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
They did it, they did it! They finally did it! The Seattle Kraken WON Monday for the first time since Dec. 14, snapping a doozy of a nine-game losing streak. It wasn’t easy for the Kraken to beat the Blackhawks. It took fortunate bounces and a complete 60-minute 65-minute effort, plus two dazzling shootout moves, solid goaltending, and the introduction of a team puppy to overcome an awe-inspiring performance by Marc-Andre Fleury.
Here are our three takeaways from a memorable 3-2 shootout win by the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
Takeaway #1: Philipp Grubauer wins an electrifying goalie duel
When the Blackhawks first visited Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 17, Fleury was a big storyline coming in. But he wasn’t a storyline because he was playing well; no, at the time, Fleury was really struggling and had folks wondering if it was time for him to hang it up.
Entering Monday’s game, the future Hall of Famer was making headlines for the opposite reason, having been named the NHL’s No. 2 star of the week after stopping 88 of 92 combined shots over the course of three consecutive wins. He was also coming off of his 70th career shutout on Saturday, a 3-0 win over the high-flying Ducks.
So to say that Fleury entered Monday’s game playing well is an understatement. Even so, the Blackhawks goalie blew our minds with his play against the Kraken. We lost count of how many times we thought to ourselves, Oh, there’s a goal!, only to see Fleury come out of nowhere and snag it with his glove or get the toe of his skate on it.
The Kraken outshot the Blackhawks 37-27, took 73 percent of the high-danger shot attempts, and had a whopping 4.23 expected goals. Yet, Seattle only scored 50 percent of the goals, and regulation ended with the score tied 2-2. That’s because the 37-year-old Fleury played like a superstar in his prime Monday, making save after eye-popping save, and very nearly stealing the game for Chicago.
Comically, the only two times Fleury was beaten on the day (aside from the shootout) came with help from the Blackhawks defense. The first goal deflected off Riley Stillman. The second goal happened because Caleb Jones, sliding to break up a two-on-one with Ryan Donato and Alex Wennberg, crashed into Fleury and took him out of the net.
“He played unreal for them today,” Philipp Grubauer said of his counterpart. “The saves he made, that’s what you’re going to see from him all year, right? So, unbelievable goalie, made it tough for us to score, he made the saves at the right times for them, and it was a big battle I think.”
The “battle” Grubauer is referencing stems from his play at the other end, which successfully counteracted the efforts of Fleury. Stopping 25 shots of his own, Grubauer looked calm, cool, and collected Monday and did a good job of fighting through traffic to make saves.
It’s a great sign for Seattle that the duo of Grubauer and Chris Driedger has now played well enough to win in three straight games.
“It’s critical to have that type of performance,” Hakstol said. “Grubi looked calm and he looked comfortable tonight, as comfortable as he has throughout the year. And I think there’s no better example or showcase of that than the job that he did in the shootout against some pretty talented and pretty experienced shooters.”
The shooters Chicago trotted out were Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane—both of whom were stopped by Grubauer—while Donato and Joonas Donskoi scored at the other end to win it for Seattle.
Takeaway #2: Ryan Donato plays a starring role
We’ve become bigger and bigger believers in Donato as this season has gone on, and Monday was another memorable night in his impressive tenure with the Kraken. Donato was the screen in front of Fleury on Vince Dunn’s goal in the second period, which deflected off Stillman.
In the third, an errant Blackhawk shot rimmed around the boards to Donato in the Kraken end. He picked up the loose puck and sprinted through the neutral zone. At full speed, he made a nifty little juke to get around Jake McCabe and was off to the races, eventually scoring the tying goal at 2:02 of the third period.
To cap off his performance and earn the night’s No. 1 star, he pulled off this beauty in the shootout.
What we didn’t know until after the game was that Emily Cave, the wife of Donato’s fallen friend Colby Cave, was at the game Monday. She had gifted Donato one of Colby’s game-worn ties, and Donato wore it Monday.
“[Colby] was a close friend of mine, and Emily’s here tonight,” Donato said. “I think he was here with me today too.”
Takeaway #3: This game had everything
Aside from a fairly tight-checking opening period, Monday’s game between the Blackhawks and the Kraken was thrilling. And it had… everything.
Great chances and great saves? Done. That’s an easy one. A fight? Yes. Will Borgen jumped to Jared McCann’s defense and pounded on Mike Hardman after he blasted McCann with a big (but clean) hit in the neutral zone. Overtime? Shootout? A late penalty shot?! Yes, yes, and YES!
The penalty shot came after McCann won a race in the neutral zone and poked the puck ahead, then sprinted in on a partial breakaway. Stillman made a clumsy dive and took McCann’s feet out. That call came with just 6:26 left in a tie game, but Fleury confidently shut McCann down. Interestingly, Stillman committed the infraction with 7:14 left, but Seattle kept the puck for almost a minute before Chicago finally touched it and the referee pointed at center ice. You don’t see such long delayed calls on penalty shots very often, so that was something.
And of course, who can forget the revelation of the team dog, Davy Jones?
INTRODUCING THE GOODEST OF BOYS & THE FIRST-EVER TEAM DOG OF THE #SEAKRAKEN – DAVY JONES! 🐾
In partnership with our friends at @CanidaePetFood, we’ll share Davy’s journey as the four-month old husky rescue trains to become a therapy dog. pic.twitter.com/N5qJ2ZxAq4
Donskoi was asked if the dog was good luck, since the Kraken finally won a game on the night he was introduced to the world. With a big smile, Donskoi said, “Absolutely. Every team needs a puppy, I think, and he’s pretty cute too, so I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
“Tough sledding” is a phrase often used by broadcasters to describe a game that is tight checking through the neutral zone. We aren’t entirely sure where it comes from in the real world, but in the hockey vernacular, if a game is “tough sledding,” we know there is little to no offense being generated at either end of the ice. Saturday’s game between the Kraken and the Kings was tough sledding.
It was especially tough sledding in the opening frame, when the two teams combined for a yawn-inducing 10 shots on goal. When the first horn sounded, we thought it might have been one of the more dull periods of hockey ever to be played at Climate Pledge Arena, ironic timing after the revelation of one of the coolest pre-game shows on the planet.
The next chapter of our pre-game show will send shivers down your spine.
For those attending tonight's game, make sure to be in your seats by 6:55pm – you won't want to miss what The Deep has in store. 🦑 pic.twitter.com/yo3mLfem2V
Of course, despite such minimal offensive output by either team in those first 20 minutes, the Kraken still managed to give up a goal in the first five minutes and were thus left chasing the Kings throughout the night.
Here are our three takeaways from Seattle’s ninth consecutive loss (ouch, it hurts to write those words).
Takeaway #1: Somebody score a goal, please
Let us tell you what is *not* part of the winning formula for the Seattle Kraken; scoring one goal per game. That’s what they’ve done in each of the last two, and it has happened in consecutive games where Chris Driedger has played well enough to win. We recognize Driedger had a questionable rebound that led to the first goal, and he called himself out in his post-game press conference for that one.
Still, two goals in a night is a very reasonable number of goals to allow. Somebody needed to put the puck in the net at the other end.
While this game felt similar to the previous game, the difference between this one and the one in St. Louis was that Seattle statistically had the better chances and possession against the Blues. On Saturday, that was not the case.
There just was not enough happening in the offensive end at five-on-five. Against the Kings, the Kraken attempted 41.67 percent of the high-danger shots at five-on-five and had just 38.18 percent of the expected goals for in that situation. Meanwhile, the Kraken only got 18 shots through to Cal Petersen in all situations, and that is rarely enough to win an NHL hockey game.
We asked Driedger if it’s frustrating to play in games like that, where he’s having a good performance, but the team isn’t scoring, and he unnecessarily fell on the sword.
“My job is to get wins and let in less goals than the other guy,” he said. “I haven’t been able to do that the last two matches here, so I definitely thought my game could have been better. I wasn’t happy with the first one. I think you can never be satisfied, especially in a time like now. We need to get to work and get out of this.”
Poor Driedger. Somebody get this man some goals.
Takeaway #2: The Kraken power play has actually gotten pretty dangerous
While there doesn’t seem to be much happening for this team offensively at five-on-five, the Kraken have gotten surprisingly dangerous on the power play. There was a period between the losses against the Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights earlier this season—two consecutive defeats that sent Seattle into its first long tailspin—when the Kraken were last in the league with the manpower advantage.
As of the writing of this story, the Kraken have climbed the power play rankings all the way to 17th in the NHL, with a success rate of 19.2 percent on the year. They’ve actually been one of the best teams in this regard over the last month or so.
Seattle scored another power-play goal in the second period on Saturday. Mark Giordano wristed a shot from the point that Calle Jarnkrok deflected. Petersen made a nice save, but Marcus Johansson was there and cleaned up the rebound.
The run of success got us wondering what some of the differences are between now and the beginning of the season when the Kraken weren’t even sniffing power-play goals.
A sign of a successful power play is when you see passes connecting through the seam, meaning those cross-ice passes that sneak between the killing team’s forwards and defense. Those types of passes don’t always work, and they don’t always lead to goals. But when they are connecting, you know the team on the power play is getting the opposing penalty kill to move around, creating openings. We’ve seen these passes a lot more frequently for the Kraken lately.
On the other hand, when a power play stinks, every pass is on the perimeter. We only saw passes around the perimeter at the beginning of the season.
Another piece is that the Kraken seem to have perfected a set play that gives them a reliable scoring look down low. The play starts on the half wall, usually with Jared McCann. He passes low to Johansson, who parks himself next to the net. Johansson one-touches it to Jarnkrok in the slot, who fires away. This is exactly how Seattle scored its power-play goal in Dallas on Wednesday.
Another look at game speed of Jarnkrok’s power goal score that evened the score.
We’ve noticed them trying this play often of late.
“We talk about different plays every game, about what’s there, what’s available,” Johansson said. “We try to build our power play, and it’s been pretty good. We had a chance in the end [Saturday] to tie the game up, and we didn’t. We needed to be a little bit better there, but we need to keep working on it.”
Having that option down low creates space in other areas of the zone. Opposing teams will learn that Seattle has this play in the bag and have to respect it. So, even when it doesn’t connect, the penalty killers will collapse down, which opens up… WHAT?! The seam pass.
Oh, and by the way, Seattle just missed a second power-play goal Saturday when McCann rocketed a one-timer off the post from the half wall.
Thank you for coming to our TED Talk. Now if only the Kraken could get this success to transfer over to five-on-five.
Takeaway #3: The new Kraken pre-game show is ridonkulous
We got an email on Friday night indicating that some special new bells and whistles would be unveiled for Saturday’s game and that a practice run would take place before morning skate. We were welcome to watch, but we were sworn to secrecy about what those new bells and whistles actually were.
Aside from the mind-boggling show itself, one thing that was cool about that dry run before morning skate is that all the Kraken players came to the bench to watch it. When it was done, they all applauded, and it dawned on us that this was probably the first time they had ever seen any of the pre-game festivities. At that point on a game night, the players are in the tunnel waiting to step onto the ice, so they don’t really get to just stand around and enjoy the atmosphere.
The show did not disappoint.
The mysterious tentacle that had been conspicuously hanging in the rafters for several weeks was finally deployed, and new projections on the curtains over the windows to Tightwad Terrace displayed the eye of the elusive Kraken.
Awesome stuff. Congrats to friends of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Jonny Greco and Lamont Buford, as well as the many other talented folks who worked on the show, for getting it off the ground.
Seattle Kraken versus Los Angeles Kings 7 p.m. Pacific time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports Radio: AM 950 KJR
There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home. We figure if we go full Dorothy mode and say that enough times, the Seattle Kraken will start believing it, and we will manifest a losing-streak-snapping victory against the Los Angeles Kings.
Yes, it’s been eight straight losses for the Kraken, though to their credit, they really did put forth good efforts in two of their three games on this recent road trip and perhaps even deserved better outcomes in Colorado and St. Louis. What’s tough is that this team has to be close to perfect for 60 minutes to get a result, and their letdowns have been just robust enough that better teams are able to break through when the game is on the line.
This is another tough matchup against a surprisingly good team that has won three in a row. Can the Kraken play a full 60 to snap out of their miserable streak and beat the third-place Kings?
Chris Driedger back in net for Kraken against Kings
Coach Dave Hakstol officially anointed Philipp Grubauer as the team’s No. 1 goalie several weeks ago in a press conference, though we already knew this to be true based on the team’s deployment of its goaltenders. We still expect Hakstol to default to Grubauer moving forward, but it sure is interesting to see Chris Driedger demanding more time.
By playing the way he played in St. Louis on Thursday and in several of his starts over the last couple months, Driedger really is leaving Hakstol no choice but to use him more. Sure enough, Driedger will be the starter for the Kraken Saturday against the Kings.
“[Driedger’s] performance is one part of it,” Hakstol said of the decision to use him again. “A little bit of the thought process is around the team we’re playing as well. Then, you know, it’s a real busy stretch here, so we will need both guys … This can give him [Driedger] an opportunity tonight to build some momentum for his game and for our team.”
Hakstol followed that up with, “Grubi, you know, he’s our guy. I’ve said that he’s our No. 1 guy. But Chris has carried a load in this league before.”
So, Hakstol essentially doubled down on his position with regard to which goalie is the top dog, but also left the door open to additional starts for Driedger if he continues to play well.
Driedger stopped 25 of 27 shots Thursday, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. He made some unbelievable saves that he frankly had no business making, and if the team deserved a better outcome, Driedger certainly deserved better than an ‘L’ on his record.
Some cool stuff coming for pre-game
If you’re attending the game, we would recommend getting to your seat a few minutes early. We are sworn to secrecy on what will happen before the game, but we did see it this morning, and it’s worth your time.
The next chapter of our pre-game show will send shivers down your spine.
For those attending tonight's game, make sure to be in your seats by 6:55pm – you won't want to miss what The Deep has in store. 🦑 pic.twitter.com/yo3mLfem2V
Aside from the top line of Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, and Marcus Johansson, the forward lines were all shaken up at morning skate.
This includes a partial splitting of the Yanni Gourde/Colin Blackwell/Calle Jarnkrok line, despite that trio showing well in its games together. Hakstol wouldn’t say too much on the thought process, but Gourde has been quiet of late.
We have a theory that he was sneakily elevating the games of Blackwell and Jarnkrok—hence the line looking good as a whole—but because of that, he was becoming a bit less noticeable individually. He sticks with Jarnkrok, but now he will be flanked by Joonas Donskoi instead of Blackwell, while Blackwell will skate with Ryan Donato and Alex Wennberg.
Alex True is taking Max McCormick’s spot on the fourth line with Riley Sheahan and Mason Appleton. Remember, McCormick took a penalty 200 feet from the Kraken net on Thursday, and Pavel Buchnevich scored the game-winning goal for the Blues on the ensuing power play. With that in mind, we were not surprised to see McCormick skating with the healthy scratches on Saturday morning.
On the back end, we do like the balance of having at least one of the more shutdown-focused guys (Mark Giordano, Jamie Oleksiak, or Adam Larsson) on each of the three pairs, rather than pairing them together, like what we’ve seen with Giordano and Oleksiak.
