by Andy Eide | Jan 3, 2023 | Gameday Coverage
A week after being embarrassed on home ice by the Edmonton Oilers, the Kraken exacted some revenge by scoring five unanswered goals in an impressive 5-2 win over the Oilers on Tuesday.
“Absolutely great feeling,” Yanni Gourde said. “To come out with the win in their building, I thought we played well.”
Seattle erased a 2-0 deficit and won their second straight game while starting the longest road trip of the season in fine fashion.
“I think we played pretty well in the first,” Gourde said. “We came out, we played hard, did the right things, put the puck deep, and played down low. Second period, we got one goal and it really gave us some wings offensively.”
A key moment came early in the third period when the Oilers appeared to cut the Kraken lead to 4-3 after Leon Draisaitl scored a power-play goal. There were over 18 minutes left, and the knuckles in Seattle were turning white.
However, Seattle coach Dave Hakstol called the officials over and challenged the goal, saying Edmonton was offside prior to the goal being scored. It was a risky move as a failed challenge would put the Oilers and their league-best power play back on the ice with a chance to tie and gain momentum.
The video review proved successful, it was offside, and the Kraken killed off the remainder of the power play for a huge kill.
“That’s the guys in the back room,” Hakstol said. “That’s Tim [Oshashi] and Brady [Morgan] doing a great job. Working through their process, taking the short amount of time they have and they got it right.”
Later on, at 17:29 of the third, Alex Wennberg raced down the ice and slid the puck into the Oilers empty net to make it 5-2, and the knuckles returned to their normal color.
Wennberg had a goal and an assist, as did Matty Beniers. Jaden Schwartz scored a goal and had two assists, Justin Schultz had two assists, and Martin Jones made 32 saves for the Kraken (20-12-4), who are unbeaten in Alberta so far this season.
“It wasn’t anything overly spectacular in this game,” Hakstol said. “We were moving slowly with the puck, especially in the first ten minutes, but we were checking well. But we cleaned up our puck play… we were able to battle back. The power-play goal was obviously a big goal for us to get going. We were able to execute on a delayed penalty and then some face-off goals.”
Edmonton (20-17-2), got goals from Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Stuart Skinner started the game and allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced in the second period by Jack Campbell, who made three saves.
When they played last week, the Oilers had three goals by the four-minute mark. It took them longer Tuesday, but it was Edmonton who scored first again, while on their NHL best power play at 12:47 of the first. Jones made an initial save, but an off-the-mark shot by Draisaitl slid right to Nugent-Hopkins, who had the entire net to shoot at and did not miss to make it 1-0.
McDavid turned on the jets and raced by everyone 48 seconds into the second and slid his 33rd of the season past Jones to make it 2-0. That caused a déjà vu feeling that the Oilers were going to run away with it.
But a mid-period power play would turn the tide for Seattle, who would go on to score five straight.
First, it was a power-play score from Beniers at 4:44 of the second with his 12th of the year. Beniers was at it again 31 seconds later, during a delayed penalty, when he found Schwartz at the goal mouth for a tally that tied the game.
Gourde would give Seattle a 3-2 lead at 12:43. He scored his fifth of the season after Schultz got a shot on a rush, the rebound came out in front, and Eeli Tolvanen tapped it to Gourde.
The Kraken extended the lead to 4-2, and chased Skinner from the net at 15:48. Wennberg spotted Jared McCann streaking for the net and got the puck to him for McCann’s team-leading 17th of the year.
Tentacle Tales
- With an assist, defenseman Adam Larsson extended his point streak to seven games.
- It was also the seventh game Beniers has recorded multiple points this season.
- Tolvanen played in his second game with Seattle and recorded an assist, giving him points in both games he has played for the Kraken.
- The win was the 10th road win for Seattle (10-4-2), one away from the 11 road wins they totaled all of last season.
by Andy Eide | Dec 15, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
Philipp Grubauer did everything possible to will the Kraken to a win Thursday, but it wasn’t enough in a game the Carolina Hurricanes badly outplayed Seattle and held on for a 3-2 win at PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C. The Hurricanes (17-6-6) outshot the Kraken 39-17, which included hitting double-digit shots on goal in all three periods, but Grubauer gave Seattle a chance.
At morning skate it was announced Martin Jones would start the game, but it was Grubauer who led the team out on the ice. He would stand on his head and make a season-high 36 saves. Grubauer was a one-man show for Seattle, which would have been blown out if not for several big saves.
“He battled hard,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “He gave us a chance to stay within striking distance in this game, so his performance was good.”
Three different Hurricanes scored including a penalty-shot conversion by Stefan Noesen in the second period which ended up being the game winner. Pyotr Kochetkov made 15 saves.
Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong each scored for Seattle (16-10-3), which lost for the fifth time in six games, ending a four-game road swing 1-3-0.
Seattle played one of the worst first periods in franchise history, being outshot 14-4 and posed little to no threat offensively.
“They came out hard and I think we sat back a little,” Sprong said. “We didn’t get into the O-zone much.”
Carolina got on the board when an errant pass from Jared McCann was scooped up by Andrei Svechnikov who was in alone and scored his 16th at 10:10 of the first period. The Hurricanes doubled the lead to 2-0 at 17:16 on a goal from Derek Stepan.
“Their five-man pressure is outstanding and they were on it throughout the majority of the game,” Hakstol said. “Their sustained five-man pressure in the first period was relentless. We got caught with a couple of soft puck plays, a little slow in our response and that’s what that pressure will do.”
Grubauer kept the game within reach by making 12 saves, many of which were of the ten-bell variety, but it wouldn’t take Carolina long to extend the lead. Noesen got behind the Kraken defense at 2:08 of the second period and was hooked by Adam Larsson. A penalty shot was awarded and Noesen converted to make it 3-0.
The shot barrage continued as the Hurricanes would test Grubauer on 13 shots, but the Kraken would manage to get on the board. At 11:26 Carson Soucy took a shot from the point that Ryan Donato got a stick on to make it 3-1.
That goal felt cosmetic heading into the third period.
In the third period, the formula was the same. A lot of Hurricanes shots and Grubauer saves, but Daniel Sprong got a shot at 9:14 of the third that trickled into the goal under Kochetkov’s right arm to cut the lead to 3-2.
Suddenly Seattle had a chance to steal points in a game where none were deserved, but the Kraken could not find the equalizer.
“We’re coming through a tough road trip, we knew what this stretch looked like,” Hakstol said. “We’re disappointed to come out with two of the eight points. We’ve got to get back to Seattle, have a good day of practice and get this turned around.”
The fancy numbers were ugly
The shots-on-goal numbers tell one story, but if you look at some of the analytics it gets worse.
In the dominant first period, Carolina took 80.77 percent (21-5) of the shot attempts at five-on-five and 91 percent of the shot quality. On the night, the Hurricanes had 66.67 of the five-on-five shot attempts.
If not for Grubauer this game would simply have been a blowout.
Tentacle Tales
- Yanni Gourde had an assist on his 31st birthday.
- Hakstol didn’t have an update on Jones’ status, only saying that ‘something’ developed between morning skate and game time.
- The Kraken ended Kochetkov’s shutout streak at 151:26. The rookie goaltender had recorded two consecutive shutouts heading into the game.
- Seattle will next be in action Sunday at home against the Winnipeg Jets.
by Andy Eide | Dec 13, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
The Tampa Bay Lightning scored three goals in the second period to blow open the game on their way to a 6-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
Seattle fell behind early and got back into the game, only to watch the Lightning skate away from them over the second half of the contest.
“We carried the play at the end of the first period,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “We had a great second period, we had one hell of a PK in terms of effort and execution. When that third goal goes in, that took a lot out of us… We did a lot of really good things, we deserved a little bit better in terms of where the scoreboard was.”
Nikita Kucherov had three assists for the 29th time in his career. Andre Vasilevskiy was solid in making 36 saves for the Lightning (18-9-1) who are 3-0-0 all-time against Seattle.
Jared McCann and Ryan Donato each scored a goal for Seattle (16-9-3), which is in a mini-slump having lost four out of the last five games. Philipp Grubauer allowed four goals on 20 shots before being replaced at 14:28 in the second period. Martin Jones came in and allowed two goals and made eight saves.
Tampa Bay struck early in the first period. After Seattle failed to clear the puck, Lightning defenseman Ian Cole flung a shot from the point that found the net to make it 1-0 at 1:31.
With the Kraken still searching for their game, the Lightning got another goal at 7:24 from Erik Cernak.
“The first ten minutes, that was the biggest piece,” Hakstol said. “Our forecheck has to be better, we were a little slow on everything and they’re going to take advantage in a big way. I felt like it should have been a 1-1 hockey game after the first period.”
Over the second half of the period, Seattle got its game going and calmed things down defensively. At 18:39, the Kraken cashed in when Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann broke out with a two-on-one, and Eberle gave it to McCann who scored his 13th with a laser-type wrist shot.
Down 2-1, the Kraken started the second well, matching the Tampa Bay attack and getting good looks. Brandon Tanev was called for tripping behind Tampa Bay’s net at 10:17, and the game took a turn for the worse.
As the ensuing power play was winding down, Corey Perry scored with a wrist shot to make it 3-1 at 12:13, and then Brayden Point made it 4-1 at 13:28 with a great individual effort through the defense. That ended Grubauer’s night, and Jones came in but didn’t fare any better.
Ross Colton got a stick on a Mikhail Sergachev shot and tipped it past Jones to make it 5-1 at 15:36. The Bolts scored three goals in 3:23 of play, and the game was completely changed.
“Our group was really tough today,” Hakstol said. “We need a little better on the second goal from Grubi, we need a little better on the third. Our group pushed back pretty well throughout… If you’re questioning the mental toughness of our group, you’re dead wrong.”
Steven Stamkos made it 6-1 at 5:29 of the third period, and Donato added a cosmetic goal to make it 6-2 at 19:55.
“I thought we worked hard,” Jaden Schwartz said. “We had some decent spurts… I thought for 40 minutes of the game we worked hard, probably didn’t get on the inside enough in the offensive zone, but that momentum swing in the second period really hurt.”
Kraken offensive woes
Seattle was seemingly scoring at will during their seven-game win streak, but the goals have dried up of late. They’ve lost four out of five and only scored six goals in the four losses. Things looked to turn when they scored four Sunday in a win at Florida, but Tuesday it was a struggle again.
The Kraken outshot Tampa Bay 38-30, but 15 of those shots came in the third period when the score was 4-1. Vasilevskiy is among the league’s best goaltenders, which may have been the issue Tuesday, but Seattle needs to find a way to score more than one or two goals per game.
Tentacle Tales
- Seattle defenseman Justin Schultz was a late scratch Tuesday despite looking like he was going to play during morning skate. Gustav Olofsson played 15:20 and had three shots on goal in Schultz’s place.
- Kucherov has the fifth most career three-assist games among active players. He trails Sidney Crosby (59), Nicklas Backstrom (44), Evgeni Malkin (34), and Connor McDavid (33).
- Carson Soucy played in his 200th NHL game.
by Andy Eide | Dec 9, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
The Kraken got the goaltending they needed from Philipp Grubauer Friday but struggled to score during a 4-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. They have suddenly lost three straight after a franchise best seven-game win streak.
Grubauer was on his game allowing two goals on 36 shots including 12 saves in the first period and 13 in the second.
“He was really good,” Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson said. “He was awesome. We’ve got to score more than one goal.”
Seattle lost the game in the second period when the Capitals (13-12-4) scored twice and had the Kraken on their heels. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was lost for the game after being assessed a five-minute checking to the head call that carried a match penalty with it.
The Kraken did a good job killing the first part of the ensuing major power play, but former Kraken Marcus Johansson scored after his shot hit Grubauer’s shoulder and fluttered over him and in. That broke a 1-1 tie and came at 13:15 of the second period.
“They beat us on the one entry that got wide and beat us to the net,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said of the power-play goal. “Beyond that, the PK did a pretty good job.”
Washington was one for four on the power play for the night.
Anthony Mantha tied the game at 1-1 when a scramble happened in front of Grubauer at 5:20 of the second, and Mantha poked the puck off Oleksiak and in.
“The biggest problem was in the second period,” Hakstol said. “We couldn’t find our legs, we couldn’t find any momentum during that period.”
Larsson scored a goal for the Kraken (15-8-3), who lost their second game in regulation on the road. Alex Ovechkin picked up career goal 796 and is now five away from tying Gordie Howe’s career mark of 801, which is the second most in NHL history.
Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves for Washington.
Larsson opened the game’s scoring and gave Seattle a 1-0 lead at 17:51 of the first. Morgan Geekie won a faceoff in the Washington zone, and Larsson took a wrist shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and in for Larsson’s first goal in 21 games.
Just prior to the faceoff, Larsson and Dunn switched sides, which helped Larsson create a shooting lane.
“I think it’s more about what line you line up with and what threat the forwards have. It worked out,” Larsson said.
Lars Eller scored an empty-net goal at 18:54 of the third to make it 3-1, followed by Ovechkin who hit the empty net at 19:56 to round out the scoring at 4-1.
Second period woes
Not only did the Kraken give up two goals in the second, but they were outshot 15-6. The Capitals also had a 24-10 advantage in shots attempted at five on five and 77.68 percent of the shot quality.
That disparity played out throughout the game. The Kraken recovered somewhat in the third period, but Washington ended with 54.95 percent of the shot attempts and 78.96 percent of the shot quality.
Those numbers point out how huge Grubauer was as this game should probably have been out of hand earlier than it was.
Tentacle Tales
- The Kraken fall to 8-2-1 on the road this season.
- Seattle had won six straight road games before Friday’s game.
- The upcoming Kraken schedule is tough, and they will next be in action Sunday at Florida. “We just go back to work,” Hakstol said. “Tough stretches, they’re part of this. You have stretches where you play well and things go your way, and you have tough stretches on the schedule where you’ve got to step up and go play good hockey. Our group is strong in the dressing room, and we remain confident.”
- Seattle was without forward Jaden Schwartz who was scratched due to an upper body issue and is day to day.
by Andy Eide | Nov 27, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
It may not have been the prettiest game, but the Kraken found a way to outlast the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 at the Honda Center Sunday night.
The Kraken held 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2 leads, but the Ducks held their own and eventually tied the game 4-4 thanks for three power-play goals.
Daniel Sprong put the Kraken ahead for good 3:41 into the third period when he got the puck in the slot, and showing tremendous patience, waited to shoot until an Anaheim defender fell into goalie John Gibson and knocked him down. Sprong then fired a backhand into the net to give Seattle the 5-4 lead.
“Donnie gave it to me wide,” Sprong said. “I kind of wanted to dump in and go for a line change and I think I ended up hitting [Mason] McTavish in the foot or something and it came right back to me in the slot. I think instinct just took over and put in the net.”
Matty Beniers had a goal along with two assists, and Sprong added an assist to his goal. Martin Jones started in net and stopped 25 Anaheim shots for the Kraken (13-5-3).
“Third period, we liked the way we played, we were a little bit better and more sound,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “First two periods we felt like we were too sporadic, there were stretches that were really good, but gave up too much, too easy at different times during the first couple periods. So, it was good to go flip the switch in the third period and lock it down a little bit and play a good 20 minutes on the road.”
Troy Terry had a goal and assist for the Ducks (6-15-1). Gibson started the game and made 14 saves. He left due to injury after the Sprong goal and was replaced by Anthony Stolarz who finished with six saves.
“Right now we have a little good motor going, we feel like we were just playing good hockey and obviously playing against teams in our division,” Alex Wennberg said. “It’s huge points for us obviously, right now. We think we’re doing a good job and getting rewarded.”
How the Kraken and Ducks played out
For the 12th time this season, the Kraken opened the scoring on Sunday. This time it was Jared McCann who went to the net after a face-off win 33 seconds into the game. Jordan Eberle threw a perfect pass, and McCann picked up his eighth goal.
Wennberg gave Seattle its first two-goal lead at 6:53 when Andre Burakovsky found him on the doorstep and he made it 2-0.
“Obviously, scoring goals is a lot of fun too, and helps the team to get confidence,” Wennberg said. “It’s great, but I mean all that matters is the two points, so to be able to help them out with that was just great.”
Anaheim got back into the game with a power-play marker from Troy Terry when he got the puck down low and slid it through Jones’s five-hole at 14:16 to make it 2-1.
Just before the end of the first period, Vince Dunn would make it 3-1 at 19:33 when he got the puck at the top of the zone. Inexplicably, the Ducks defense opened up the middle of the ice and Dunn walked into the high slot and beat Gibson with a wrist shot.
The Ducks, refusing to go away, made it a one-goal game again, 3-2 at 1:48 of the second on a goal from Derek Grant scored from the slot.
Beniers would quickly reinstate the Kraken two-goal advantage at 4-2 when he scored a power-play goal of his own, putting back a rebound from the crease for his seventh of the season. Beniers has nine points in his last four games and spent the second half of the game double shifting due to Morgan Geekie leaving with an injury after he skated into Adam Larsson’s shoulder in the second period.
The Kraken then started a parade to the penalty box and the Ducks made them pay.
First it was Mason McTavish at 16:34 cutting it to 4-3 on a power-play goal, scoring on the back door. Just over a minute later, at 17:55, Adam Henrique tied the game with the third power-play score from Anaheim.
“We’ve found different ways to win games,” Hakstol said. “I don’t really like the term ‘find a way to win,’ we built good wins so our team has a confidence in that we’ve done it in different ways for the most part. We found a pretty good rhythm out on the road, and you get a group of 20 guys every night, whichever 20 guys it is, in the lineup are working hard for one another.”
Tentacle Tales
- Beniers recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season, which leads all NHL rookies.
- The Kraken have their second five-game win streak of the season.
- Seattle is 10-1-1 over its last 12 games.
- Beniers’ nine points in his last four game is the most by a Kraken skater over a four-game span in franchise history.
- Hakstol did not have an update on Geekie after the game.
by Andy Eide | Nov 25, 2022 | Gameday Coverage
Vegas for a birthday is a popular destination, and that’s where Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer spent his 31st Friday night. Grubauer, making his first start since Oct. 21 against Colorado, kicked away 20 Vegas Golden Knight shots to earn his first victory of the season as Seattle came away with a statement type 4-2 win at T-Mobile Arena. The Kraken (12-5-3) scored twice in the second period to win their fourth straight overall and fourth straight on the road.
“It’s probably, besides my dog, the best birthday gift I’ve ever gotten,” Grubauer said. “Two points.”
Andre Burakovsky scored twice and Adam Larsson had two assists for the Kraken who inched closer in the Pacific Division standings, climbing to within six points of the Golden Knights.
Nicolas Roy scored a goal, as did Phil Kessel. Former Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Shea Theodore had two assists, and Adin Hill made 24 saves for the Golden Knights (16-5-1) who fell to 7-4-0 at home.
Seattle gave up a two-goal lead in the first period but pulled away in the second and shut down the Vegas attack during the third period. The Golden Knights only had six shots in the final frame, and their big guns, Mark Stone and Jack Eichel, were held off the scoresheet.
Burakovsky was the offensive star, but it was a team effort for Seattle to win the game.
“We just wanted to get back to playing the way we play, ” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We were really happy with the two points the other night [against San Jose]. You gotta find different ways to get ’em, but we got back to the way we wanted to play tonight.”
“Just amazing to watch from back there how everybody is contributing and no selfish plays,” added Grubauer.
How it played out for the Kraken and Golden Knights
Ryan Donato got the scoring going early in the first period. He was parked in front of the Vegas goal and made it 1-0 at 2:30 when he cleaned up an Adam Larsson rebound and scored from just outside the crease.
“Lately, we get rewarded when we get pucks on net,” said Larsson. “That was a prime example of just close your eyes and shoot it, and it really landed pretty much on his stick in front of the net, so that was nice.”
Burakovsky then continued his hot play when he stepped into a wrist shot that Hill got a piece of but couldn’t keep from trickling in to make it 2-0 Seattle at 8:00.
Vegas would work the game back when Nic Roy cut the lead to 2-1, banging a rebound in at 10:46 during a Golden Knights power play.
Kessel then tied the game 2-2 at 12:50 when he got a piece of a Theodore shot in front of Grubauer.
Burakovsky scored again at 5:20 of the second to put the Kraken up 3-2 after Jamie Oleksiak drove the puck deep. He found Burakovsky outside the circle and buried a wrister. It was the third goal in the last couple games to go along with five points.
Jordan Eberle reinstated the Kraken’s two-goal lead at 4-2 when he scored a highlight reel goal at 18:46. Hill stopped his initial shot but he got the rebound and put it back.
That was all Grubauer needed. After the two goals against in the first period, he was perfect the rest of the way, including an impressive glove save on Theodore in the second. Grubauer said, “You can’t get too high or too low,” after saves like that, but he recognized the importance of timely stops and said that was probably one of them. He gave the credit to his teammates for the win, though. “They made it really easy for me tonight, and once you make a couple saves, everything is kind of settling in a little bit.”
Tentacle Tales
- Donato opened the scoring for Seattle Friday for the fifth time as a Kraken. He trails only Eberle (6) and Jared McCann (7) for most game-opening goals in team history.
- Adam Larsson had a pair of assists for the Kraken, and it was the second multi-assist game for the defenseman since becoming a Kraken.
- The Kraken were 6-20-0 against the Pacific Division last season but are already 5-2-1 this season.
- Seattle will have a chance to improve against the division with a game at Anaheim Sunday followed by a rematch with the Kings on Tuesday.
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