Photo Gallery – Kraken vs Blue Jackets – December 11th
All photos taken by Brian Liesse. Photos cannot be re-used without permission from Sound Of Hockey.
A memorable comeback ends in an OT loss for Kraken against Blue Jackets
Sports arenas are often loud, but rarely do attendees feel the need to check if their ears are bleeding from the din of the crowd. Soon after the Kraken tied Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Climate Pledge Arena hit a decibel level that we don’t believe had previously been achieved. Of course there have been some loud moments—the closing seconds of the win over Edmonton and Vince Dunn scoring the first-ever home Kraken goal come to mind—but this was otherworldly.
On Saturday, soon after Dunn buried Seattle’s third goal of the final period to erase a three-goal deficit, the game operations department dug into its little bag of tricks. Text appeared on the video boards, with the beginning of the Top Gun theme playing underneath. The board read, “There comes a time when winning and losing comes down to the fans. That time is now.”
Then, just as the electric guitar riff kicked into its chorus, a new message appeared, “Kraken Nation, just how loud can you get?” The crowd accepted the challenge and rose to a deafening volume.
That was not the first time the Top Gun bit had been used to stir the crowd, but it hadn’t had that kind of impact on its previous deployments.
Perhaps the reaction was an indication of pent-up energy after two dull home losses in a row. Or perhaps it was an indication that Kraken fans—despite the team’s struggles at times—are completely enamored by their home NHL franchise and wanted to show that affection yet again.
Here are our three takeaways from Saturday’s thrilling 5-4 overtime Kraken loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #1: Wheels came off the wagon in the second period
The second period has been a period of strength for the Kraken for most of the season. If they’re trailing after the first (pretty standard) or tied but struggling to find traction, they typically tilt the ice in their favor when the second frame begins.
After a good first period in which they dominated possession in the early going but failed to score, Seattle did also get a decent start to the second period on Saturday. But then two consecutive Columbus power plays—one off a questionable call on Alex True for poking at Elvis Merzlikins and getting physically abused for doing so—got things going for the Blue Jackets.
The Kraken actually killed both penalties in impressive fashion, but Seattle playing down a man for four minutes gave the Blue Jackets momentum.
Oliver Bjorkstrand broke through first with a snipe past Philipp Grubauer, and then it was like the floodgates were open for Columbus.
When the dust settled on the second period, the Kraken trailed 4-1 after Jack Roslovic scored second for the Blue Jackets and Max Domi then got two in a row.
It appeared that the game was over as the teams headed to the dressing room.
Takeaway #2: Wheels went back on the wagon in the third period
…But then, the game wasn’t over!
You gotta hand it to the boys. As a team, they have their deficiencies, but they are a resilient bunch. After a miserable power play outing against the Jets on Thursday, they got their first and only man advantage of the game Saturday at 2:28 of the third period when Gabriel Carlsson held Alex Wennberg. After failing to register a shot in four power play attempts against Winnipeg, they quickly converted in just one attempt against Columbus.
“That was the spark that we needed in the third period, and the group talked about it earlier [Saturday] in their power play meeting,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’d been on a good run for probably close to a month where we’d been on top of it and really efficient. The last couple games we haven’t been at our level, you know, a level that we expect out of ourselves. The guys took it upon themselves to make sure they were ready to impact the game tonight, and that was a great way for them to do it.”
The funny thing about the power-play goal was that Joonas Donskoi—who still has not scored a goal all season—took the shot and appeared to believe he would get credit. He even went through the fly-by line at the bench first, a spot typically reserved for the goal scorer. But replay showed the puck had glanced off of Jaden Schwartz’s pants. Poor Donskoi. He’ll score one day.
Regardless of who scored it, it was a big goal that got the ball rolling for the Kraken.
Just 22 seconds later, the Kraken brought themselves within one when Brandon Tanev found a streaking Morgan Geekie through a seam. Geekie picked his spot on Merzlikins and fired, and suddenly Seattle was right back in the game with 16 minutes left.
Things went back and forth for the next 11 minutes, but you could feel the tying goal coming. The building came alive in the third period in a way that we didn’t hear in the previous two games, and when Vince Dunn scored at 15:54, Climate Pledge Arena erupted.
After such a demoralizing second period, the third created some moments that will live on in our minds for quite a while. What a comeback by the boys.
Takeaway #3: Bean… pots… the overtime winner for Blue Jackets against Kraken
Three games have gone beyond regulation time for Seattle so far. One ended in a Kraken shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings, and now the other two have been overtime losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Three-on-three is not something the Kraken practice very often, and as we saw when it was first instituted in the NHL, it can take some time for teams to get really good at it. So it’s not surprising to see Seattle coming up short in these situations. Still, it’s disappointing to have such an incredible comeback end in bittersweet fashion.
Interestingly, it was former Tri-City American Jake Bean who got the game winner this time. Many expected Bean to be Seattle’s pick in the Expansion Draft from the Carolina Hurricanes, but general manager Ron Francis passed on Bean. He instead selected Geekie, who coincidentally also scored Saturday and also played in the WHL for the Tri-City Americans.
Soon after the Kraken Expansion Draft, the Hurricanes traded Bean to the Blue Jackets for a second-round draft pick, and Bean then signed a three-year deal with Columbus.
After the game, Bean was asked about not getting selected by Seattle. “To be honest, it was a pretty tough day for me and my family when I didn’t get taken,” he said. “But once I got to Columbus, it’s been all Columbus, and I haven’t really thought about it since.”
Fascinating. We’re happy for Bean but also disappointed that he found the game winner Saturday.
On the goal, Marcus Johansson was tracking Domi down into the corner. He seemed to forget where he was on the ice for a moment, and backed himself right into Grubauer’s line of sight. Bean used the unnecessary screen to his advantage and fired a missile inside the far post. That was all she wrote for the Kraken after a memorable comeback against the Blue Jackets.
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.
Yanni Gourde in COVID protocol as Kraken close homestand with Blue Jackets
Seattle Kraken (9-15-2) versus Columbus Blue Jackets (13-11-1)
7 p.m. Pacific time
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
TV: ROOT Sports
Radio: AM 950 KJR
Emails that start with the phrase, “Out of an abundance of caution,” typically bring bad news. The Kraken sent one of those messages around 9AM on Saturday, indicating that media availability would be held via Zoom for both morning skate and for post-game following the team’s matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The last time availability was held remotely was when the team was prepping to head to Vegas for its first game ever and five players had been placed in COVID protocol. So we figured some sort of COVID-related news was coming, even before morning skate on Saturday.
Thankfully, the news wasn’t quite as dramatic this time around, though Yanni Gourde—a key piece of this Seattle team—plus Riley Sheahan and assistant coach Jay Leach have joined Colin Blackwell in protocol. Former Seattle Thunderbird Alexander True was recalled from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and is expected to be in the lineup against the Blue Jackets for his Kraken debut.
Ironically, it was True who got recalled the first time Seattle went through this in October. He even did a press conference prior to the game against the Golden Knights, in which he talked about how excited he was to be playing. But then four of the five players in protocol were miraculously cleared in time for that game, and True ended up getting scratched. It seems unlikely that a late clearance from protocol will happen this time.
Chris Driedger returning from injured reserve
Our spidey senses were also tingling over the fact that Joey Daccord was not at morning skate on Saturday. Unlike the players that had entered COVID protocol, Daccord’s name remained on the official Kraken roster on the NHL Media website, while Chris Driedger was still noted as being on injured reserve. Still, there was clearly something happening on the goalie front as well.
Sure enough, coach Dave Hakstol later confirmed that Driedger has been activated and will serve as backup to Philipp Grubauer on Saturday, while Daccord is heading back to Charlotte.
Driedger had just started to show his abilities with back-to-back wins over Florida and Buffalo before landing on IR, so his return to the goalcrease in the near future will be a welcome one.
Can Kraken keep from falling into another rut?
The last two Kraken games have been cause for concern about what might happen over the next couple weeks for this team. Typically so resilient, Seattle didn’t show much pushback against either the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-1 drubbing on Monday or the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-0 loss on Thursday.
Sure, there were stretches in both games when Seattle had the better of the play, but without the opportunistic scoring we were seeing during the team’s recent 5-1-1 surge, you never had the feeling in either of those contests that the Kraken were going to come out on top.
According to Alex Wennberg, the sentiment amongst the team remains positive despite the last two disappointing performances.
“The vibe is good,” he said Saturday. “Obviously sometimes you play those games where we really aren’t happy with the result or the way we’re playing. I mean, this league, it’s— obviously you look at the game and see what you can do better, but there’s a new game coming up, there’s a new opponent.”
So, can the Kraken close out this homestand with a victory over the Blue Jackets and get back to surging, or will they go back into a losing streak?
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets are a beatable team for the Kraken, but earning a win will mean getting back to the defensive structure and timely scoring that they had been displaying for a bit. When these teams played each other back in October in Columbus, Grubauer had an outstanding game but didn’t get the offensive support he deserved. As a result, the Kraken fell 2-1 to the Blue Jackets that night in overtime.
That familiarity with opponents is still a luxury the Kraken haven’t gotten too many times. “It’s nice to have some firsthand knowledge of how a team plays and how their personnel are being used,” said Hakstol. “Columbus has been a very consistent team right from day one. They forecheck very well, they skate very well, and when you look at how active their D corps can be, they can create a lot in the offensive zone with some of their motion.”
Though the game Columbus brings is consistent, the CBJ’s have had a bad run of results lately, earning just one win in their last seven games. They lost their last game 2-1 in a shootout at home against the Ducks on Thursday and dropped all four games on their last road trip, which started this skid.
When the Kraken lost to the Blue Jackets in October, it was Patrik Laine who scored the game winner in overtime. The enigmatic sharpshooter is now on injured reserve, though, and will miss Saturday’s game.
Elvis Merzlikins is expected to start in goal for the Blue Jackets. He’s had a few tough outings of late but performed well against Anaheim on Thursday, stopping 25 of 26 shots, and on the season has a 2.80 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Gavin Bayreuther, selected from Columbus in Seattle’s July Expansion Draft, will be in the lineup for Columbus in place of injured defenseman Adam Boqvist. Bayreuther was chosen by the Kraken but did not sign and instead opted to return to the Blue Jackets.
Projected lineup
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.
A second-straight uninspiring Kraken loss, this one to Jets – Three Takeaways
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times… and then it started becoming the worst of times again. The Kraken broke out of a miserable six-game losing streak and followed it with an impressive 5-1-1 stretch in which they beat several elite teams from across the league. But since beating Edmonton at home on Dec. 3, the Kraken have lost two games at Climate Pledge Arena against the Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets by a combined score of 9-1.
There are two ways to look at Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Winnipeg. One way—probably the less realistic of the options—is that it was a step in the right direction after Pittsburgh spanked Seattle 6-1 on Monday. The other way is that the Kraken still didn’t look like they were anywhere close against the Jets.
In comparing Thursday’s loss to Monday’s loss, coach Dave Hakstol said, “This was a different world than that, and we already talked about that. That performance is left behind. We had a bad night [Monday], and we know that. Tonight, we were competitive.”
So, Hakstol is taking the more optimistic approach, but we’re choosing the more pessimistic route to describing this one. Because although Seattle was within spitting distance on the scoreboard for two thirds of the game, it just never had that feel like the Kraken were destined to come out on top. That’s probably because Connor Hellebuyck was rarely under duress en route to pitching the first shutout in the history of Climate Pledge Arena, a sign that there just wasn’t enough happening offensively for the Kraken on this night.
Here are our three pessimistic takeaways from Thursday’s 3-0 Kraken loss to the Jets.
Takeaway #1: Slow starts are officially back
One day the Kraken will be a fast-starting team, we swear. But so far, that has not been the case for this fledgling Seattle club, which—stop us if you’ve heard this one before—once again fell behind fewer than six minutes into the game against Winnipeg.
Carson Soucy tried to make a little backwards pass to Ryan Donato to escape the corner behind Philipp Grubauer. With a good stick, Paul Stastny picked it off, found Dominic Toninato in the slot, and the 27-year-old grinder fired a perfect shot just inside the post for his third goal of the season.
Bing, bang, boom, the Kraken found themselves chasing yet again.
“I didn’t think we had a great start to be honest,” captain Mark Giordano said after his first game since returning from COVID protocol. “I thought we were a little tentative out there, sitting and watching a bit, but as the period went on we definitely got going, generated more.
“When you’re playing that team, and I’ve played them a lot in my career, it’s the same story every time. You’ve got to win battles on the wall.”
The Jets are certainly not the first team to open the scoring against the Kraken. Seattle has conceded the first tally to opponents 17 times in 26 games. This latest example stings a bit more on the heels of giving up three goals in the first six minutes against the Penguins on Monday.
We’ve said it ad nauseam, but you simply can’t be chasing every night in the NHL and expect to win games. The Kraken looked like they had resolved this problem during their hot streak, but it reared its ugly head against the Penguins and Jets.
Takeaway #2: Are power play struggles also back?
There was a period of time when one of the narratives we were hearing every night was about the Kraken struggling on the power play. Starting against the Golden Knights on Nov. 9, when the Seattle man advantage collectively got off the schneid, the group appeared to have figured out this piece of its game and quickly ascended from 32nd in the league to 23rd in this category.
But the power play units took a step back on Thursday, registering zero shots on goal on their first three full opportunities. It wasn’t until their fifth and final power play of the night that the Kraken got two shots through to the Jets net, both of which were calmly corralled by Hellebuyck, who looked a bit too comfortable throughout.
Adding a bit of salt in that wound, Winnipeg has the second-worst penalty kill in the NHL and even after a perfect night has held opposing power play units off the scoreboard just 62.5 percent of the time. Perhaps the Jets were desperate to improve in that area?
“Number one, they did a hell of a job,” said Hakstol of Winnipeg’s penalty killers. “I thought they were on it, and their PK— their pressure was very good. So usually that comes back to puck retrievals, finding a quick outlet, and then puck speed. That’s my guess at what we’ll find when we take a look at it [on Friday].”
Let’s hope this truly is more about Winnipeg having a great game in this area than it is about Seattle losing its power play mojo.
Takeaway #3: Three bad defensive plays doom Kraken against Jets
During the Kraken’s recent positive run, we determined that their winning formula is sturdy goaltending, good structure in the neutral and defensive zones, and opportunistic scoring. Only one of those three boxes was ticked on Thursday, with Grubauer having a good—not outstanding, but good—game against Winnipeg.
He allowed three goals, but all three came off of high-danger chances that were the direct results of bad defensive plays in front of him. Frankly, he held the Kraken in through two periods, giving them more than enough time to get level with the Jets, and made several stellar saves in the process. But his mates did not reward Grubauer for responding well after a miserable night Monday.
We already talked about the Soucy turnover to Stastny, which led to the Toninato goal in the opening minutes.
The second goal was completely bogus, after Jaden Schwartz was clipped by a Blake Wheeler high stick and also tripped in the neutral zone seconds before Winnipeg scored. Still the defense on the ensuing two-on-three rush after the non-call was horrendous.
Vince Dunn, playing the left side, for some reason crossed over to the right and chased the puck carrier, Mark Scheifele. Adam Larsson almost looked surprised to be swapping with his partner, and was slow to react. Calle Jarnkrok, meanwhile, did nothing as the closest backchecker to Kyle Connor, coasting into the defensive zone and just watching the goal happen.
If that goal felt familiar, it’s because the Chicago Blackhawks scored an almost carbon-copy goal on Nov. 17, when Dunn again chased the wrong guy and left Patrick Kane alone.
We called it out after the Chicago game, but we might as well remind you that Dunn has spent a lot of this season playing the right side, despite being a left-shot defenseman. It makes a lot of sense for him to be back on his strong side with right-shot Larsson, but we wonder if the switching for the relatively young defenseman has had any adverse effects on him.
And hey, let’s not forget the third goal, when Mason Appleton turned it over in front of the Kraken bench to Scheifele, who sent Connor in for his second of the game and 17th of the season.
It was another uninspiring game by the Kraken on Thursday against the Jets, their second such effort in a row. They canceled Friday’s practice and will go back to work against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
With Giordano returning, can Kraken get back on track against Jets?
Seattle Kraken versus Winnipeg Jets
7 p.m. Pacific time
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington
TV: ROOT Sports
Radio: AM 950 KJR
Things spiraled out of control quickly for the Kraken on Monday against the Penguins. Five minutes into the game, Philipp Grubauer had been pulled, and Seattle trailed 3-0. It goes without saying that the Kraken will collectively look for a better start against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, as they hope to get back in the win column after such a successful streak of play evaporated with that ugly 6-1 loss.
Monday’s game represented the second time this season that Grubauer has been pulled from a game, with the first coming against the Philadelphia Flyers back on Oct. 18. In his next game after the first early hook, Seattle’s home opener against the Canucks, Grubauer was ok but gave up three goals on 25 shots, including the game winner right between the wickets.
He had been on a pretty good run before the Pittsburgh game, with his season stats quickly improving, but that game on Monday was a definite step in the wrong direction. Some goalies are excellent at bouncing back after a game like Monday’s, and some stay rattled for a while. Let’s see how Grubauer responds Thursday for the Kraken against the Jets.
Colin Blackwell enters COVID protocol, as Mark Giordano returns
News broke Wednesday that Colin Blackwell had entered COVID protocol. The revelation from coach Dave Hakstol came just one day after captain Mark Giordano returned to the ice for the first time since testing positive for the virus on Nov. 26.
Giordano’s positive test came after he had traveled with the team to Tampa for its game against the Lightning, so he was forced to stay there and quarantine in a hotel. He said on Tuesday that he did not get terribly sick but had some congestion and lost his sense of taste. His minimal symptoms were in contrast to teammate Jared McCann, who shared after his own stint on the COVID list at the beginning of November that he had been hit hard and needed time to build his stamina back up.
Hopefully this means that Giordano will be able to hit the ground running, as he is expected to return to the lineup on Thursday.
Calle Jarnkrok has also been out with injury since Seattle’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 24. He’s been removed from injured reserve, according to the NHL Media website, but Hakstol would not confirm if he would be in the lineup Thursday. Call it a hunch, but we think Jarnkrok will be in for the Kraken against the Jets.
Blackwell, by the way, scored a beautiful goal against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday but only got 7:28 of ice time and was scratched against Pittsburgh.
Winnipeg Jets
It’s been a strange season so far for the Winnipeg Jets, who have had some serious ups and downs en route to their current position in fifth place in the Central Division.
Off the ice, their general manager, Kevin Cheveldayoff, was wrapped up in the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual abuse cover-up scandal but was ultimately let off the hook.
On the ice, Winnipeg took standings points in 13 out of 14 games between Oct. 19 and Nov. 18 but then lost five of their next six in a dismal stretch of hockey where they struggled to score goals. They’ve since (sort of) gotten things back on the rails and got a big win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday but followed that up with a 4-2 home loss to the Hurricanes on Tuesday.
The old guard of Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele remains present and accounted for, though Wheeler has not yet scored a goal this season. He does have 13 assists in 20 games played, while Scheifele has six goals and nine assists in 19 games. Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers have been excellent for the Jets, though, and have racked up 27 and 17 points respectively.
Also contributing regularly is Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was the central figure in the chaos of the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. After butting heads and being benched by John Tortorella, he requested and was eventually granted a trade to the Jets, who sent Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic the other way. PLD had a tough start to his tenure in Manitoba, but has shown well in the opening stages of this season, notching 13 goals and 10 assists in 25 games. He will be a key component of this group for many years to come.
Projected lineup
Photo Gallery – Kraken vs Penguins – December 6
All photos are property of Sound Of Hockey and cannot be re-used. All photos taken by Brian Liesse.
