We start this Three Takeaways from an ugly 6-1 Kraken loss to the Penguins with a personal anecdote [activates first-person mode].
Folks, this one is all my fault. When I woke up on Monday morning, I was not feeling it. In full 2020 fashion, I partially got dressed in a semi-presentable shirt for the Zoom calls that were on my calendar and coupled the shirt with my worst pair of gym shorts. I then grabbed the first two socks I found on top of the pile of clean clothes that I had not yet folded and made no attempt to match the socks. I added brown leather slippers to make sure my toes remained nice and warm, and trust me, the completed ensemble was a look.
When it was time to make myself more presentable for the game on Monday evening, I dug deeper into the pile of clothes to find two matching socks, which was no easy task. Frustrated after pulling six singletons in a row, I realized that one of the lot matched one of the two socks I was already wearing. So I pulled that sock on to complete the pair and looked down with pride to have found a set. That’s when it hit me that the matching socks I was now wearing were covered in little cartoon penguins. Upon realizing my mistake, I quickly changed to crab socks, but I knew the damage was done.
My wife was standing right by me at the time. “Uh oh, I just put on penguin socks. That feels like a bad omen for the Kraken,” I said to her. She agreed.
Donning my replacement crab socks, I made my way to Climate Pledge Arena. On arrival in the media room there, my jaw almost hit the floor when I saw what the team was serving for its media meal… I kid you not; it was crab.
The crab was delicious and a nice surprise, but still, this was proof positive that I had already doomed the Kraken with my initial sock screw-up. So, I was not surprised when the Kraken came out flat and quickly fell behind 3-0 to the Penguins in what would prove to be one of Seattle’s worst games to date [de-activates first-person mode].
Takeaway #1: Slow starts are apparently *not* a thing of the past
Aside from the sock fiasco, we’re pretty sure the Kraken were actively trying to make us look bad Monday, because in our Three Takeaways story following the Edmonton win on Friday, Takeaway #2 had the following heading:
“Are slow starts becoming a thing of the past?”
By 5:07 of the first period on Monday, the Kraken trailed the Penguins 3-0 and had Joey Daccord in net after Philipp Grubauer was yanked. Grubauer exited after giving up three goals on four shots. That’s certainly not the start Seattle was seeking, so we would say that no, slow starts are not yet a thing of the past.
“It was just a matter of details,” Jamie Oleksiak said. “I don’t think we were necessarily ready to go off the hop and this is a team we were playing against that’s gonna get chances and they’re going to take advantage of that. Just speaking personally… I need to have a better start there.”
Adding some context, Oleksiak had a bit of a double-whammy miscue on Sidney Crosby’s goal. Jake Guentzel shot from the point, and it deflected off Oleksiak just in front of Grubauer and went through the netminder’s legs. Oleksiak then had a chance to sweep it away, but partially whiffed, giving Crosby enough time to find the loose puck and put it away.
It was one of those nights for Grubauer, who really had been good of late, but just didn’t have it in the early going on Monday. The first goal was a bizarre carom off his stick, as he tried to deflect a Jeff Carter pass away. The next one was off that Oleksiak deflection, and the third was a knuckle puck that he seemed to just misread.
“We gave up three on the first four shots, and that’s indicative of the start of our team,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We weren’t sharp to start the hockey game, so it’s disappointing to come off of arguably our most complete performance a couple nights ago. It’s disappointing to come out with that type of a start tonight.”
It was the right call by Hakstol to recognize in that moment that it wasn’t going to be Grubauer’s night and make a swift move. Daccord’s entrance did settle things down for a while, and he performed well in relief.
Takeaway #2: A good second period derailed late by odd-man rushes
The typically resilient Kraken did get themselves back into this game against the Penguins, at least for a stretch. Jaden Schwartz, fresh off an injury, got tripped coming over the offensive blue line but maintained control. He passed to Alex Wennberg, who found Jordan Eberle—also fresh off an injury—for an easy tap in. The goal came at 3:43 of the second, and suddenly Seattle was back in business, now trailing by only two.
Just 30 seconds later, the Kraken went on their first power play when Mike Matheson high sticked Yanni Gourde. The Penguins had the best look of the two-minute manpower advantage, though, when a pass missed the mark at the blue line, and Ryan Donato hesitated on whether or not to touch it with his team clearly offside. The result was a clear-cut breakaway in the wrong direction, as Teddy Blueger raced in all alone. Daccord made a huge save, and in that moment, we at SOH thought the Kraken were about to turn the game.
But the next one didn’t come for Seattle, as we thought it would, despite plenty of pressure in the second.
Instead, Guentzel stayed hot and rifled home an Evan Rodrigues pass off a two-on-one at 18:31. Then at 18:54, Carter one-handed a rebound off another odd-man rush. Daccord stopped the first shot by Kris Letang, but the puck deflected off Oleksiak again and over Daccord, who was scrambling to get back in position.
Just like that, the game shifted from Seattle fighting its way back in to trailing 5-1 as it headed for the dressing room after the second.
“I thought after the first 10 minutes we started to push the pace,” Eberle said. “We went into the period obviously down but feeling like we were still in the game. We found one in the second period and had a chance to make it 3-2, and then we get sloppy on a couple of breakdowns, they go down two-on-one, and we hang the goalie out to dry and the game’s over.”
Takeaway #3: The passing was just too cute at times
With the Kraken trailing by three goals early in the first, Vince Dunn got a pass behind the Kraken goal line from his partner and tapped a breakout pass between his own legs. It worked, as Seattle got out of the zone, but it seemed flashier than it needed to be. In the second period Yanni Gourde passed backward to Daccord with decent pace, something that you don’t see often. Thankfully, Daccord was paying attention and received the pass, but the play sent an uncomfortable groan through the crowd. Again, it worked out fine, but… it was odd.
What didn’t work out was ostentatious passing as part of Seattle’s offensive attack, with the exception of the play that ended up in the back of Pittsburgh’s net.
One moment that jumps to mind is when Eberle caught a pass in the slot during the second period, but rather than shooting, he one-touched it between his own legs to the point. Another came off a rush, when Brandon Tanev made a great cross-ice pass to Morgan Geekie. Geekie could have shot anywhere on Casey DeSmith, but he instead made one more pass to Jared McCann at the netmouth. DeSmith read it like a book and threw his stick out, breaking up the play.
Big time scoring chance for the Geekie line but DeSmith – who is so active with his stick – breaks up the play. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/4HxRf8bN7u
On one hand, it was a brilliant read by DeSmith, who came into this game winless on the year. On the other hand, it was Seattle’s game in a nutshell, a night filled with missed passes, turnovers, and bad bounces.
Give Pittsburgh credit. The Penguins came in ready from the jump, and gave the Kraken nothing back when they got ahead. Sometimes when it looks like pucks are bouncing off sticks, the opposition is making that happen, and the Penguins made that happen a lot on Monday.
Seattle now has two days to practice before welcoming the Winnipeg Jets to Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday. It will try to put this one in the rearview and start up another positive stretch.
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.
Seattle Kraken versus Pittsburgh Penguins 7 p.m. Pacific time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports Radio: AM 950 KJR
The Kraken have been rolling lately, earning points in six of their last seven games and posting a 5-1-1 record in that stretch since snapping their six-game losing streak. Perhaps the most impressive win of this run of success came on Friday at home against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Edmonton Oilers on a night when Seattle did just about everything right, despite having several key players out. On Monday, the Kraken welcome yet another elite foe to Climate Pledge Arena, as they take on Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Injury woes subsiding for Kraken versus Penguins?
Seattle has had several players out of the lineup these last couple games, including top scorers Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle, two-way forward Calle Jarnkrok, captain Mark Giordano, and goalie Chris Driedger. Schwartz, Eberle, and Jarnkrok all practiced with the team on Sunday. Eberle was a full participant and skated on a regular line, while Schwartz and Jarnkrok took rushes on a line with likely scratch Kole Lind. That pair then stayed on the ice but did not take part in drills that were likely to lead to contact.
From our vantage point, it appeared that Eberle was ready to go, while Schwartz and Jarnkrok needed more time. However, all three skated on regular lines at morning skate Monday, and coach Dave Hakstol called all three “game-time decisions.”
As of the writing of this story, Jarnkrok is still officially listed on injured reserve on the NHL Media site, and Lind is still on the active roster, meaning he has not been assigned back to Charlotte. We think Lind will go back once all the other players are ready, so him still being around could be telling. UPDATE: Schwartz and Eberle took part in warm-ups. Jarnkrok did not and is still listed on injure reserve, according to the NHL Media website.
While the “next man up” mentality has worked to perfection, getting any of those players back would be a huge boost to the club and would make the Kraken lineup deeper than it has been over the past week.
Oh, in case you’ve been wondering, Giordano was still in Covid protocol as of Sunday. Hakstol confirmed that he was still in Florida, as he hadn’t yet been allowed to travel back to Seattle.
“Revenge game” narrative lives on
Two central characters for the Kraken—Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev—spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both have been significant contributors for Seattle in the first two months of the season, with Tanev growing into a cult hero around the Pacific Northwest and McCann already approaching his career high in goals.
With McCann destined to be exposed by the Penguins, he was traded to Toronto in the days before the Expansion Draft for Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick. Seattle snagged McCann from the Maple Leafs and Tanev from Pittsburgh, so in a way, the Penguins lost two current players as opposed to one. They got a bit of compensation, but if the return for McCann doesn’t yield anything down the road, then they may have galaxy brained that one.
Eberle was asked Sunday if the “revenge game” scenario is something the players talk about, and he confirmed that it is, adding that seeing success against one’s old team—like Adam Larsson had against Edmonton on Friday—also builds camaraderie in the locker room.
McCann was then asked more specifically about the Penguins, and he said, “They didn’t want me. That’s the way I look at it.” He later added that he does not harbor any hard feelings toward the organization and understands that it’s a business, but still, those are some strong words.
Let’s see what kind of impact McCann and Tanev can have against their old mates on Monday.
Pittsburgh Penguins
It’s been an odd start to the season for Pittsburgh, which began without either of its superstars in Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Sid returned from a wrist injury on Oct. 30 and has since notched three goals and eight assists in 12 games. Malkin is still rehabbing from knee surgery and was skating in a non-contact jersey on Monday morning, so he is still out.
Despite the absences, the Pens started with points in each of their first five games, but have been up and down ever since, with two three-game losing streaks and a five-game winning streak mixed in. They won 4-1 Saturday in Vancouver on a night when Crosby scored once and Jake Guentzel potted a hat trick.
Guentzel has been on fire. He has points in each of his last 12 games and has 13 goals and 11 assists on the season, pushing him just above a point-per-game pace. He leads Pittsburgh in goals and points, and was just named the NHL’s third star of the week with five tallies in three games.
Against Edmonton on Friday, the Kraken benefitted from facing third-string goalie Stuart Skinner. On Monday, Pittsburgh backup Casey DeSmith is expected to be in net, which could also be a boon for Seattle. In a small sample size, DeSmith has had a tough go so far this season, posting a 0-3-1 record with a 4.32 goals against average and .867 save percentage.
Projected lineup
With three players considered “game-time decisions,” and Schwartz going so far as to say he’ll see how he feels in warm-ups, this is a bit of a crapshoot. However, this is how the Kraken lined up in morning skate, so this is our guess at how the Kraken will look against the Penguins. We will update this during warm-ups. UPDATE: Jarnkrok remains out. Eberle and Schwartz appear to be in, as does Will Borgen in place of Haydn Fleury.
Call it a hunch, but sometimes you just have a feeling that things are going to play out the way you want. We had that feeling on Friday morning after the Kraken skated at Climate Pledge Arena in preparation for their game against the electric Edmonton Oilers.
From the active roster, only Carson Soucy addressed the media after the team’s skate, but he was noticeably more jovial and upbeat than we saw from players before they snapped their painful six-game skid on Nov. 21. Winning has that effect on teams, from the players to the coaches to the media covering them to the fans watching them. Everyone involved gets a mood lift when the pendulum swings back the other way, and that is exactly what has happened for Seattle over these past two weeks.
On paper, this was always going to be a tough one. Seattle is still without its top two scorers in Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz and entered the game trailing Edmonton in the standings by a whopping 14 points. So there was some concern that our morning hunch would prove to be dead wrong and that the Oilers could come in and steamroll the Kraken. After all, they did just that when these two teams met for the first time at the beginning of November.
But this is a different Seattle team now, one that has found a winning formula over this 5-1-1 stretch and has stuck to it, regardless of who is in the lineup and regardless of the opponent. Sure enough, the Kraken put together arguably their most complete game of the season on Friday and took down one of the best offensive teams in the NHL.
Here are our three takeaways from a thrilling… and we mean thrilling 4-3 home Kraken victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Takeaway #1: Kraken had everyone contributing to beat Oilers
In the past week and change, the following statements were true at some point:
About 13 minutes into the second period, Sheahan picked off a Zack Kassian pass just outside the Edmonton blue line and quickly turned it back up to Lind who was exiting the zone. Blackwell was heading in the right direction, so Lind made a little touch pass to his linemate. With a head of steam already built up, Blackwell sprinted in, split the defense like he was Connor McDavid, waited out netminder Stuart Skinner, and threw a backhander upstairs for his second goal as a Kraken.
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a highlight-reel goal by a guy who was scratched against Florida and Buffalo, assisted by a guy who was in the AHL as of Tuesday, and another guy who was in the AHL as of last Friday, all of whom were teamed up in a fourth-line role. That is some depth scoring.
Now, we move onto a separate subject, but we promise it’s related. Adam Larsson took a defensive-zone penalty with 91 seconds left, when he accidentally caught Leon Draisaitl up high with the shaft of his stick. The penalty came after an absurd icing call, so perhaps that penalty shouldn’t have happened, but that’s neither here nor there. With Skinner pulled, the Oilers had a terrifying six-on-four advantage. The Kraken were doing everything they could to hold McDavid and Draisaitl at bay, and in the last minute, who comes over the boards? Lauzon and Sheahan.
That personnel decision was also made with Draisaitl and McDavid on the ice together—as they were for practically the entire third period—doing everything they could to find an equalizer. But the equalizer never came, because the unsung guys stepped up and contributed. Everyone played a part in Friday’s win, and that is what can make winning a sustainable endeavor for this still very new club.
“Nobody cares who’s out of the lineup. Nobody cares who’s in the lineup or what the injuries are,” Hakstol said. “Whoever’s in the lineup on any given night has to go out and has to provide something that helps their team win. Probably the biggest factor tonight was that we had contributions from everybody in the lineup, big or small.”
Takeaway #2: Are slow starts becoming a thing of the past?
There was a time when the Kraken were almost always chasing games. If they didn’t give up a goal on the first or second shot of the game, they’d let the first period drift past, spending the whole frame defending and eventually conceding the first goal. With only a handful of exceptions, it didn’t matter the opponent, that was just how it was working out almost every night.
Against Buffalo, the Kraken scored three goals in the first period and took a 3-0 lead to the dressing room. Against Florida, Eberle scored 2:22 into the game, and the first period eventually ended with Seattle leading 2-1. Heck, even against Detroit, in which the score was officially 0-0 after 20 minutes, the Kraken scored first, but it was disallowed due to incidental contact with the goalie.
On Friday, the Kraken buzzed Skinner from the opening face-off with a couple chances. Then Ryan Donato carried a puck into the offensive zone on a three-on-two rush with linemates Joonas Donskoi and Yanni Gourde. Donato put a cross-ice pass right in Gourde’s wheelhouse, and Gourde blasted away, beating Skinner at 49 seconds.
“Every time you can start with a one-goal lead, you take it,” Gourde said with a smirk. “You know they have a tremendous team. They are so talented, so good, so you got to respect their skill. So getting the first one was a little bit of a relief.”
It was absolutely the best opening ten minutes we’ve seen at home from this team, yet another sign that things are continuing to trend up for the Kraken.
Takeaway #3: The Kraken are showing they can beat anybody
What’s most impressive about the Kraken racking up points in six of their last seven games is that most of the wins have come against elite teams like the Oilers. There couldn’t have been too many folks in the hockey world that expected Seattle to come out on top Friday, especially considering the injuries the team was dealing with.
The formula Seattle is using works against any team, though, no matter the caliber. It’s fast starts, opportunistic scoring, sound defensive structure with relentless shot blocking, and stout goaltending. With Philipp Grubauer stopping 29 shots, those boxes were all ticked again, and the result was a victory against a team that features two of the world’s best players.
The way the Kraken managed Oilers superstars McDavid and Draisaitl was also impressive. Sure, Draisaitl got an easy goal in the first period, after a beautiful passing play that showed why Edmonton has the league’s best power play. And yes, McDavid deflected a shot through Grubauer in the third period that brought the Oilers back to within one. But the dynamic duo did not own the game the way they did in Edmonton on Nov. 1.
“Those two superstars are going to get their chances,” Larsson said after defeating his old team. “You just have to limit how many, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”
Larsson, by the way, spent five seasons defending against those two players in practices, so he knows them well. “Obviously, Connor can make you look stupid one-on-one,” he said. “You need to have support, and you need to have help, and I thought today it was a five-man effort when they were out there, and that’s what you have to do.”
Taking stock, that’s Kraken wins against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, and the Hurricanes, the previously undefeated-at-home Panthers, and now Draisaitl, McDavid, and the Oilers.
That’s something, folks. If the Kraken keep playing like this, they could start climbing the Pacific Division standings very soon.
Bonus takeaway: Paul McFarland is a hockey guy
Kraken assistant coach Paul McFarland took an errant clearing attempt by William Lagesson right off the noggin during the first period. We could tell even from far up above that it had done some damage after he got attention from the team’s medical staff. Replay confirmed that it did, in fact, do some damage.
After the game, Hakstol joked, “You know, the NHL Network was just on our TV, and he wasn’t mentioned as first star. He didn’t flinch, didn’t leave the bench, didn’t miss a shift. He’s probably concussed, I don’t know.” He then added, “I’m actually glad that one hit him, because I didn’t see it.”
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.
Seattle Kraken versus Edmonton Oilers 7 p.m. Pacific time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports Radio: AM 950 KJR
If you haven’t had this game circled since the Kraken schedule was released over the summer, then what have you even been doing?! We at Sound Of Hockey cannot WAIT to see the best player in the world take Climate Pledge Arena ice for the first time on Friday, and lest you forget, it’s also Dave Tippett revenge night. We’re not sure what he’s getting revenge for, since he willingly left NHL Seattle to become head coach of a team with multiple elite players, but it’s a revenge game nonetheless. Ladies and gentlemen, the high-flying Edmonton Oilers are in town to take on your Seattle Kraken.
Kraken still face injury adversity
Prior to Seattle’s shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday, news broke that the Kraken were suddenly dealing with some pretty serious injury woes. Top scorers Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz, plus Will Borgen and Chris Driedger, were suddenly unavailable, joining Calle Jarnkrok and Mark Giordano on the shelf. Jarnkrok has been out since the third period in the Carolina game and Giordano has been in COVID protocol since just before the Tampa Bay game on Friday.
For Friday’s game against the Oilers, the Kraken face similar challenges, as only Borgen is available out of that group. Schwartz, Eberle, and Jarnkrok are day to day, while Driedger is on injured reserve. Interestingly, coach Dave Hakstol wouldn’t commit to Borgen being included in the lineup and indicated that things will look similar to last game. So we’re *guessing* that means Borgen will sit, while Jeremy Lauzon, Carson Soucy, and Haydn Fleury will all play.
Plenty to get excited for in this one
The narrative around the first game back after a road trip has always been that teams tend to have a letdown in that situation. We’re hopeful the Kraken can buck this supposed trend on Friday, as there are just too many reasons to get up for this game.
First, Seattle has had a good stretch lately and on Wednesday showed that this group can deal with the adversity of losing multiple key players to injury and illness at the same time. So why wouldn’t the players do everything in their power to build on that momentum?
Second, this is a measuring stick game in every sense of the word. The Oilers are a high-octane, thrilling team, and Seattle has no choice but to be on top of its game if it wants to have a chance to win in front of the home fans.
“If you’re mentally ready to play, and we had a good morning skate today, you just gotta treat it like any other game,” Soucy said Friday. “It doesn’t matter if we’re coming back from a road trip or not, we’re still on home ice. We gotta come out ready to play.”
Former NHL Seattle employee Dave Tippett back in town
On Friday morning, he raved about what an incredible job the Seattle organization has done in making everything a reality and how great Climate Pledge Arena turned out. He also mentioned that it was interesting seeing things like the long loading dock tunnel, with its entrance a block from the arena, and the twin scoreboards brought to life. Those items were apparently hot topics during his time with the fledgling franchise, back when the arena existed only in blueprints and concepts.
There will be a couple other semi-homecomings Friday, as Spokane’s Derek Ryan and Kailer Yamamoto are expected to be in the lineup for the Oilers. SOH’s Andy Eide asked Ryan on Friday if he recalls playing in the old Key Arena during his WHL days, and he joked, “Well, you’re dating me a bit there.” Ryan is ALSO a friend of the pod, by the way.
The Oilers have dropped to second place in the Pacific Division behind the Calgary Flames, though Edmonton has two games in hand on Calgary. At 16-5-0, it has been a great start to the season for Tippett’s squad, which appears to finally be putting everything together.
Edmonton is third in the NHL with 3.81 goals per game and has the league’s best power play, which clicks at a whopping 35.9 percent. McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have predictably produced a good chunk of the team’s scoring punch with 40 and 41 points respectively through 21 games, so the Kraken might want to keep an eye on those two.
23-year-old Stuart Skinner will make his seventh career start in net for the Oilers.
The Oilers got the better of the Kraken the first time these two teams faced one another, back on Nov. 1 in Edmonton, with a 5-2 win. McDavid was everywhere that night and Draisaitl had four points.
Projected lineup
Line rushes were short-lived at morning skate on Friday, and guys were swapping in and out, so we’re going off of Hakstol’s statement that things will look a lot like last game here.
Earlier this season, we heard Seattle Kraken players say—after several of their hard-fought regulation losses—that good teams find ways to get points out of tight games. On Wednesday, the Kraken did do just that, even as they fell behind the Detroit Red Wings in the third period. The outcome was a 4-3 shootout loss but pushing the game to overtime gave Seattle a point in the standings and five of a possible eight from the four-game road trip.
For some reason, five points and a 2-1-1 record feels a lot better than four points and a 2-2-0 record, doesn’t it? A regulation loss in Detroit sends the Kraken home with a very “bleh” sentiment, but figuring out a way to get a point on a night where the injury bug had just struck the team in a big way is another confidence booster.
Here are our three takeaways from Wednesday’s 4-3 Kraken shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Takeaway #1: “He’d like to have that one back”
Every time a goalie gives up a goal that maybe shouldn’t have gone in, the broadcasters say something along the lines of, “Oh, he’d like to have that one back.” 17 minutes into the first period Wednesday, 19-year-old phenom Lucas Raymond, off a rush, fired a shot from just above the goal line. Philipp Grubauer was a fraction of a second late in getting back to his post, and the puck caromed off him and went in.
Play-by-play announcer John Forslund indicated that Grubauer would, in fact, like to have that one back.
For as much as you’ve heard that watching hockey over the years, how many times has the goalie then actually gotten it back? It can’t be many, but that happened on Wednesday. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol challenged for offside and won, negating what looked like an unfortunate goal for Grubauer.
Hakstol credited friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and Kraken video coach Tim Ohashi, along with video analyst Brady Morgan, for initiating the challenge. We promised Tim during that podcast interview that we would keep track of this stat for him, so he’s now 1-0 on the season in video challenges.
Coincidentally, the Kraken also had a goal disallowed earlier in the period when Mason Appleton ran into Thomas Greiss just before a Jeremy Lauzon shot from the point. The argument could be made that Appleton was pushed into the Detroit netminder, and even if he hadn’t been, Greiss still had time to recover. But that’s neither here nor there, since the call was made and upheld.
Takeaway #2: Ryan Donato was hurt… and then he wasn’t!
In the second period, Ryan Donato blocked a shot off the top of his left foot and limped down the tunnel in pain. Kraken faithful felt an overwhelming here-we-go-again vibe, as it briefly appeared Donato would join Calle Jarnkrok, Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Chris Driedger, Will Borgen, and Mark Giordano in the Kraken’s injury and illness ward.
Not only did Donato get right back out there, but he scored immediately, his first of two goals on the night. The Red Wings had two comical errors in a row in their defensive end, and the puck wound up on Joonas Donskoi’s stick at the right hash. He dished to Yanni Gourde, who then made a beautiful fake and pass to Donato. Donato dusted it off and calmly deposited it into a yawning cage.
The fact Donskoi does not have a goal this season is absurd. He has been so good.
That gave Seattle a 2-1 lead, but the Kraken later found themselves trailing after a late second-period goal by Vladislav Namestnikov and a Raymond goal—this one actually counted—6:30 into the third.
With Seattle now behind, Donato, sore foot and all, followed Jamie Oleksiak on a rush into Detroit’s zone. Oleksiak lost the handle on the puck, but it dribbled right to Donato, who wasted no time in firing a perfect shot into the top corner to beat Greiss for the second time.
Takeaway #3: Next guy up, indeed
Injuries happen in hockey. It’s just part of the gig, and every NHL team deals with them every single year. Teams that have the depth to manage through times when several injuries happen at once are the ones that sustain success throughout the season. It’s a one-game sample size of the Kraken having a whole host of players on the shelf simultaneously, but still, that was a gutsy effort by the boys.
Eberle and Schwartz are the top two point producers for the Kraken so far this season, while Giordano is the captain, a top-pair defenseman, and a power play quarterback. Having those players all out at once is certainly less than ideal, but the Kraken rose to the occasion Wednesday.
As Gourde said after the game, “Next guy up, next guy up, let’s go!” Indeed, Yanni. Indeed.
While it’s great to see guys like Donato step up and help the team find points, Seattle needs its biggest guns healthy. Here’s hoping they’ll get some reinforcements before Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the high-octane Edmonton Oilers roll into town on Friday.
Missing several key players, the Seattle Kraken got a late third period goal from Ryan Donato to earn a point in the standings as they dropped a 4-3 shootout to the Detroit Red Wings and Little Caesars Arena Wednesday.
Seattle was without leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, Mark Giordano, Calle Jarnkrok, Will Borgen and goalie Chris Driedger. The Kraken (8-13-2) needed a total team effort Wednesday and got two goals from Donato and 23 saves from Philipp Grubauer.
Thomas Greiss turned away 21 shots for Detroit (11-9-3) and the Red Wings got goals from Robby Fabbri, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Lucas Raymond while Moritz Seider and Dylan Larkin each chipped in with a pair of assists.
The Kraken end their four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 record and earn points in the last three.
“Every point is massive,” Yanni Gourde said. “Every point is very important. So, it is a big point, but we got to be a little bit better, but we battled tonight. We definitely battled and we’ll look at the tape and try to improve.”
Down 3-2 as the third period was winding down, Donato gave the Kraken a chance. He got the puck from Jamie Oleksiak and quickly fired a wrist shot that beat Greiss in the top corner. The goal tied the game and came at 14:16 of the third.
Neither club scored in overtime, and Seattle’s Yanni Gourde got the best look with two quick shots after he dogged the puck away in the Detroit zone. The game went to a shootout where Detroit’s Larkin and Adam Erne converted their chances and Joonas Donskoi scored for the Kraken.
“I like the fact that we got down in the third and continued to push back and found a way to earn a point and get ourselves into overtime,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We wanted the extra point tonight, so I think we’re all disappointed about that. But it’s also a valuable point that we gained. We earned the point tonight and we did that throughout the road trip. You know, we just went into each individual game and just worried about the work that we had that night.”
Back and forth final 40 minutes
Neither team scored until the second period, although both had goals waived off in the first. Seattle appeared to score on a Jeremy Lauzon shot from the point, but Mason Appleton was ruled to have made contact with Greiss in the crease. Raymond scored off the rush later, but Hakstol challenged the play and upon review it was called offside.
It was the first coach’s challenge in Kraken history, and it went the right way.
“That’s Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan in the back room, number one,” Hakstol said of the challenge process. “Those guys did a great job not only of seeing it right away, but getting information and getting the right picture to us when you’re on the bench, and that’s not always easy when you have 20 or 30 seconds to do it. I know that sounds like a lot of time. But ultimately it is not a lot of time, so those guys did a great job on that.”
In the second period the Red Wings would strike on a power play. A mad scramble in front of the net forced Grubauer to make a couple of saves in close, but he couldn’t make them all as Fabbri was able to bang home a puck into the empty net at 4:46 of the second to make it 1-0.
Seattle tied the game at 1-1 at 10:44 of the period when Marcus Johansson found Vince Dunn up high on a Kraken power play. Dunn took a step and fired his second goal of the season.
Donato would then block a shot and limp into the dressing room only to return seconds later to score his fourth of the year at 16:04 to put Seattle up 2-1. On the play, Detroit defenseman Jordan Oesterle lost an edge deep in his own zone. That freed the puck for Donskoi who quickly passed it to Gourde who made a great feed to Donato for the goal.
“Maybe it’s one notch on the stat sheet for a shot block but [Donato] had a hell of a shot block before he scored that goal,” Hakstol said. “Those kinds of things are real important. He’s probably going to need an ice bag or two, but his compete level and his ability to push through and produce at the right time was really good.”
The period ended 2-2 thanks to a goal from Namestnikov, who snapped a shot after his initial look deflected off a skate back to him at 18:18.
In the third, Detroit went ahead 3-2 on a goal by Raymond at 6:30 when he spun and fired in the high slot. It looked like the Kraken would leave without any points in the standings, but they pushed, hit a cross bar, and eventually got the game tied on Donato’s second.
Injuries piling up for Kraken
Already missing Giordano and Jarnkrok, the Kraken revealed Wednesday morning that Eberle, Schwartz, and Borgen would not be available to play. Back up goalie Driedger also was placed on the injured reserve list.
That’s the Kraken’s top defenseman and two-thirds of it’s top forward line. It was an impressive performance by the remaining players.
“We know it’s a part of the game, injuries happen especially at a time when COVID is such a big thing,” Donato said. “Guys are going out all the time. So, we know it’s next guy up and we need to score on our chances and bury our opportunities.”
There was no update after the game on the status of any of Seattle’s injured players so it remains a possibility that the Kraken will have to take on the Edmonton Oilers Friday with a similarly depleted lineup.
“Next guy up, next guy up, let’s go,” Gourde said. “I know we have tremendous depth in this organization so let’s use it. Whoever gets to go over the boards, just got to go do it the right way and work hard. And if you do that you put yourself in good position to win games.”
Tentacle Tales
+ With the injuries, Kole Lind and Joey Daccord were recalled from Charlotte of the American Hockey League. Lind played in his second game with the Kraken and logged 6:02 of ice time.
+ The Kraken continue to score on the power play, ending Wednesday night 1-for-3.
+ Seattle ends the night tied with Vancouver in the standings with 18 points, six behind the Dallas Stars for the final playoff position in the Western Conference with 59 games left on the schedule.
