by Andy Eide | Jan 10, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
For two periods Monday it looked like Philipp Grubauer would be the belle of the Ball Arena in his return to Denver, but two third-period goals would give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win against the Seattle Kraken.
After 40 minutes, Grubauer and the Kraken had built a 3-2 lead. The third period would be their undoing.
Nazem Kadri scored what would turn out to be the game winner at 14:17 of the third period. The play started with the Kraken letting the Avalanche skate through the neutral zone, creating an odd man rush, and was finished with Kadri beating Grubauer with a top-shelf shot on the short side.
“I think we played a decent game, in the first two especially,” Grubauer said. “I think we let them off the hook a little bit. Then in the last period they kept pushing. They’re a really good team at home. They’ve done it enough times. I’ve been at the other end where we came out in the third period and just crushed at a team, so I feel like that [happened] a little bit to us.”
Kadri added an assist, giving him points in 12 straight games, Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored twice for Colorado (21-8-2) who won for the fifth consecutive time and 12th in a row at home. Pavel Francouz stopped 23 Kraken shots in his third start of the season.
Grubauer made 31 saves for the Kraken (10-19-4) who have lost six straight for the second time this year. Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, as did Marcus Johannson.
“It’s about winning the hockey game, and we were in position to do that,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We obviously did a lot of real positive things to put ourselves into that position. We’ll obviously address those and those are good things. There’s also two or three things that we have to address that cost us this hockey game when we’re in position to walk away with two points.”
How it played out
One of the things that Hakstol means to address with the team is odd-man rushes. They proved costly again on Monday and it started early.
At 5:50 of the first period the Kraken got caught without a third forward high in the offensive zone which gave the Avalanche a three-on-two rush. They cashed in as Aube-Kubel found the back of the net while Grubauer was run into by Carson Soucy. It was Aube-Kubel’s third of the season and second against Seattle.
The Kraken answered to tie the game at 1-1 thanks to a power-play opportunity. Jordan Eberle took a shot that Johansson deflected in for his third goal and first since Nov. 24.
McCann fired a shot from the half boards at 4:49 of the second period to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead. It was his 14th goal which matched his total last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 14 goals tie his career high, and he did it in 15 fewer games.
“It’s a huge honor,” McCann said. “I’ve been getting a great opportunity here in Seattle. And it’s been awesome. I’m playing with some great players. I’ve got to give credit to a lot of my teammates.”
Seattle extended the lead to 3-1 at 14:20 when a Jamie Oleksiak shot was deflected in front by Colin Blackwell. Colorado brought it back to a 3-2 game on Aube-Kubel’s second goal when he knocked in a rebound off Grubauer’s pads.
The Avalanche made it 3-3 at 11:47 of the third when Devon Toews directed the puck off his skate past Grubauer for his seventh. The goal was reviewed by the officials and ruled a good goal as the referee said, “it deflected off the blue player.”
“I don’t know what the definition of kick in is,” Grubauer said. “You can answer that for me or maybe you can find an answer for me. I don’t know. But yeah, a lot of good things [tonight]. We got to build on that and get ready for Dallas.”
Overall, Seattle battled hard Monday and perhaps deserved a better fate. They held the high-flying Avalanche down for two periods, but ultimately the more talented team found a way. There are no moral victories, but the Kraken played one of their better games of late and will look to build off it as they head to Dallas on Wednesday.
“They’re a hell of a team,” Hakstol said. “I take nothing away from them in any way, shape, or form, but this is about us and that’s what we’ll really direct our attention to. There’s going to be a balance, you know, we’ll look at the good, look at the positives. Make sure we continue to talk about those and build off of those.
“But you have to directly look at a couple of the individual and systematic things that ultimately led to us losing the hockey game here tonight.”
Johansson filling in for Schwartz
With Jaden Schwartz out with injury, Johansson filled in on Seattle’s top line. Playing with McCann at center and Eberle at the other wing, Johansson ended the night with 14:41 of ice time, the power-play goal, and an assist.
He missed a couple of shifts in the third period after being shaken up on a play, but he returned shortly after to finish the game. At five-on-five the top line was on the ice for 9:13 of ice time and took 57.89% of the unblocked shots, created six scoring chances to four against, and ended the evening with 68.82 percent of quality shots.
Kraken Tentacle Tales
+ With two points, McCann has five multi-point games this season, most on the Kraken.
+ Alex Wennberg came off of COVID-19 protocol Monday and played 11:37 of ice time.
+ The win Monday was the fifth in a row for the Avalanche, and in all five they erased a deficit.
+ Monday was also a homecoming for Joonas Donskoi who played the last three seasons with the Avalanche. Colorado thanked Donskoi and Grubauer with a video message.
by Darren Brown | Jan 10, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
If it feels to you like a decade has passed since the Kraken last played a game, you’re not alone. It has been a loooooong time since we watched Seattle lose 5-2 to the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena on Jan. 1. Plus, when you factor in the similar COVID-related break in the lead-up to Christmas, it makes this layoff feel even longer. Here’s hoping the most recent break—which allotted the Kraken oodles of practice time—was just what the doctor ordered for a group seeking its first win in almost a month against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
Yes, you read that right. The last time Seattle won a game was Dec. 14 in San Jose. There is some context to consider, of course, as the team has only played five games since that victory over the Sharks. But winning has become a distant memory, so finding success on Monday would surely do some good for this team’s psyche.
The Kraken face an especially tough test as they look to get 2022 rolling in the right direction against an electric Avalanche team.
A lingering COVID question
Jeremy Lauzon returned to Kraken practice on Sunday after being cleared from COVID protocol. That left Alex Wennberg, who has been away long enough to at least theoretically be cleared, as the last player on the COVID list. Wennberg’s participation would be a big help for the depth of Seattle’s forward lines, which look a lot thinner since Brandon Tanev was ruled out for the year and Jaden Schwartz injured his hand.
But even if he’s cleared in time for the game in Colorado, would coach Dave Hakstol throw Wennberg right back in? Remember, Vince Dunn was cleared prior to the Vancouver game, but he did not dress that night. Plus, the rest of the team has been practicing a lot lately, while Wennberg has not and could need some time to get back up to game speed whenever he does get the green light.
So, in conclusion… we have no idea if Alex Wennberg will be cleared or included in the lineup Monday.
Philipp Grubauer returns to Denver
Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer played three seasons with the Avalanche before leaving as a free agent to sign with Seattle. When these two teams faced each other the first time, Chris Driedger was given the nod initially but got torched that night, so Grubauer came on in relief after Seattle had already conceded four goals.
While nothing was confirmed or indicated by Hakstol on Sunday, we have a hunch we’ll see Grubauer get the start against his former mates on Monday.
There is a bit of an interesting wrinkle for a goalie facing his old team. You’re so familiar with how guys play, how they shoot, and sometimes when you notice that it’s an old buddy bearing down on your crease, it can be a bit distracting.
We asked Grubauer about how much it helps to know the opponent’s tendencies, and here’s what he said:
“It’s good to know, but it can also hurt you. Just because they always shot blocker in practice doesn’t mean they’re going to shoot blocker in the game now. It’s always based on the situation. It’s good to know sometimes the tendencies of the guys, but it doesn’t change my approach or my game plan… Whether I’m facing Mikko [Rantanen] or Sidney Crosby, you always got to read the situation.”
By the way, Grubauer has been spotted wearing his old CCM-branded pads from his Colorado days a couple times this week. The backstory is that famed equipment manufacturer Lefebvre was making CCM’s pro goalie gear up until last season, but the partnership between the two companies ended with a messy legal battle. A new deal was made between Lefebvre and TRUE, so Lefebvre now makes all of the TRUE pro equipment. That’s why you see so much TRUE gear around the NHL this season, and that’s also why Grubauer switched from CCM to TRUE when he joined the Kraken.
On why he’s worn his old pads a couple times this week, Grubauer said, “The old CCM’s are basically the TRUE’s. Lefebvre made them, so I put in another order, getting the old pads back. It’s just a different feel, different pads. I went back to the old ones.”
So, there are new pads on the way for Philipp Grubauer.
Colorado Avalanche
One challenge with a long layoff is getting back up to game speed. Unfortunately for the Kraken, they face an Avalanche team that can quickly punish opponents that come out flat, as demonstrated in the 7-3 Colorado win at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 19. Seattle did practice with a lot of tempo and energy during the layoff, but the Avs hold an obvious advantage here after playing four games during the time that the Kraken were static.
Making things a bit scarier, Colorado won all four of those games, including a thrilling come-from-behind win on Saturday over the Maple Leafs. In that most recent victory, the Avs overcame two separate three-goal deficits and won 5-4 in overtime.
In the first meeting between the Kraken and Avalanche, Colorado’s best player wasn’t even in the lineup, yet the Avs still rolled to an easy win that night. Now, Nathan MacKinnon is back with a vengeance and has his team avoiding all sweets (maybe) and playing great hockey. He has points in 13 consecutive games and had a whopping five points just two games ago against the Winnipeg Jets.
Meanwhile, Cale Makar has been doing ridiculous things on the Colorado blue line, while Mikko Rantanen is up to 40 points on the season.
“You can go throughout their lineup, they generate with their forwards, but they generate an awful lot from the back end,” said Hakstol after practice on Sunday. “We got to be moving and skating, number one. Coming off a 10-day break, we have to skate against this team, and then from there, being able to spend some time in the offensive zone without being high risk.
It can be done, but beating the Avalanche is a tall task for the Kraken.
by bliesse | Jan 3, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
All photos taken by Brian Liesse. Photos are property of Sound Of Hockey and cannot be reused.
by Darren Brown | Jan 2, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
[Sigh.] Well, that was another discouraging loss for the Seattle Kraken, who have now dropped five in a row and eight of their last nine. While there were cool things happening off the ice at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, what happened on the ice was ugly at times and ended in a 5-2 defeat. Here are our Three Takeaways from the second Kraken loss of the year to the Vancouver Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Tough turnovers cost Kraken against Canucks
Will Borgen had a fantastic game Thursday against the Flames, connecting on multiple stretch passes to generate offense and jumping up in the rush like a veteran offensive defenseman. On Saturday, Borgen was the last Kraken player to touch the puck before two of Vancouver’s goals.
The first Canucks goal, which came at 8:53 of the first period, was especially painful for Borgen and the Kraken. The young defenseman was trying to make a breakout pass to Calle Jarnkrok, but as he released the puck, Nils Hoglander hit him in the corner. The pass missed Jarnkrok by a country mile and instead went right onto the tape of skilled rookie Vasily Podkolzin, who fired it home.
The third goal against, which came early in the third period, was—to the credit of the Canucks—created by a good forechecking play by Juho Lammikko. But again, it was Borgen from whom he stripped the puck, and a second later Tyler Motte put it in the back of Seattle’s net.
Some blame could be placed on Philipp Grubauer’s handling of the puck here as well, as he may have handcuffed Borgen with a delayed four-foot pass. Even so, it looked like Borgen had enough time to make a play.
“We put two pucks directly on their tape in scoring areas,” coach Dave Hakstol said after the game. “That can’t happen. That’s the bottom line… I look at the first goal and the third goal. Those are pucks that are in our possession that ended up on their tape, really without a whole lot of pressure.”
Borgen redeemed himself by scoring his first NHL goal later in the frame on a nice shot from the point past a Ryan Donato screen.
The tough thing for Borgen and others like Haydn Fleury and to a lesser degree Carson Soucy is that there are eight defensemen on this team. When glaring mistakes happen, Hakstol’s decision on who to scratch for the following game becomes a bit easier.
Borgen wasn’t alone in making defensive gaffes on Saturday. Vancouver’s fourth goal was like something out of the Benny Hill Show. Mark Giordano and Jamie Oleksiak ran into each other behind the net. Giordano gave Oleksiak the old can opener trick, getting his stick tangled between Oleksiak’s legs. Oleksiak fell and ripped Giordano’s stick out of his hands, and sure enough, Vancouver came away with the puck, which Conor Garland eventually deposited in the Kraken goal.
Not great.
Takeaway #2: They did it again
For the third game in a row, the Kraken conceded a goal within a minute of scoring at the other end in the third period. In the previous two games, those goals against represented the tying goal for Philadelphia and the winning goal for Calgary.
On Saturday, Seattle was battling to get back in the game after Borgen scored to atone for his second booboo. But the Garland goal—the one caused by Giordano and Oleksiak comically running into each other—came just 46 seconds after Borgen’s tally.
Hakstol shrugged it off, saying he doesn’t think giving up quick response goals after scoring is a problem for this team and that they had addressed it after the previous two games. But Adam Larsson dug into it a bit more.
“Trust me, we’re trying not to get scored on,” Larsson said. “It’s a hard league. It’s something we really need to figure out. It’s been an issue for us, and we have talked about it. I think we should expect the push and… It’s frustrating, but at the same time, we have had some answer for those goals too, so it goes both ways.”
When we tweeted that quote last night, one of our followers, Kevin Alschuler, PhD, a sports psychologist, replied with a very interesting thread explaining what’s happening for Seattle and why the team is giving up these response goals. We found it interesting, so give that a read here!
Takeaway #3: Feel-good moments at Climate Pledge Arena
The feel-good story of 2022 so far stems from this tweet that went out from the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday morning, prior to their game against the Kraken.
Red Hamilton and Nadia Papovici reunited before this second meeting between these teams. Papovici was then honored on the Jumbotrons, and it was announced that together the Kraken and Canucks would be giving her $10,000 toward her med school tuition.
How cool is that?!
There were other cool game-ops things that happened Saturday as well, as Rod Masters—the organist from Slap Shot—made his triumphant debut for the Kraken. He played both national anthems before the game, then during the game was allowed to play Lady of Spain in its entirety. This time, Reg Dunlop did not rudely rip up his sheet music and scream at him to never play it again.
The Kraken also welcomed 98-year-old Eunice to her first game at Climate Pledge Arena. She shared with Strawberry, the arena host, that her 99th birthday is coming up in two weeks. So with Masters leading the way, the crowd in attendance sang Happy Birthday to Eunice.
by Darren Brown | Dec 31, 2021 | Gameday Coverage
Our heads are still spinning after the Kraken went from tied 3-3 with under four minutes left in the game to losing 6-4 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday. It was a downright bizarre finish, as Seattle found—in the words of Mark Giordano—another “new way to lose.”
The losses are piling up again for the Kraken. That’s four straight and seven of their last eight, and the team’s grip on last place in the Pacific Division is getting stronger by the day.
Here are our three takeaways from an exciting but ultimately disheartening Kraken loss to the Flames.
Takeaway #1: Another goal allowed seconds after scoring?!
We literally JUST talked about this. The Kraken allowed the tying goal to the Flyers on Wednesday 15 seconds after taking the lead. On Thursday, late in the third period, Jared McCann deflected a Giordano shot past Jacob Markstrom to tie the game 30 seconds after Andrew Mangiapane had put the Flames ahead on the power play. The building erupted as Seattle made it 4-4.
But as quickly as energy was injected into Climate Pledge Arena, it was then sucked right back out. This time it took just 13 seconds after Seattle scored for it to allow a crucial goal, and this time it would prove to be the game winner as Matthew Tkachuk beat Chris Driedger on a goal that he was not happy to give up.
“We failed to make a play on a puck,” coach Dave Hakstol said after the game. “We failed to make a hard play on a puck, and we didn’t get a save on an inside chance against so that’s what it is.”
Both Adam Larsson and Jeremy Lauzon had chances to get the puck out of harm’s way on the game winner, but it was bouncing around and neither player got good enough wood on it to clear it.
Regardless of how the goal went in, it’s absolutely bonkers that this happened for the second night in a row. You simply cannot immediately give up goals after scoring—especially in the third period—and expect to win. That almost always spells doom.
Takeaway #2: We may have jinxed Chris Driedger
“I just need to be better,” Driedger said after the game. “Those last two goals can’t go in.”
To be fair to Driedger, the first of the two he’s referencing was a rebound off a hard shot on a late power play, so it’s hard to blame him for that one. But he could have and perhaps should have had the game winner.
Do you think we jinxed him with this tweet?
As we started to field questions on Twitter about whether or not he should be getting the lion’s share of the starts over Philipp Grubauer, the wheels came off for Driedger and the Kraken as the Flames somehow scored two plus an empty netter to skate away with a late win.
If you take away the fifth pivotal goal, he really did play well. But coach Hakstol twice used the phrase “we didn’t get a save” in explaining what happened on the Tkachuk goal, and that tells us he’s not overly enamored by the play of Driedger either.
Takeaway #3: Mark Giordano likes playing against his old team
Because we enjoy a little positivity around these parts from time to time, we’re going to throw in a couple of happier nuggets to close this thing out. First off, Mark Giordano seems to really enjoy playing against his old team. Back when the Kraken visited the Saddledome in preseason, Giordano opened the scoring.
On Thursday, he did the same thing, then added two assists on the night, setting up the Calle Jarnkrok goal nine seconds into the second period and wristing the shot that McCann deflected home to briefly tie the score in the third.
Asked if he got any joy out of the offensive outburst, Gio said, “To be honest, it would have been a lot better night if we would have picked up two points.”
[Sigh.]
Yes, the team lost, and yes it came in devastating fashion, but Giordano had his best offensive game of the season, so we thought it was worth calling that out.
Bonus Takeaway: Are stretch passes a thing now?
One thing we noticed the Kraken doing more frequently than usual on Thursday was making long stretch passes from deep in the defensive zone up through the neutral zone. Will Borgen connected on two, one of which sprung McCann for a breakaway in the second period. The other led to a great passing play that Jarnkrok just missed on late in the game.
Early in the third, Carson Soucy also connected on a long pass from behind the Kraken goal line with Jarnkrok at the far blue line. Jarnkrok went through the seam to Colin Blackwell, who then dished to Yanni Gourde at the netmouth for an easy tap in.
We asked Hakstol about this after the game to see if this is something Seattle is actively trying to do more.
“We want to have one guy pushing for space at all times,” he said. “A lot of times it’s not going to be available. We were able to generate a breakaway with it tonight, as it was available through the middle with the McCann chance in the second period. But you know we always want to have at least one guy pushing for space and at certain times two. Even if that’s just a possession play to get us out of the zone and through the neutral zone.”
So, it’s not necessarily something that was new to Seattle’s game, but it worked more than usual on Thursday. We’re curious if we start to see more offense generated from plays like this moving forward.
Hey, Happy New Year, gang! Thanks for following along in 2021. It’s been quite the ride so far.
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.
by Darren Brown | Dec 30, 2021 | Gameday Coverage
Frankly, it was a strange night at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday. It was great to be back in the building after a long hiatus, but with the Philadelphia Flyers playing a lifeless first two periods against the Kraken, and Seattle only capitalizing with one power-play goal through 40 minutes, the crowd was uncharacteristically quiet.
Things picked up in the third after a disallowed goal for Seattle, but the Kraken were too kind in allowing Philadelphia to remain in a game that they mostly dominated. According to Natural Stat Trick, Seattle had a 10-2 advantage in high-danger shot attempts on the night and 68.29 percent of the expected goals. On nights like that… you should win.
Let’s take a look at the latest loss by the Kraken, this one of the disappointing 3-2 overtime variety at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Takeaway #1: Jeremy Lauzon scored… then he didn’t… then he did!
Jeremy Lauzon has now put the puck in the back of the net three times this season, yet he only has credit for one goal after officially scoring his first of the season on Wednesday night. Two other times, including once against the Flyers, he has had goals disallowed because of goalie interference.
With the score tied 1-1 at 5:57 of the third period, Lauzon let a shot go from the point that beat Martin Jones. The second it went in, we knew the Flyers would challenge for goalie interference, as there was certainly contact between Jaden Schwartz and Jones, and the Philadelphia netminder immediately protested.
After watching it a few times on his tablet, Flyers coach Mike Yeo indeed summoned the referee to his bench to indicate that he was challenging the Kraken goal. Replay showed that Schwartz made contact with Jones’ blocker a fraction of a second before the puck arrived, which was just enough reason to disallow the goal.
“It happened to me twice this year,” Lauzon said after the game. “It’s a little bit frustrating,”
Just 10 minutes later, Lauzon found the net again, and this time there was no question it would stick.
Adam Larsson, who had 22:38 of ice time despite just being cleared from COVID protocol on Wednesday morning, made a nice play to drive into the slot and draw defenders to him. He then dished to Lauzon who had snuck down to the top of the left circle. Lauzon ripped a snapshot right inside the near post to beat Jones again.
Said Lauzon, “I was happy the second one counted, but it’s hard to be happy when you lose a game.”
Takeaway #2: Giving up goals right after scoring really kills the vibe
Remember that miserable Kraken loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 6? In that one, Seattle held two-goal leads on two different occasions, but let the Coyotes score three straight and fell behind in the third period. Mark Giordano tied the score with just 1:18 left, but 13 seconds later, the Kraken turned it over and the Coyotes scored the game winner.
Remember that? Didn’t that suck?
Well, the Kraken pulled something similar against the Flyers. After Lauzon gave Seattle a lead with just 5:28 left in the game, it took James van Riemsdyk all of 15 seconds to level the score when he rifled the equalizer over Philipp Grubauer’s shoulder for his second of the night.
“We made a mistake,” coach Dave Hakstol said about the tying goal. “Our right defenseman should have been back to his post there. That allows the sword at the net front be much easier, but in reality that’s the only scoring chance we gave up all period.”
The right defenseman in this case was Jamie Oleksiak, who was also playing his first game since entering COVID protocol. If you watch the replay, he circles behind the net to the wrong side, then makes contact with his partner, Giordano, who gets crossed up about which guy to cover. It’s a miscommunication that happens in the blink of an eye, but that’s all it takes to lose track of a goal scorer in the NHL.
And yes, that’s the same JvR that the Flyers made available to the Kraken in the Expansion Draft, but we won’t go there.
There have been other instances this season when the Kraken have allowed goals in the seconds that followed a tally of their own. It’s one of those cardinal sins—along with goals against in the opening or closing minute of a period—that can have devastating consequences on the outcome of the game.
Takeaway #3: Kraken OT struggles continue against Flyers
The Kraken have now been to overtime four times this season, and they have come away with nothing more than a loser point on all four occasions. Three-on-three is a little bit of a crapshoot, and that’s what makes it so fun to watch. But there’s also a certain skillset needed for winning in overtime, and finishing ability is certainly key in that skillset.
It’s also not something that gets practiced extensively. Practice time is precious, and there are usually patterns or issues that coaches see in games that they want to clean up, so that is what they focus on in their typically short on-ice sessions.
“We haven’t had a lot of time there,” Hakstol said. “You know, tonight we gave up a breakaway. So there’s nothing hidden there. You can’t allow people to get in behind you. … Again, it’d be a good time for a timely save on that one, but ultimately we gave up a breakaway in overtime.”
To Philadelphia’s credit, it was a beautiful stretch pass through the neutral zone by Kevin Hayes to spring Ivan Provorov, who had gotten behind Marcus Johansson. Provorov then made a ridiculous move to fake Grubauer out of his jock.
Kraken back to work Thursday against Calgary Flames
The Kraken now go right back to work for their second of back-to-back games on Thursday, as the Calgary Flames come to town. The Flames got off to a… hot… start to the season, but things got derailed when essentially their entire organization got COVID a few weeks ago. Remarkably, they have not played a game since Dec. 11, and had lost four in row before getting shut down.
Even so, they remain in a playoff spot with a 15-7-6 record, a testament to how well they—and their goalie Jacob Markstrom—were playing in the early stages of the season.
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.
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