do a little bit more. [Eberle] is a guy that takes a lot upon his shoulders, and you know, the reality is there’s gonna be nights when you run into real tough matchups five-on-five, and you just have to work to play an even hockey game.”
Both Eberle and Jared McCann, Seattle’s top two scorers, have been held pointless in their last five games.
Kraken line-up vs Panthers
This lineup is confirmed. Donskoi and Borgen are out, Lauzon and Kuhlman are back in.
First period highlights
Another game, another early deficit for the Seattle Kraken. Philipp Grubauer made a nice toe save on an Anthony Duclair shot, but as the rebound trickled out, Carson Soucy – tied up with Sam Bennett – inadvertently deflected the puck in his own net.
Adding injury to insult, Soucy collided with Frank Vatrano in the Kraken zone and was writhing on the ice for a bit. He then was putting minimal weight on his left leg as he went to the bench. He did come back for a twirl during the TV timeout, but then went down the tunnel.
The first period was an eventful one. The high-flying Panthers play a wide-open and exciting style. Grubauer looked good, and Sergei Bobrovsky had several good stops of his own at the other end.
The Kraken had 67 percent of the high-danger shot attempts and 68 percent of the expected goals for.
Second period highlights
Just when we thought the Kraken might never score again, they broke through five minutes into the second period. On a nice passing play off a rush, Marcus Johansson got it to Jared McCann, who went to Mark Giordano. Giordano then gave it back to Johansson in the slot, and Johansson blasted it past Bobrovsky to make it 1-1.
Once Johansson broke through, it was like the floodgates opened for the Kraken in the second period. After three minutes of power play time had just ended, Adam Larsson passed across the tops of the circles to Yanni Gourde on the right halfwall. Gourde blasted away and beat Bobrovsky for his first goal since Dec. 30.
Seconds later, Colin Blackwell really used his head. A Mason Appleton shot from a bad angle hit off the side of the net and popped up in the air. It literally bounced off Blackwell’s head and went in. He then stumbled and fell while celebrating, so in general, it just wasn’t the prettiest display. But hey, ugly goals look just as good as pretty goals on the scoresheet.
Down two, the Panthers wasted no time getting themselves back in the game. With Morgan Geekie in the box, Jonathan Huberdeau wristed a shot from the point that Grubauer never saw.
A minute and a half later, Huberdeau found Aleksander Barkov on a rush. Gourde got in the lane and deflected it, but the deflection turned it into a knucklepuck that fluttered over Grubauer and in. Just like that, it was 3-3.
If we had to predict combatants in a fight, we would not expect Yanni Gourde to throw down with the much bigger Radko Gudas. Gudas threw a heavy hit on Gourde in the Florida corner. Then the two tangled for a bit, before Gourde angrily threw down his stick and gloves and awaited a bout with Gudas. To Gourde’s credit he held in pretty well with a tough customer.
Gourde was an assist away from the Gordie Howe hat trick at the end of a WILD second period.
Third period highlights
The third period picked up right where the second left off. Just 26 seconds into the frame, the Kraken regained the lead 4-3, when Mason Appleton raced in and let a shot go from the right face-off circle. It beat Bobrovsky, giving Appleton his third of the season and first goal since Nov. 29.
The final two minutes of the game were about as hairy as they can get for the Kraken. With Bobrovsky off for the extra skater, the Panthers absolutely peppered Grubauer. The German Gentleman stood on his head to earn the victory, and robbed Duclair of what looked like a sure goal.
Calle Jarnkrok closed it out with an empty netter, and the Kraken won 5-3.
What a game! What a win! The Kraken are 2-0 against the Panthers for some reason!
Is it the team puppy? Was Davy Jones the missing element for Seattle all along? After losing nine in a row, the Kraken have now beaten the Blackhawks and Sharks for two consecutive victories after the revelation of their new team dog on Monday. We *think* it’s a coincidence, but we can’t rule out this recent canine introduction as the reason for this week’s newfound success.
Thursday’s victory was not a pretty one at all. The Kraken came out flat and looked downright sloppy in the opening 10 minutes. But to the team’s credit, Seattle turned it around in the second and got scrappy down the stretch to pull out the ‘W.’ They also got good goaltending for the fourth game in a row—two of those were by Chris Driedger and two were by Philipp Grubauer—despite putting Grubauer behind the eight ball with an early defensive gaffe that hung him out to dry.
Not every win is pretty, though, and winning ugly is a heckuva lot more fun than winning pretty, which Seattle has done far too often this season. Here are our Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken win over the Sharks.
Takeaway #1: Kraken play with fire, but find a way to win
Aside from giving up a goal to Tomas Hertl 38 seconds into the game after an ugly Alex Wennberg turnover, the Kraken did some things in the third to put themselves in grave danger of throwing away a late two-goal lead.
Nine minutes into the third, a bouncing puck hopped over the stick of Jeremy Lauzon as he was retreating and in a footrace with 20-year-old Adam Raska. Raska came up with it and found himself on a partial breakaway. Lauzon did the right thing by hauling him down, but Timo Meier scored his sixth goal in two games 37 seconds into the ensuing power play.
Freed from the box after the goal against, Lauzon was back on the ice for just 32 seconds before he high-sticked Matt Nieto and put his team shorthanded again. This time, the penalty killers were successful, only to be forced right back into action for the third time in a row when Seattle took a too-many-men penalty. [Insert facepalm emoji here].
We’ve been Lauzon defenders all season long. We like his game more than a lot of fans seem to, and it’s ok that some of you disagree with us. But with the way the defense carousel has twirled around this season, it does seem like whichever blueliner makes the most egregious mistake on a given night sits the next night. We are curious to see what Hakstol does with his D-corps on Friday, especially if Jamie Oleksiak is able to return after missing Thursday with a non-Covid illness.
Anyway, back to the game… Just when we thought the Kraken were out of penalty trouble, Mason Appleton got his stick into the midsection of Alexander Barabanov with just over a minute left in the game and the San Jose net empty. Barabanov appeared to fall on his own, but in real time, the official thought he had fallen because of Appleton’s stick. He called the fourth penalty of the period against the Kraken, and the game fittingly ended with the Sharks on the power play.
Appleton argued with the official all the way to the box. Comically, the ref announced the penalty, then failed to turn off his mic before shouting, “Sit down!” at Appleton.
“I like the mentality that guys were able to just put all that aside and just go and do the job on the kill,” coach Dave Hakstol said after the game. “So that was a big piece of the game.”
In all, the Kraken gave the Sharks five power plays on the night. That’s a lot anyway, but when four of those are in the third period with your team leading, it makes your life unnecessarily difficult.
Still, the boys found a way for the second game in a row. After a month of finding ways to lose, that feels pretty good.
“You gotta find ways to win,” Hakstol said. “We had a complete 65-minute win a couple nights ago. Tonight we found a way. We scratched and clawed, guys did a bunch of little things.”
Takeaway #2: Depth players bring big impact for Kraken against Sharks
It’s always a positive sign to see production from secondary and tertiary scorers. Thursday, it was all secondary and tertiary scoring that got the job done. Calle Jarnkrok potted the eventual game winner off a beautiful pass from Morgan Geekie in his first game back from an upper-body injury.
We love the little delay by Geekie to wait for the defenders—one of whom certainly should have stayed in front—to draw toward him and open up a little window. It’s also a great finish by Jarnkrok, who continues his impressive play after a really tough couple of months to start the season.
Carson Soucy provided the rest of the scoring, including Seattle’s first goal, which was set up by a fourth line of Appleton, Ryan Donato, and Riley Sheahan. That same fourth line appeared to score another goal when Donato rifled home an Appleton rebound, but it was waived off after a successful coach’s challenge for offside.
It was the first two-goal game of Soucy’s career, and it earned him No. 1 star honors. Still, the always humble Soucy downplayed the accomplishment after the game. “I’d say it’s up there, with the two goals,” he said on where it ranks in career moments. “The win helps. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, so that’s still kind of in the back of your mind, knowing we have a game [Friday].”
No. 1 star Carson Soucy remains humble.
Adds “Grubi played awesome tonight.” Says they’ve been working on trusting him to make the first save and not allowing a second chance. pic.twitter.com/kySi6hfgAZ
Said Hakstol, “You have to have contributions from everybody in your lineup. Whether it’s a guy like— tonight, Souce scoring two.
“It’s interesting, we had a good chuckle this morning. [Mark Giordano] I think holds the record for the guy that had the longest time between two-goal performances, nine years and nine days, and tonight it was a guy that sits a couple stalls down from him that got two. Souce did a good job.”
Takeaway #3: This Giordano guy could be captain material
While he may hold the record for longest drought between two-goal games, Giordano showed why he’s so beloved and respected around the NHL on Thursday.
He got the primary assist on Soucy’s first goal. Then when Raska was mixing it up with Soucy later in the second period, and it looked like those two were about to fight, Giordano jumped in and took the much younger Raska (at 20 years old, Raska is literally 18 years younger than Giordano) to task.
mark giordano ain't got time for these young guns. dad's got work to do. go help your mom with the dishes, kiddo. pic.twitter.com/oB86KoRwMy
— brandon stanev account (12-23-4) (@shadyladycakes) January 21, 2022
Perhaps his most impactful play of the game, though, came with just six seconds left on the clock. With the Sharks net empty and the Kraken desperately trying to kill the bogus Appleton penalty, the high-scoring Hertl got the puck—and game—on his stick in the right circle. Giordano stepped into the shooting lane and deflected Hertl’s shot up out of play.
After the game-saving block, Grubauer came out of his crease to give his captain a thankful shoulder bump.
“When your captain’s out there fighting, blocking shots, and doing everything, that shows how much he cares about getting a win this building,” Hakstol said.
The Kraken will look to extend their win streak to three when they go right back to work Friday against the St. Louis Blues.
Can the Kraken extend their one-game winning streak against the San Jose Sharks this evening?
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We’re trying something new here, folks, so let us know your feedback (i.e., what do you want to see here?)! We will start with a brief game preview and will build out this story as the game day goes on.
Check back regularly before, during, and after the game, and of course feel free to communicate with one another in the comments section. We really want to make this a place to engage, but please be nice! One team, one dream. We [heart emoji] you all.
Pre-game – Kraken versus Sharks
Ok, let’s get into it. The Kraken are coming off their first win in a month against the Blackhawks on Monday. It was an absolutely thrilling game that Seattle dominated from the second period on, including in overtime. Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar, but the Kraken stuck with it and got the shootout win, with Philpp Grubauer playing well.
With Chris Driedger apparently still in COVID protocol—he did not participate in an optional morning skate and did not come up in coach Dave Hakstol’s media availability—Grubauer is the confirmed starter again, and we expect Joey Daccord to be the backup.
Morgan Geekie changed from a red non-contact jersey Wednesday to a regular white practice jersey Thursday. Hakstol was non-committal about his availability, but our hunch is that he will be in for the Kraken against the Sharks, being that he is no longer listed on injured reserve on the NHL’s media website. Meanwhile Alex True, who was bag skated with Haydn Fleury and Colin Blackwell, is no longer on the roster, so we assume he’s back on the taxi squad. That would also tell us that Fleury and Blackwell are likely scratches.
Ryan Donato was the star of the show for the Kraken against the Blackhawks on Monday, and something tells us he’s going to get a big opportunity Thursday against the Sharks. Remember, Donato played for the Sharks last season, but he was let go when San Jose did not extend him a qualifying offer.
Recently claimed forward Karson Kuhlman is expected to make his Kraken debut. We’re told he’s really fast, so that should be fun to watch. Hopefully that speed can help reinvigorate a forecheck that has lost some of its gusto since Brandon Tanev’s season-ending ACL injury.
The Sharks are 21-17-2 and have come back down to Earth a bit after a hot start to the season. Timo Meier set a franchise record with five goals Monday in a 6-2 win over the defensively stout Los Angeles Kings. Remember, the Sharks were the last team Seattle beat before going on its recent nine-game skid.
As you prepare for the game, familiarize yourself with Sharks rookie forward Jasper Weatherby, an outstanding young man who happens to have a lot of local ties. He was our guest on the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast, and he gave a real treat of an interview.
Kraken lineup
We were incorrect about Donato getting a big chance tonight. Looks like he’ll be on the fourth line.
The latest
Looks like our Geekie hunch was right.
The #SeaKraken have activated F Morgan Geekie off injured reserve and have assigned F Alexander True to the taxi squad.
Pretty important update here… Others who have been bucketless in the past (Alex Wennberg, Vince Dunn, Riley Sheahan, Mark Giordano) were all wearing helmets for warm-ups.
Folks, Yanni Gourde is bucketless. Don’t believe we’ve seen this from him before.
The Sharks scored a whopping 38 seconds into the opening frame. Alex Wennberg made a tough turnover deep in the zone to Alexander Barabanov. Barabanov got it to Tomas Hertl, who put it in a largely open cage.
The game-opening goal by Hertl was the only goal of the first period. The Kraken didn’t generate all that much offensively, but after a sloppy opening 10 minutes, they settled down and pushed back a little.
Second period highlights
The Kraken leveled the score at 1-1 at 4:18 of the second period. The fourth line did some work down low. Mason Appleton passed to Giordano at the point, who went across to Carson Soucy. Soucy sniped while Sheahan screened.
— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) January 21, 2022
Donato appeared to have notched his 10th goal of the season, when he buried an Appleton rebound with 13:12 left in the second. BUT… San Jose challenged for offside and got the call.
Minutes later, Soucy got his second of the game when a bouncing puck landed right on his stick in the slot. He quickly snapped it through Hill’s five hole, giving Seattle its first lead of the game at 2-1. Wennberg got the assist.
The Kraken had two consecutive power plays but failed to score. Giordano did fire a wrist shot off the base of the post that missed going in by about a centimeter.
With five minutes left, Soucy got into a tussle with Adam Raska in the corner behind Grubauer. It looked like Soucy and Raska were going to drop the gloves, but Giordano said, “Nah, I got this,” and fed some juicy knuckle sandwiches to Raska.
#SJSharks Raska hits #SeaKraken captain Giordano hard. Soucy crosschecks Raska, then Giordano drops the gloves as does Raska. Sharks somehow get a power play out of this. pic.twitter.com/ODQ4rknsse
— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) January 21, 2022
That was a pretty wild period. Grubauer made some big-time stops, including a breakaway glove save on Meier, who – might we remind you – scored FIVE (!!!) goals last game.
The Kraken expanded their lead to two when Geekie got a loose puck behind the San Jose goal. He drew two defenders to him and snuck a cheeky little pass through to Calle Jarnkrok in the slot. Jarnkrok confidently buried it for his career goal No. 100 at 6:27 of the third.
With the puck bouncing around and Jeremy Lauzon retreating, he couldn’t corral it, and Raska found himself on a partial breakaway. Recognizing he was in trouble, Lauzon hauled him down. Seconds into the ensuing power play, Meier scored his sixth goal in two games to make it 3-2 Seattle.
On the very next shift, Lauzon went right back to the box for high sticking. Seattle killed the penalty, but then IMMEDIATELY took a too-many-men penalty. They killed that one off as well, but not without some hairy moments.
Oh… oh, no.
Appleton got his stick into the midsection of Barabanov right as Barabanov was falling on his own accord.
Ref thought Appleton had taken Barabanov down with a hook and called it.
Donato says the team recognized that they had started flat and took it upon themselves to fix it.
Says when he got back to the bench after his disallowed goal, the coaches “kind of shook their heads,” knowing it was offside. pic.twitter.com/pOLxB3b6oc
Adds “Grubi played awesome tonight.” Says they’ve been working on trusting him to make the first save and not allowing a second chance. pic.twitter.com/kySi6hfgAZ
