by Darren Brown | Mar 8, 2023 | Three takeaways
The Kraken got the job done against a bad Ducks team Tuesday in what coach Dave Hakstol called a “workmanlike” effort from his squad. That’s a pretty good way to describe that game, which didn’t have great flow or energy from either side.
But, two points are two points, and Seattle ultimately earned a no-doubter of a win against an uninspired opponent that didn’t appear to have much fight left in it.
“You’re gonna have workmanlike games,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “This is one you might have predicted, coming off the road, a couple of late nights on the road trip. You might predict that we were going to have to grind this one out a little bit.”
The victory extended Seattle’s win streak to five games and brought it within two points of the top of the Pacific Division.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 5-2 Kraken win over the Ducks.
Takeaway #1: Power play creativity
The Kraken scored a nice power-play goal at 8:29 of the third period to put the game out of reach of the mostly disinterested Ducks. On the surface, it looked like a pretty simple pass by Jared McCann through the seam to Eeli Tolvanen for a one-timer, but there’s more to it.
Here’s why the play resonated with us. First, we will give some backstory. Jared McCann scored his 31st goal of the season off the rush midway through the first period Tuesday, firing from the top of the left circle. If you’ve seen any of McCann’s goals this season, there’s a good chance you’ve seen him score from that spot on the ice. So, there’s nothing new about that; the guy just loves shooting from there.
“It just feels good, feels comfortable,” said McCann of that area that is quickly becoming his proverbial office.
With McCann’s office in mind, Seattle’s go-to play with the man advantage is for McCann to loop out near the blue line, get some momentum rolling downhill, receive a pass, and let his dangerous snapshot rip. With McCann being a left shot, it’s the opposite of what a lot of teams do, since he isn’t open for a one-timer. But, one-timers are not where McCann gets most of his success shooting, so the team plays to his strength by letting him skate into a pass and pick his spot.
The only downside is that it is a bit predictable. Opposing teams at this point know McCann is going to start moving downhill and his teammates are going to try to get him the puck.
But that is what made the Tolvanen goal special. McCann used Anaheim’s pre-scout on him to his advantage, and instead of ripping the shot that everybody expected—including all four Ducks penalty killers and goalie John Gibson—McCann instead laid a perfect pass in the wheelhouse for Tolvanen.
“Just get my head up, trying to make the right play,” said McCann. “If the shot’s there, I’m obviously going to take it, but sometimes I feel like I force the shot a little bit too much. You know, Tolly got open for me, and it was a pretty simple play.”
The result was an easy one-time goal into a yawning cage for Tolvanen, his 13th of the season.
Opponents know McCann is a shooter. Seeing him use that knowledge against the Ducks Tuesday was a beautiful thing.
Takeaway #2: Vince Dunn almost lost his head, then he lost his mind
We saw two blown calls that involved Vince Dunn in this game. The first came 4:43 into the game, when Dunn took down Jakob Silfverberg. As Silfverberg was falling to the ice, he caught Dunn with a high stick and made him bleed from the nose. Even though Silfverberg got tripped, he is still supposed to be in control of his stick, so drawing blood should still bring a four-minute penalty. For some reason, the officials only gave him two minutes, which was odd. It clearly didn’t sit well with Dunn, either, as he questioned the matching minors while skating to the box.
Late in the game, Dunn sustained more damage to his face when Max Comtois delivered a high and obviously illegal hit. The refs did not call anything, though replay showed it was a clear hit to the head. Dunn stayed down for a moment before getting up and skating to the bench.
That’s where his wires crossed.
Dunn screamed at the official loudly enough that we could hear it up in the rafters of Climate Pledge Arena. What exactly he said was a topic of hot debate post-game, with interpretations ranging from, “Look at my f***ing face!” to “You’re a f***ing coward!”
Video showed he likely said both, though we’re no lip readers.
Dunn slammed the bench door, smashed his stick against the glass, and eventually spiked his helmet as he stepped into the penalty box.
“He was pissed off, and I get why,” said Hakstol. “It was a little bit late, he held his cool getting off the ice, and then— hey, he snapped on the bench.”
For his outburst, Dunn was given a well-earned unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. After sitting in the box for just a few seconds of game time, he was let out and escorted to the Seattle bench and down the tunnel. We initially thought he had been ejected from the game, but no additional penalty was called. In actuality, Dunn was getting checked for a concussion.
Now, if a concussion spotter is telling the officials that a player needs to leave a game because he sustained a hit to the head, and the referees did not call said hit to the head, that’s a pretty good indication they may have missed the call.
“I’d love to comment, but that’s not my job to say that,” said Brandon Tanev of the elevated emotions late in the game. “The refs didn’t make the call, and that’s the way it goes sometimes, so we’ll just leave it at that.”
In any case, Dunn did not return, but there wasn’t much time left in the game when this all transpired. Hakstol said after the game he didn’t have any reason to believe Dunn is injured, but he did confirm the reason for his exit was a “call from up top.”
Takeaway #3: Taking care of business
We were nervous about Seattle’s chances coming into this game, as it felt trappy for a couple different reasons. One such reason was that the first game after a road trip is always tricky, as we saw when the Kraken returned to CPA following their perfect seven-game journey in January. The other reason is that we’ve seen Seattle play down to lesser opponents before, with the 4-0 loss in San Jose on Feb. 20 as a shining example. Plus, the Ducks had been winning games lately, despite them being well outside of the playoff hunt.
The Kraken didn’t have a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but they did what they had to do and dispatched a bad team. By jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, Anaheim went quietly into the night, save for some brief fireworks by Trevor Zegras.**
**Editor’s note: That goal was absolutely ridiculous. We expect to see that one on highlight reels for a long time.**
It won’t be the most memorable victory of the season, but those are two more enormous points in the standings. The Los Angeles Kings and Vegas Golden Knights will need to go back to checking their rearview mirrors, because Seattle is suddenly back within two points of both teams and holds a game in hand over the Kings.
“We’re going to have to play well every single night,” said McCann. “Obviously we’re going to be playing some divisional games here soon too, and those are going to matter a lot more.”
It won’t be divisional, but the Kraken will face a tougher test in the Ottawa Senators Thursday, a team desperately trying to keep its playoff hopes alive. Seattle will look to extend its win streak to six games.
by Darren Brown | Mar 5, 2023 | Three takeaways
We were 2:30 away from having a very different set of Three Takeaways Friday, as it looked like the Kraken were getting stymied by Alexandar Georgiev and the Colorado Avalanche. But at the eleventh hour, Seattle’s forecheck (and by “forecheck,” we mean Jaden Schwartz) went to work and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
“It was a gutsy effort,” said Schwartz. “Fourth game on the road trip. [It was] a lot of travel, and being down and just sticking with it, just keeping the pressure on. We stayed aggressive and put a lot of pucks in their end and just tried to wear them down.”
A late tying goal by Brandon Tanev and a thrilling overtime breakaway goal by Yanni Gourde meant the Kraken closed out the season series against the Stanley Cup champion Avalanche with a 2-0-1 record.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a thrilling 3-2 Seattle win.
Takeaway #1: Jaden Schwartz gets it done with hard forechecking
The No. 1 rule of the offensive-zone forecheck is to have two guys on the puck and overwhelm the puck carrier. The only two times Seattle broke through in regulation against Georgiev came after hard plays below the goal line, and Schwartz was right in the thick of it on both markers. On those plays, Seattle followed that No. 1 rule to perfection.
Down 1-0, the Kraken finally got on the board at the midway point of the second period. Bowen Byram looped behind his own net, looking for an escape hatch, but Schwartz stuck right on him like velcro. The Kraken forward angled Byram into the corner and separated him from the puck. Bjorkstrand jumped in to keep it alive, then Schwartz gathered it and fed it to Will Borgen at the blue line. Alex Wennberg got to the front of the net and got a perfect tip on Borgen’s shot.
Then, with the game winding down and things looking bleak for Seattle, Schwartz went back to work. This time, with Yanni Gourde acting as the F2 flanking Nathan MacKinnon, Schwartz went right at the superstar forward. He deflected MacKinnon’s chip, scooped up the puck, and twirled it around to Tanev, who had found a quiet spot in front of the net. Turbo banged it home for a late, game-tying goal to earn the Kraken a huge point in the standings.
What’s funny, as that game was winding down, we had just been thinking about how we couldn’t recall the last time Seattle had gotten a late tying goal to send a game to overtime. As we doubted the existence of a “clutch gene” in the Kraken, we learned all they needed to do was forecheck the Avs to death. That’s what Schwartz did Sunday, and even with a stellar performance by Georgiev, it was enough to get Seattle to an extra frame with the Stanley Cup champs.
Takeaway #2: In overtime, patience is a virtue
Early in the season, the Kraken were a mess in three-on-three overtime. They worked on it at practice after dropping their first three overtime games, and have taken a very patient approach to the extra frame ever since.
On Sunday, Wennberg won the center-ice face-off to start the extra period, and Seattle never relinquished control of the puck. The Kraken cycled through two full trios of skaters, all while maintaining possession. If they tried to get into the offensive zone and didn’t like what they saw, they would sling it all the way back into their own zone to reset.
“In the OT, you can’t ask for much more,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “The guys won the opening face-off, and we were able to dictate play from there.”
After a minute and a half of playing keep away, Vince Dunn finally saw an opening. With the Avalanche changing, Dunn spotted Gourde at the far blue line and sent a perfect 100-foot pass to catch the scrappy forward in stride. Gourde lunged for the puck, kept his foot onside, and raced in toward Georgiev. He rifled a low shot that snuck under the Colorado goalie’s blocker, rang off the post, and rattled into the net.
“I didn’t see much of the net, honestly,” said Gourde. “He’s a great goalie, he challenged the shot a lot. I didn’t see much, I just felt like shooting low blocker was my best option.”
What a goal, and what a finish to a thrilling game!
Takeaway #3: That’s a big-time road trip
It’s well known that the NHL season is a long, 82-game grind filled with ebbs and flows. If you were starting to panic after Seattle dropped three in a row to San Jose, Boston, and Toronto, you weren’t alone, but sure enough, that ebb has been replaced by a flow.
The Kraken went on the road after getting smoked by the Maple Leafs and righted the ship in a big way, rattling off key wins against the Blues, Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and—most impressively—the Avalanche.
“We’re happy with the two points,” said Hakstol. “We had to really stay with it.”
The eight out of eight possible points on the trip are enormously important for Seattle’s playoff hopes. The teams Seattle has been chasing in the Pacific Division, Los Angeles and Vegas, have been winning everything lately. That doesn’t really matter though, so long as the Kraken can keep those teams within a tentacle’s length and get themselves into the postseason. There, you never know what can happen.
With every passing day, it’s looking more and more obvious which eight Western Conference teams will end up in the playoffs, as Nashville and Calgary seem to be holding on by a thread. If the Kraken can stay above the Predators and Flames, that should punch their ticket, and they’re currently 10 and 11 points clear of those respective teams.
Getting two points against the Avs is big. Coming home from a four-game road trip at this time of year with eight points is invaluable.
by Darren Brown | Feb 24, 2023 | Three takeaways
Win or lose for the Kraken against the Bruins, Thursday was destined to be a memorable night at Climate Pledge Arena. But if Jaden Schwartz’s go-ahead goal with 4:10 left in the game had just held up, it would have been unforgettable.
Instead, the Bruins showed why they are the best team in the NHL, turning the game on its ear late and delivering a devastating 6-5 loss to the Kraken, who—on effort alone—deserved at least a point in the standings for this one.
“The compete level was outstanding all the way through the game,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “There was a lot of intensity to the game, there was pace, obviously a lot of back and forth, especially during the second period and then late in the hockey game.”
The loss was damaging to Seattle’s playoff hopes. Vegas came back from a two-goal deficit to beat Calgary in overtime Thursday, which meant not only did the Golden Knights pull five points ahead of the Kraken for first place in the Pacific Division, but Calgary is now back within four points of Seattle for fourth place. As of now, the Kraken are in the top wild card spot, but every passing loss makes their hold on their first playoff berth feel more and more tenuous. These were two more important points that slipped through Seattle’s tentacles.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a thrilling but painful defeat.
Takeaway #1: Was that our first taste of playoff hockey?
The Kraken came out flying early in the first period, and they looked very aware of the fact they were playing the NHL’s best team and needed to be on top of their game. The way they were defending and forechecking in the early going was the way you would expect them to play, should they reach the playoffs. They were on pucks in the blink of an eye, making the extra effort to deflect passes away in their end of the ice, and making life miserable on Boston defenders in their zone.
“I think this is a game that this room really embraces,” said Jamie Oleksiak, who scored his career-best seventh goal in the second period. “We obviously want to be a playoff team, and Boston’s had a lot of success. So, I think whenever we’re playing these guys, we want to make sure that we’re bringing our ‘A’ game. And I think we did a respectable job tonight, just not enough.”
Matty Beniers scored just 40 seconds into the game, and it was one of those moments that felt like the roof might blow off Climate Pledge Arena.
“It was a little taste of what playoffs is gonna be,” said Beniers. “I haven’t played in the playoffs, but I know a lot of guys here have, and that’s what it’s going to be like farther down the road and for the games from here on out.”
As the contest went on, things only got more exciting. The Kraken and Bruins traded goal after goal in the second period, before carrying a 5-5 tie into the third. And just when it seemed like Seattle was going to pull off a signature win, the Bruins snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.
“It stinks we didn’t get to pull that one out, but it was a good game,” said Beniers.
Takeaway #2: Response goals at both ends, but a late tying goal killed Seattle
Aside from the playoff-like intensity and atmosphere, the thing that made this game so fun to watch was the quick responses that the teams had for one another after goals were scored.
Just 1:06 after Vince Dunn scored from the point early in the second, David Pastrnak turned Adam Larsson inside out and tucked in a highlight-reel goal at the other end.
Oleksiak’s tally came 58 seconds after Brad Marchand gave Boston a 3-2 lead at 8:49 of the middle frame. And Yanni Gourde got a good-luck bounce (he had it coming after a very unfortunate own goal against San Jose on Monday) off Charlie McAvoy for a power-play goal. That was 1:02 after the Kraken had conceded a short-handed goal to Patrice Bergeron.
But in the “response goal” department, Boston had the last laugh.
The second Schwartz tipped Will Borgen’s shot-pass over the shoulder of Jeremy Swayman at 15:50 of the third period, we somehow just knew another response goal was coming. We could feel it in our bones.
Sure enough, this one took just 29 seconds, as Brandon Carlo somehow got left all alone on the doorstep to deflect a Hampus Lindholm pass by Philipp Grubauer.
“We put ourselves in position with the four-on-four goal to go ahead late in the hockey game, and that’s the one that was a little bit too easy,” said Hakstol. “We didn’t make them work for that one.”
Once that tying goal went in, Boston had the momentum and didn’t look back. The Jake DeBrusk tip-in goal came at 18:22, and there would be no responding to that one.
Takeaway #3: Boston is really good
Sometimes you have to just tip your hat. We’ve watched the Kraken play some very good and very bad hockey over the last couple seasons, and Thursday, they played very good hockey. Sure, there were some mistakes and breakdowns, but Seattle is a good team that brought perhaps its best effort of the season.
Yet, the Boston Bruins had answers for everything the Kraken threw at them. And when push came to shove, the Bruins’ stars shined just enough to earn them their 92nd and 93rd points in the standings.
“They’re always in the right spots, and they can make you pay on your mistakes and make a lot of plays,” said Beniers. “So, they’re definitely really tough to play against, and you gotta key in on them. They made us pay for a couple tonight.”
All three players on Boston’s top line—Marchand, Bergeron, and DeBrusk—had a goal on the night, and Pastrnak, who leads the second line, had a stunner of a goal and oodles of chances.
“Well, that’s a hell of a line,” said Hakstol of Boston’s top trio. “I mean those guys have been really good. You look at the two guys that have played together for I don’t know how many years, how many games there, they got chemistry. They’re hard to handle, they’re competitive, and they can make plays.”
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The Kraken will take a day off Friday before returning to practice Saturday, as they prepare for another difficult test in the Toronto Maple Leafs.
by Darren Brown | Feb 19, 2023 | Three takeaways
They did it for their dads (and mentors and brothers). On the first night of their first fathers and mentors trip, the Kraken came up with a big effort to down the red-hot Detroit Red Wings, who came in on a five-game heater.
The Red Wings had plenty of speed and jam to their game, but Seattle played off a boisterous home Saturday night crowd and got another good performance from Philipp Grubauer and a huge game from linemates Jordan Eberle and Matty Beniers. That was enough to push them over the top for a 4-2 win.
The two points the Kraken earned did not get them any closer to Vegas or Los Angeles in the tightly packed Pacific Division standings, as both of those teams also won Saturday. But it did create a three-point cushion over idle Edmonton, at least temporarily. Seattle remains in third place, one point behind the Kings with a game in hand and two points behind the Golden Knights.
Regardless, that was a hugely important victory, and we’re starting to feel like the Kraken are ready to go on another run. Since their three-game stinker through the New York metro area, the Kraken are 3-0-1 and face a bad Sharks team Tuesday in San Jose before two tough home games against Boston and Toronto. Is the team rolling again?
“I think it started a couple games ago,” said Grubauer. “We’re doing the right things, and it’s looking more like playoff hockey where we make the right decision in that moment for the team, and we’re not making any selfish plays… There’s not much hockey left, and our division is pretty tight, so we need every point.”
Here are our Three Takeaways from an impressive 4-2 Kraken win over the Red Wings.
Takeaway #1: Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle showing chemistry
In Thursday’s game against Philadelphia, Jared McCann and Yanni Gourde were the standouts for Seattle. As has been standard with this team, though, it’s almost never the same guys that play the starring role two games in a row, a testament to the depth of the lineup.
“It’s nothing new,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “We do have that. I mean, you have everybody in here that feels like they need to contribute on a nightly basis, and we don’t win if we don’t get that. That’s not overplaying it, and I’m not underplaying it. That’s just how it is.”
Saturday, it was Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle that stepped up. The duo seemed to be sending telepathic signals to one another to let the other know where to pass the puck. There was a definite “sixth sense” feel to their connection on this night, an indication that both are playing with a ton of confidence and that the chemistry between them is high.
“The biggest thing for me is trying to get him to turn off his brain,” said Eberle of his young linemate. “He’s a very cerebral player, and sometimes it gets in the way. Sometimes, turn your brain off and play. That’s the biggest thing. He’s got some confidence right now.”
The sequence at the end of the second period that ended with Jamie Oleksiak banging home his sixth goal of the season was a prime example of the pair’s chemistry. With the teams skating four-on-four, and the clock winding down, Eberle lunged to catch a 150-foot stretch pass from Carson Soucy that looked to be way out of Eberle’s reach. But he got just enough of the puck to slow it down, then dished a cheeky little offering under the stick of Filip Hronek, right onto Beniers’s tape in the slot. Ville Husso came up with a big save and deflected it behind the net.
That killed the play, right?
Wrong. Eberle was on the puck in a flash and twisted it around the boards to Beniers. The rookie laid a perfect pass for a crashing Oleksiak, who extended the lead to 3-1 as the teams headed to their dressing rooms after 40 minutes.
Said Beniers, “I had a mini-breakaway before that. Ebs got the puck in the corner, dragged two guys to him, made a great play, and then I kind of had some time and just got my head up.”
We’ve been generally impressed with Beniers since he returned from his head injury after the All-Star break. He’s been one of Seattle’s best players almost every night, and on Saturday, he may have been the best player. Well, it was either him or Eberle. Either way, the duo is working really well together on their line with McCann right now.
“We’re doing the right things,” Beniers explained. “We’re getting on pucks, playing fast, playing north-south, so a lot of things that we’ve been talking about… I think we’re getting back into consistently doing it all the time and not just sometimes. It helps when [Eberle] is putting everything in.”
Takeaway #2: This is the Philipp Grubauer we expected when Seattle signed him
When Philipp Grubauer signed his six-year, $35.4 million contract at the opening of free agency two summers ago, we thought Seattle had pulled off a big coup. They were getting a guy coming off a Vezina-finalist-caliber season in Colorado, and he was the top goalie on the free-agent market. In fact, general manager Ron Francis said the Kraken didn’t even expect Grubauer to get to free agency, and all of a sudden, they had him in the fold.
Things obviously did not go as planned for Grubauer in his first season with the Kraken, and the second season didn’t start off all that remarkably either. He got injured in his fourth appearance of the season and missed more than a month, and along the way, he lost his starting job to Martin Jones.
Well, since a stinker against Edmonton on Dec. 30, Grubauer has been somewhere between good and great in each of his nine starts. He has now played four games in a row, and it’s no coincidence that the Kraken have points in all four.
“He was unbelievable tonight,” said Eberle. “He made some amazing saves, and the past— I don’t know how many it is, but he’s been great. He’s finding his game, and we’re feeling confident with him back there.”
Grubauer only faced 23 shots against the Red Wings, but there were a few stretches in the game when Seattle couldn’t get the puck out its zone. The Kraken netminder stood tall in those periods and bailed out his mates, particularly late in the game.
“He was awesome, especially in the third when they had a big push,” said Beniers. “We didn’t have a good answer sometimes, and he was able to come up with the big stop. Those are the kinds of stops that change the momentum of the game.”
It is safe to say Grubauer has re-taken the starter role. This is the guy the Kraken thought they were getting when they signed him for $5.9 million per year.
And, hey! He hit .900 for his season save percentage!
Takeaway #3: Doing it for the dads
Saturday’s morning skate was one of the most fun practices we’ve witnessed for this team over the last two seasons. With the dads and mentors present, the energy was elevated, the mood was light, and the comedy was flowing.
At that skate, we privately said to a colleague in the media, “They are 100 percent going to win tonight.” They just had to do it. The vibes were simply too good for Seattle to lose to Detroit.
Sure enough, the group did what it had to do to get the two points and get the event off on the right foot.
“When you can win when they’re here, it makes things a lot lighter and a lot better,” said Eberle. “It makes the car ride home a lot better too.”
“I think I can speak for the group,” said Grubauer. “Once the dads, mentors, brothers are here, we don’t want to lose those games because they’re a huge part of why we get to play. And to get this win means a lot to us.”
The dads and mentors will now accompany the Kraken on their road trip to San Jose.
by Darren Brown | Feb 17, 2023 | Three takeaways
The Kraken came out—dare we say it?—flying against the Flyers on Thursday. They put the plane on cruise control and glided through to an easy 6-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena, their first home game since Jan. 28. It was one of those nights where it seemed like everything was working for the home team and nothing was working for the visitors, as a few individuals had monster performances, and both the penalty kill and power play were clicking.
The Kraken also caught a bad Flyers team that was downright abysmal in its first game since these two teams played each other on Sunday, leading coach John Tortorella to predictably blow a gasket in his post-game presser.
Ah, Torts.
The Kraken needed that one. They took just three out of a possible 10 points on their recent five-game road trip, and things are very compressed atop the Pacific Division right now. By winning this one, Seattle kept pace at two points back of Vegas, which squeaked by San Jose Thursday. Meanwhile, the Kraken took back a one-point lead on Los Angeles and a two-point lead on Edmonton, both of which were idle. Calgary lost again, so Seattle now has a comfortable seven-point cushion on the Flames.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a thorough Kraken whooping of the Flyers.
Takeaway #1: Gourde and McCann were the stars
Everyone contributed on this night, and those are the games when Seattle is at its best. But we thought there were a couple players who were especially impactful in Yanni Gourde and Jared McCann.
We asked coach Dave Hakstol if any individuals stood out to him, but he wasn’t willing to single out anyone specifically.
“Guys were ready to play,” Hakstol said. “I know the guys that had points, and I know the guys that played well defensively individually on the back end, all of that. But am I going to single one or two guys out in a good team win? No, I’m not.” That’s quite alright, because we’re more than happy to point out that Gourde and McCann had stellar performances.
Gourde got rewarded in a big way for his unrelenting work ethic, scoring two goals and adding an assist. McCann only had one point—more on that point in a moment—but he was noticeable every time he was on the ice.
McCann got things going in the right direction for Seattle in this game with a herculean shift on the penalty kill. Like in Philadelphia on Sunday, the Kraken took an early penalty when Ryan Donato got tied up with Cam York in the neutral zone. But unlike on Sunday, Seattle turned that PK into a positive, thanks to McCann.
Just moments after painfully blocking a shot, McCann stole the puck from Kevin Hayes at the blue line and took off on a two-on-one with Gourde. McCann didn’t think twice about passing, instead rifling it past Carter Hart to make it 1-0 at 3:01.
“We’ve been working on the PK a lot,” said McCann. “Obviously, it’s not something I’m particularly good at, but I’m trying. I was able to kind of get in the lane there for the blocked shot, and then I kind of read— I thought he was going to shoot again, so I thought if I could get my stick on it, I could maybe deflect it, and I did.”
It was interesting to hear McCann say he doesn’t think the PK is a strength of his—which makes sense, since he’s not what you would envision for a PK guy—because that was the perfect shift.
It wasn’t just that one shift that made McCann stand out, though. He had a couple other good looks, set up Jaden Schwartz for a point-blank opportunity, drew a penalty, and was even involved in some extracurriculars after the whistle. He was awesome.
Gourde, meanwhile, had his best game as a Kraken. With a delayed penalty coming, Seattle maintained possession for an extended period and a 6-on-5 advantage. A nice passing play ended with Gourde tipping a Justin Schultz shot in to make it 2-0.
He didn’t get a point for Schultz’s power-play goal in the second period, but it was Gourde providing the screen to take Hart’s eyes away on that one as well.
He wasn’t done yet. He made a classy pass through the neutral zone to spring Oliver Bjorkstrand on a breakaway to make it 4-0 in the second, then—for good measure—added a power-play goal of his own with a one-time howitzer.
McCann is oozing with confidence this season, and his shorthanded goal Thursday was his 26th tally of the season. “As long as I can get the puck through and get it to the net, I feel like I always have a chance to score,” McCann said.
Gourde got his first goals since Jan. 10 in Buffalo. “Thanks for the reminder,” he said sarcastically after we asked if scoring for the first time in a while can help his confidence moving forward. “It’s always good to score a few goals going forward, but at the same time, don’t change the way you play. Just play hard, play into your game, and good things happen for you.”
Takeaway #2: Big night for special teams (finally)
That was a really long first Takeaway, so we’ll keep these other two short. It was refreshing to see the Kraken have success on both the power play and penalty kill Thursday. They got two bona fide (as in not deflecting off two skates and in like the one in Winnipeg) power-play goals, added a 6-on-5 goal with a delayed penalty coming, killed the lone penalty against, and even scored a shorthanded goal on that PK. That’s a heckuva night for the special teams.
“Simple power play usually gets it done,” said Gourde. “Use the top, Schultz has got a bomb. He’s got a great shot. We’ve got to utilize that and just take the goalie’s eyes away as much as we can.”
That’s exactly what Gourde did on both Schultz’s power-play goal and his tip-in goal with the Kraken skating 6-on-5.
Hakstol thought the Schultz goal in the second was what put the game on the rails for Seattle. “The biggest goal in the hockey game, in my mind, was Schultz’s; the power-play goal… They came out [in the second] with good energy. You knew there was going to be a response after the first period, they had a response, and that power-play goal settled things down for us and it pushed the momentum back in our favor into the second period.”
Can the Kraken learn from what made their 20th-ranked power play and 31st-ranked penalty kill successful Thursday and carry that success over?
Takeaway #3: A dominant performance
That was a thorough spanking by the Kraken, who whipped the Flyers with all eight of their tentacles. Seattle allowed just one—ONE!—shot on goal in the entire first period and kept Philadelphia under 20 for the full game.
Hakstol said it wasn’t so much that the Kraken were defending well, but rather that they were on their toes and taking care of the puck.
Now, if Seattle can just figure out how to replicate that on-their-toesiness (pretty sure that’s what it would be called) for every game…
by Darren Brown | Feb 11, 2023 | Three takeaways
Things got rolling downhill early for the Kraken against the Rangers on Friday. Seattle mounted a comeback, but by that time, it had dug too big of a hole for itself to overcome. The opening of the Vladimir Tarasenko Show on Broadway got its storybook ending and rave reviews from the Ranger faithful.
“It’s tough to come back in a game when you’re down 3-0 in the first,” said Jordan Eberle. “Obviously we were slow. We gave them everything they had as far as turnovers, and they’re a fast team. They’re gonna counter.”
The loss dropped the Kraken to 0-3-0 on the road trip, and suddenly the standings picture isn’t quite as rosy for Seattle as it was coming out of the All-Star break. Now, the Oilers, Kraken, and Kings are all level at 63 points, while the Golden Knights have built a three-point lead on the rest of the Pacific Division. It’s high time for the Kraken to start banking points again, and they didn’t help themselves on Friday.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a third straight Kraken loss, this one a 6-3 defeat by the Rangers.
Takeaway #1: The narrative was the narrative
Sometimes the story writes itself, in a way. There was no doubt coming into this game at Madison Square Garden that Tarasenko—playing his first game since being acquired in a blockbuster trade this week—would be that story. The atmosphere and the pageantry were omnipresent for No. 91’s first game in Rangers blue, and he didn’t disappoint the home crowd.
After getting a thundering ovation pre-game, Tarasenko wasted little time solidifying his place as another of the many stars in the Rangers lineup.
Ryan Donato tried to make a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone to Vince Dunn, but he partially whiffed and laid it out nicely for Artemi Panarin to skate into it with speed. Off the rush, Panarin found Tarasenko at the goalmouth, and the newcomer slipped it through the wickets on Martin Jones, nearly blowing the roof off the “World’s Most Famous Arena,” just 2:49 into his Ranger tenure.
“It’s not just [the Tarasenko goal],” said Eberle. “It’s the next one and the next one after that, too. I think, obviously, you know the circumstances of what’s going on, but you you’re not really looking at that stuff.”
The Kraken players would never admit this, but they almost seemed overwhelmed by the atmosphere in the opening period. The Rangers were feeding off the crowd and the situation of adding a star player, and Seattle just had no answer to slow them down.
Tarasenko was the star of his own show.
Takeaway #2: Tough start for Martin Jones got better as game went on
Ever since Philipp Grubauer got injured in Colorado on Oct. 21 and missed more than a month, coach Dave Hakstol has been leaning heavily on Martin Jones. He’s done so rightfully, as Jones has been central to Seattle’s success and has racked up an impressive record.
Jones’s latest start was a tough one, though. He gave up three goals on 12 shots in the opening frame, including one by Vincent Trocheck that snuck through, laid on the goal line, and ultimately got pushed in by Jones’s glove.
Another went in early in the second with New York on the power play. The puck caromed to the corner, and Jacob Trouba banked it in off Will Borgen. All the while, Jones didn’t know where the puck was and was down looking for it on the other side of the crease.
It wasn’t just the goals, though. Jones wasn’t tracking the puck well on this night, and you could tell because shots he normally gobbles up for whistles were hitting off his stomach and popping out into dangerous areas. We also counted at least three plays where he looked like he was about to clamp his catch glove down to halt the play, only to mishandle the puck and have it squirt out of his reach.
“I’m not going to nitpick the goals that went in,” said Hakstol. “The fourth goal is a bounce off our defenseman on a deflected rebound shot. The fifth one, it comes through the crease, but in all honesty, I’ve looked at it a couple of times, and that’s a play that normally he takes care of in the blue paint.”
Hakstol added a Kraken skate took Jones’s stick away from being able to deflect the pass that led to Mika Zibanejad’s power-play goal to make it 5-1 early in the third. The coach also said he did not consider changing to Grubauer in this game, even as it got away from Seattle in the early going.
Adding minor injury to insult, Jones made a nice save on Filip Chytil on a two-on-one rush late in the second period. As he was down on the ice, Alex Wennberg’s knee slammed into Jones’s head, jerking it back awkwardly. Jones stayed down for a moment and got checked by the training staff, but stayed in the game.
To the credit of both Hakstol (for the decision) and Jones (for his resiliency), the Kraken netminder did seem to settle down after the fourth goal by Trouba. He looked more like himself as the second period went on and made several big saves as Seattle had started to push back.
With Jones not playing his best lately, and Grubauer looking sharp in his recent outings, it does feel like it’s time to start giving Grubauer the lion’s share of starts again. Let’s see if that shift starts to happen on the rest of this trip.
Takeaway #3: Kraken made a game of it
We hate to make comparisons between this season’s Kraken and last season’s Kraken, but Friday’s game had inaugural-season vibes in a lot of ways. Seattle fell behind early, then fell farther behind and looked like it had no chance to get anywhere close. But as was so often the case last year, the Kraken did push back and gain confidence and momentum as the game went along.
After Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on a breakaway in the second period, Seattle had the better of the play for the rest of the night, despite the Rangers adding a second power-play goal to make it 5-1 at one point.
The Kraken responded to that fifth goal with a power-play goal of their own, as Jared McCann sniped his 24th goal of the season from above the left circle, an area from which he seems to love shooting.
Then, just 22 seconds later, Brandon Tanev found himself on a breakaway after Donato made a nice pass to spring him at the blue line. Tanev raced in, opened up Shesterkin, and slipped it through his pads. That made it 5-3, and suddenly it seemed like the Kraken might be stealing the story away from Tarasenko.
The rally was too little, too late, though, and the Rangers skated off with a mostly easy victory. Still, it was an encouraging sign that Seattle didn’t quit in this one, as they never do. They battled to the end and gave themselves some positives on which to build for the rest of the trip.
The Kraken will look to stop the bleeding in Philadelphia on Super Bowl Sunday, then close out the trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday.
