The Seattle Kraken wrapped up their five-game homestand with a frustrating 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday. Seattle finished with a 2-1-2 record during these five games, earning points in four of five for a total of six. But this matchup had all the makings of a trap game, and the Kraken fell right into it, coming away with their first home regulation loss of the season in ugly fashion.
San Jose has a talented young core and a goalie that was drafted in the first round in 2020. The Sharks can score, as Seattle learned the hard way—they’re now tied for second in the Western Conference in goals scored at 48.
Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring on San Jose’s first shot of the night. Jaden Schwartz lost a battle on the boards, and Tyler Toffoli jumped on the loose puck, feeding a wide-open Celebrini, who made no mistake. The Kraken responded with strong pressure in the first period, outshooting the Sharks 10-6 and tying the game 1-1 (more on that later). But just two minutes after that, former Kraken Alexander Wennberg found Ethan Cardwell, who one-timed the puck past Joey Daccord. From there, the Sharks never looked back, piling on four more goals.
Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was outstanding, stopping 28 of 29 shots. He earned his third win of the season and is now 3-1 in his last four games.
Takeaway #1 – Winter is here
Ryan Winterton scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday night in his 34th career game. It felt like it was only a matter of time, but winter has officially arrived.
Just before his goal, Winterton nearly converted on a partial breakaway, but Askarov turned him aside. Moments later, he found open ice in the slot, corralled a deflected shot from Ryan Lindgren that bounced off Wennberg, and ripped it into the top right corner.
It was great to see Winterton get his first, even if it came in a blowout loss. Now that the monkey’s off his back, hopefully the goals start coming more frequently for a young player who seems to be proving himself as a full-time NHLer.
Takeaway #2 – Unraveled in the deep
Winterton’s goal tied the game 1-1, and it felt like the ice was tilted in Seattle’s favor for much of the first period. The team looked composed and confident—but that quickly unraveled as the Sharks regained control.
The Kraken struggled to make crisp passes in any zone, leading to turnovers and killing offensive pressure in the second and third periods. Lane Lambert didn’t mince words after the game: “I didn’t like our game. I didn’t like the way we played. I thought we were too loose, and we did not play to our identity tonight.”
Nothing went right, including goaltending. Daccord was pulled after allowing five goals, and Matt Murray entered in relief—only to give up a goal 30 seconds later when Toffoli scored on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box. Both Kraken goalies allowed goals on the first shot they faced.
Takeaway #3 – Power outage on the man advantage
After scoring a power-play goal in each of the previous three games, the Kraken went 0-for-6 on the man advantage. Worse, they gave up a shorthanded goal when Vince Dunn was stripped by Collin Graf. Daccord made the initial save, but Graf recovered the puck and fed Ty Dellandrea, who buried it. That goal made it 5-1 and ended Daccord’s night. The tally wasn’t on him, but at that point, the team needed a change.
5-1 San Jose. Shorthanded goal at 3:24 in the third period.
Colin Graf strips Vince Dunn at the point and gets a breakaway chance. Joey Daccord saves the initial chance but Ty Dellandrea collects the rebound and scores.
Seattle generated 13 shots on the power play, but in the end, the Kraken got Askaroved. The Kraken also missed the net eight times.
When you have open looks, the puck needs to get to the net. Missing the net and sending the puck off the glass and out of the zone kills momentum and resets the penalty kill for the opposition. We saw this far too many times on Wednesday.
On to the next
If you asked me which opponent at the start of this homestand looked most beatable, the Sharks would have been at the top of the list. Instead, they handed Seattle its only regulation loss of the stretch. While two more points from this one would have been nice, earning six points over five games is a decent result. The Kraken need to learn from this loss and quickly turn the page.
Seattle will now have Thursday and Friday to regroup before heading out on the road to face the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. That kicks off a short two-game trip, which concludes Sunday in Dallas for Seattle’s second back-to-back set of the season.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
The Seattle Kraken defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1 on Monday night. The win pushed Seattle into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division with 16 points.
It was Andre Burakovsky’s first trip back to Seattle since being traded to Chicago during the offseason. The move has worked out well for Burakovsky so far—he scored the Blackhawks’ lone goal and now has 10 points this season (five goals, five assists).
But even with Burakovsky’s goal that temporarily closed the gap to 2-1, Jamie Oleksiak opened the scoring in the second period, and the Kraken really never looked back.
Matty Beniers scored on the power play, and captain Jordan Eberle added an insurance goal to put the game out of reach. Beniers and Eberle assisted on each other’s goals, giving both two-point nights. Eberle now leads Seattle with five goals, while Eeli Tolvanen picked up an assist to extend his point streak to three games. Tolvanen has four assists through the first 12 games but has yet to find the back of the net.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-1 Kraken win over the Blackhawks.
Takeaway #1 – Offense!
After a lackluster offensive effort against the Rangers on Saturday, when Seattle recorded a franchise-worst 13 shots on goal, the message was clear: get pucks on net. Head coach Lane Lambert shuffled his lines before facing Chicago.
Tolvanen moved up alongside Beniers and Eberle. Kaapo Kakko joined Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz. Jani Nyman, scratched against the Rangers, rejoined the lineup with Shane Wright and Mason Marchment. Berkly Catton centered the fourth line between Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton.
Based on the morning skate, it didn’t appear Catton would play, but the coaching staff opted to give him a look at center. The fourth line stood out with its energy, though Catton logged a team-low 7:07 of ice time.
Seattle started with urgency, firing eight shots in the first eight minutes. They slowed down after that and finished with 24 total shots. Still, it was encouraging to see the coaching staff identify a problem from the previous game and make changes that delivered results.
As John Barr noted in Monday Musings, the Kraken are averaging 23.9 shots per game—right on par with this performance, though there’s still room for improvement. Interestingly, Seattle had just five shots in the second period but scored twice.
Takeaway #2 – Special teams
Seattle excelled on both sides of special teams in this game. The Kraken successfully killed all three penalties, maintaining their strong defensive effort. Seattle has now gone two straight games without allowing a power-play goal. Chicago generated some chances, but the Kraken stayed active with their sticks, blocked shots, and leaned on a steady Joey Daccord in net.
In John Barr’s new 10 for 10 series, he noted Seattle’s penalty kill sat at 64 percent through 10 games. After two perfect games, that number is up to 71 percent—still not great, but trending in the right direction.
It only took eight seconds for the Kraken to convert on their first power-play attempt, and they were 1-for-2 on the night.
Beniers wastes no time! ⚡️ Buries it on the powerplay with helpers from Captain Eberle and Tolvanen. #SeaKraken up 2-0! 🏒 pic.twitter.com/304o2NnhmM
This goal was fun to watch. All five skaters touched the puck before Beniers buried it. Stephenson tied up his man on the draw, Beniers supported and moved it to Vince Dunn, who slid it over to Tolvanen for the shot. Eberle corralled the rebound and appeared to drift behind the net before sending a perfect backhand pass to Beniers in the slot, who fired it home. A thing of beauty.
After the game, Beniers said of Eberle’s pass: “You know, it’s funny, I knew it was coming. No doubt in my mind. That’s just the type of player [Eberle] is.”
Takeaway #3 – Joey! Joey! Joey!
It was a bit unexpected that Daccord wasn’t among the three stars of the night. He posted a .967 save percentage and allowed just one goal, saving 2.52 goals above expected per MoneyPuck. Connor Bedard led the rush on Chicago’s lone tally, getting around Adam Larsson to the puck along the boards and feeding Burakovsky for a quick five-hole finish.
What made Daccord’s outing so impressive was his calm positioning. He didn’t need to make any highlight-reel saves because he was square to the puck all night. When a goalie doesn’t need to scramble, it usually means he’s in full control.
With Chicago’s net empty, Daccord twice attempted a goalie goal to the delight of the Climate Pledge Arena crowd. His first shot had a real chance but was stopped by defenseman Artyom Levshunov. Fans erupted into a “Joey! Joey! Joey!” chant, encouraging him to try again. His second attempt missed the mark, but the crowd loved every moment. Seattle fans will have to wait a little longer for the elusive goalie goal.
This was a strong response to Saturday’s low-shot game. Chicago started backup goaltender Arvid Soderblom, so this was a matchup the Kraken should win—and they did. Next up, Seattle faces the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 5 to close out the homestand.
All things considered, it was a pretty fun weekend of Seattle Kraken hockey. In back-to-back games with travel, Seattle prevailed 4-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and had the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on the ropes for much of Sunday afternoon before falling just short in a 4-2 loss.
Now that Seattle has fully thrown in the towel on its postseason hopes, the results don’t matter as much anymore—just getting to watch entertaining games is all we ask for.
Here are Three Takeaways from an fun pair of Kraken games against the Flyers and Capitals.
Takeaway #1: Big weekend for Chandler Stephenson
Center Chandler Stephenson—despite some criticism from Kraken fans due to the seven-year, $43.75 million contract he signed as a free agent—has quietly put together a solid first season in the Pacific Northwest.
He had a standout weekend, scoring a shorthanded goal on a breakaway Saturday in Philadelphia and assisting on Jordan Eberle’s Sunday, the captain’s first goal since returning from a pelvis injury.
Stephenson’s assist Sunday was pretty. Eeli Tolvanen gained control of the puck along the boards in the neutral zone and flicked it ahead past three Capitals players. Stephenson collected the puck and skated in on a 2-on-1 with Eberle, threading a pass through newly acquired Capitals forward Anthony Beauvillier. Eberle buried it short-side.
That was Stephenson’s 32nd assist of the season, leading the Kraken in that category. He now has 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists), ranking second on the team behind Jared McCann.
Takeaway #2: Gru back in the net
Philipp Grubauer got his first start in net against the Flyers on Saturday since being recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He made the most of his AHL stint, going 5-2 in the minors, and returned with a strong performance.
Grubauer allowed just one goal, and even that came off a fluky play. Ryker Evans attempted to poke the puck away from Owen Tippett but inadvertently popped it up, causing it to bounce off Tippett and trickle past Grubauer.
Statistically, Grubauer posted a .958 save percentage, his second-best outing of the season. He was the best penalty killer on the ice too, helping Seattle shut down all five of Philadelphia’s power play opportunities.
One common criticism of Grubauer is that he doesn’t always make the big save when needed. That wasn’t the case Saturday. With the game tied 1-1, rookie sensation Matvei Michkov collected a rebound and backhanded what looked like a sure goal toward an open net, but Grubauer reached back with his glove and snagged it out of the air. Just 38 seconds later, Matty Beniers scored, and the Kraken never looked back.
Takeaway #3: Special teams
Seattle had four power play opportunities against the Capitals but couldn’t convert. They maintained possession in the offensive zone but struggled to generate quality chances against Washington’s seventh-ranked penalty kill (81.7 percent). Adding in a 0-for-3 effort against Philadelphia, the Kraken went 0-for-7 on the power play over the weekend.
On the flip side, they didn’t allow a power-play goal and even scored shorthanded, finishing plus-one in special teams situations. The Flyers, coached by John Tortorella, came up empty on five power plays and have struggled all season, converting just 15.3 percent of their chances.
Seattle’s power play continues to be a problem, clicking at just 18.4 percent—26th in the NHL and below last season’s mark of 20.7 percent (16th in the NHL).
Bonus Takeaway: The back-to-back struggles continue
Seattle came out strong against Washington, outshooting the Capitals 14-7 in the first period and taking a 1-0 lead. The Kraken have struggled with slow starts this season, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. However, despite a solid effort, they ultimately fell to the now league-leading Capitals. It never felt like they gave up—until Alex Ovechkin sealed the game with an empty-net goal, the 886th of his career.
Career goal No. 886 and career point No. 1600 for Alex Ovechkin. #Gr8Chase
The Kraken are now 0-10 in the second leg of back-to-back games. They have one more back-to-back set this season on March 18-19 against the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild. While the playoffs are out of reach this year, figuring out how to win these tough turnaround games will be crucial if Seattle hopes to make a playoff push next season.
Good morning, and happy NHL Trade Deadline day to all who celebrate and/or get incredibly stressed out by it. On Thursday, the Seattle Kraken made one last pre-deadline whimper in Nashville, losing 5-3 to a very bad team and getting outplayed for most of the game.
I won’t go quite as deep in this one as I do with other Three Takeaways, but there were a couple of interesting notes, so let’s touch on those before we get back to refreshing social media every 30 seconds looking for trade news.
Seattle came out hot and took a 1-0 lead on Adam Larsson’s goal (he should have had three or four in the game), but then it was all Nashville for much of the remainder of the contest.
These are Three (relatively quick) Takeaways from a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Predators.
Takeaway #1: Brandon Tanev held out for possible trade
It is no secret the Seattle Kraken are willing (and perhaps wanting) to move Brandon Tanev in advance of Friday’s 12 p.m. Pacific deadline. They are so committed to moving him, in fact, that they held him out of this game to ensure he didn’t get injured just before a deal could get consummated.
With how this market has developed over the last few days, I’m certainly curious to see what kind of return Seattle can get for Tanev and others. Given that the market has proven to be a very strong seller’s market, I’m all for Seattle having a busy day.
If Tanev goes, it will sting for many fans who have enjoyed his hard-nosed style since Day 1, but it’s the right move for Seattle to get as much as possible for him and his expiring contract.
Takeaway #2: Newcomers showed well
With Tanev out, Yanni Gourde traded away, Mikey Eyssimont now in the fold, and Jacob Melanson and Ben Meyers called up from Coachella Valley, coach Dan Bylsma assembled a brand-new fourth line consisting of the latter three players.
Melanson didn’t play much in his NHL debut, logging just 9:53 of ice time, but he lived up to his billing as a gritty player willing to muck things up and go to hard areas. We know the organization has been high on Melanson, a 21-year-old winger selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and we believe he has a future with the Kraken, especially now that players cut from that same cloth (Gourde and Tanev) are gone or soon to be gone.
I especially loved one of Melanson’s early shifts when he forechecked hard in the corner to create some chaos for Nashville’s defenders, then beelined to the top of the crease and started whacking away at loose pucks, narrowly missing a goal of his own and creating a rebound opportunity for Larsson. He was also seen in the middle of a scrum after throwing his body around behind Nashville’s net.
With missing teeth, a big cut across his nose, and a willingness to do the things you want a fourth-liner to do, Melanson fits the mold as a player that could grow into a fan favorite if he sticks around. Perhaps that will at least partially alleviate some of the pain of veteran core players exiting.
Eyssimont played a little more than Melanson, logging 12:39 of ice time. I didn’t notice him as much as Melanson until late in the game when he scored his first goal as a Kraken off a quick-strike tip of a Josh Mahura shot-pass.
A MIKEY STRIKEY! 🚨
Mikey Eyssimont scores in his first game as a #SeaKraken.
On a night when Yanni Gourde assisted on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s first goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was fun to see Eyssimont get one, even though it came in garbage time.
Takeaway #3: It could be an interesting day
Plain and simple, this wasn’t a very good game for the Kraken, but I’ve turned my full attention to the trade deadline at this point.
There have been some massive rumblings around the NHL from late Thursday into Friday morning, and returns for players of any kind of value have been massive.
When the Kraken are working on moves, Francis and his staff tend to hold their cards very close to the vest. So, although Seattle hasn’t been mentioned in many other recent rumors outside of Tanev, it would not surprise me to see a flurry of movement as the morning goes on.
Here’s hoping Seattle can take more advantage of this wild trade market. We shall see…
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The Seattle Kraken finally returned from their long 4 Nations Face-Off hiatus on Saturday and skated away with a somewhat surprising 2-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Captain Jordan Eberle returned to action, the “kids” were impactful, and Joey Daccord looked rejuvenated, stopping 26 shots in his 20th win of the season in 37 starts. For reference, Daccord started 46 total games last season but only earned 19 wins, so he has already surpassed that number and set a career high.
And, hey! The Kraken even got the better of a questionable goalie interference call for a change!
Here are Three Takeaways from a 2-1 Kraken win over the Panthers.
Takeaway #1: The captain is back
A lot has been made of Eberle’s recovery from a serious pelvis injury that required surgery and kept the veteran winger out of the lineup for about three months.
But now that Eberle has returned to game action, it is worth noting once more just how remarkable this recovery was. The injury suffered was one that doesn’t happen often in hockey, so there wasn’t much of a blueprint for rehab. Still, it became clear over the past few weeks that Eberle’s return was imminent, and the only remaining questions were 1.) how soon he could officially get back and 2.) how he would look when he did re-enter the lineup.
The answer to the first question was immediately after the two-week break, and the answer to the second question was… he looked like himself.
Coach Dan Bylsma did end up managing Eberle’s minutes a little, leaning more heavily on the Jaden Schwartz/Matty Beniers/Kaapo Kakko line as the game went along. But Eberle still played 14:03, including 57 seconds of power-play time, and had two shots on goal and several flashes of the creativity that Seattle has so sorely missed with him absent.
It was a solid step back into action for Seattle’s leader.
Takeaway #2: The “kids” came to play
As the Kraken’s season has gone sideways, one thing I’ve been looking for is the younger players taking bigger strides toward becoming the new core of the roster. It does appear likely that the team will move several of its veterans at the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline, at which point Seattle will look to have guys like Matty Beniers (who could already be considered part of the “core”), Shane Wright, and Kaapo Kakko shouldering more of the heavy lifting.
It was encouraging to see all three of those players contributing against one of the league’s best teams on Saturday, with Kakko scoring the game’s first goal on the power play, assisted by both Beniers and Wright. Wright also set up Jared McCann’s game-winning goal for his second point of the night, putting him back on a point-per-game pace in his last 11.
Kakko’s goal was a beauty, too. After he had drawn the penalty on Nate Schmidt to put Seattle on the advantage, Wright dug the puck off the half wall and found Beniers in the slot—a prime scoring position. Beniers faked the shot, pulling two Florida defenders toward him, and had the vision to recognize Kakko was sneaking down the left flank. A no-look pass gave Kakko a clear lane to the net, and he took the ice that was given, deked, and jammed it through Sergei Bobrovsky’s pads.
After both PP units control play and look connected, Kakko – who drew the penalty – capitalizes in a pass from flank to bumper to flank. Beats Bob. pic.twitter.com/bOAE9SuqP2
The hope for this team all season was that guys like Wright and Beniers would be reliable threats to improve the scoring depth. It took a while for them to really get clicking, but with Kakko in the mix, it is becoming easier to imagine the team evolving toward a younger, impactful core for the future.
Takeaway #3: Jared McCann gets off the schneid
McCann hasn’t had a bad season; he leads the Kraken in scoring with 43 points and even remains within striking distance of the team’s goal-scoring lead. Unlike his previous campaigns with Seattle, though, finding the back of the net has been a challenge for the skilled winger, especially since the beginning of December.
McCann has notched a few tallies here and there, but coming into Saturday’s game at Florida, he had scored just two goals in his previous 21 games. Believe it or not, both of those goals had come with the opposing net empty, so McCann hadn’t scored against a goalie since a 5-2 loss at the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 22, exactly two months before beating Bobrovsky on Saturday.
It was so obvious he was squeezing the stick prior to the break, too. He would get looks that—in past seasons—were automatic goals for McCann, only to fire it over the net or get robbed by the netminder. Thanks to a beautiful buildup by Wright and Adam Larsson against the Cats, McCann got the monkey off his back with a pivotal goal at 7:03 of the third period.
Wright made the play happen, running out of space inside the offensive blue line, but still finding a trailing Larsson with a cheeky backhand pass. Larsson sauced it over a stick to McCann, who ripped a quick snap shot. Even that one didn’t go in cleanly, but it hit off Bobrovsky’s blocker and finally bounced the right direction for McCann.
Hockey is a game of confidence. Even the best scorers go through dry spells, and perhaps a two-week layoff was just what McCann needed to break out of his.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
There were several positive storylines in this Seattle Kraken 4-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Shane Wright returned from Coachella Valley and scored his second NHL goal.
Vince Dunn returned to the lineup after a 12-game injury hiatus.
Jordan Eberle registered his 700th career point.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored his 20th goal of the season, hitting the milestone for the third year in a row.
Yanni Gourde returned to the game after taking a Dunn slap shot to the nether regions.
The list goes on and on.
Seattle came out flying in this one and had a chance to put the game out of reach by the end of the first period. The Kraken let the lowly Sharks hang around and get back in it in the second period, but they did batten down the hatches when things started to get hairy and allowed just six shots on goal in the third.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken win over the Sharks.
Takeaway #1: Tolvanen/Beniers/Bjorkstrand line is cooking
The trio of Eeli Tolvanen, Matty Beniers, and Oliver Bjorkstrand has been working quite well together since Beniers replaced Yanni Gourde as the pivot on that line. They struck twice in the first 11:26 of this game, and each temporarily had two points on the scoresheet before the official scorers took away the second assist from Beniers on Bjorkstrand’s goal.
Beniers got Seattle on the board very early, ripping it home after Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen did the hard work on the forecheck.
🚨 MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
29 seconds into the game, Bjorkstrand with the setup, Matty with the finish.
It’s one of those where Beniers deserved the point after he kept the play alive and jarred the puck loose to Tolvanen, but officially, it came off a San Jose stick. So, Beniers will have to wait on career point No. 100.
While Seattle’s offense has generally struggled to find consistency, this line has looked very good together on most nights since it was assembled a couple weeks ago. All three players have been contributing, and Beniers has looked more effective in the offensive zone than he has for a lot of this season.
By the way, that’s a pretty goal by Bjorkstrand, who found about three inches worth of space over Mackenzie Blackwood’s shoulder for his 20th tally of the season.
Takeaway #2: Nice night for “the future”
Logan Morrison didn’t play in this one, but all the other “kids” on the Seattle Kraken were noticeable at different moments in the game. Of course, the headliner here is Wright, who played his first NHL game since Nov. 13 and scored his second NHL goal on a beautiful setup with Jordan Eberle, who also registered his 700th point on the play.
Vince Dunn (more on him in a bit) started this play in the defensive zone with a breakout pass to Wright. Wright then passed to Jaden Schwartz in the neutral zone and smartly followed his own pass to support his linemate. Wright made a good second pass to Eberle, and then went hard to the net and made himself available.
Having seen Wright in person in Coachella Valley last week, we thought he looked different than he did in Seattle’s training camp and in his earlier stint this season. He has a little pop in his skating stride now that wasn’t there before, and he’s getting the puck off his stick in a flash, as we saw Monday. He’s clearly getting stronger and more confident, and the (almost) full season in the AHL is doing him good.
“I definitely felt comfortable out there, for sure,” Wright said. “I definitely felt like I belong there, and obviously, playing with [Jaden Schwartz] and Ebs, it’s pretty easy playing with two guys like that. But, yeah, I felt really good today, and obviously happy with the result as well.”
As for the other youngsters, Beniers (as we mentioned) had the early goal, and Tye Kartye also scored what would have been his second goal in three games, but that was negated when a coach’s challenge uncovered that Brandon Tanev was several feet offside on the zone entry.
Finally, how about this little sequence from Ryan Winterton? He wins a board battle and advances the puck out of the zone, then recovers a loose puck and springs Jared McCann for a breakaway.
One thing we’ve heard about Winterton is that the organization likes the way he plays against the wall (we talked to Winterton about that on our recent Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview with him). This was a fine example of why that’s important.
Indeed, it was a good night for the kids.
Takeaway #3: Vince Dunn is back
We do not think it’s a coincidence that this Seattle Kraken season went down the toilet after Vince Dunn took a cheap shot from Martin Pospisil on March 4 and was forced out of the lineup for 12 games.
Seattle’s top defenseman finally returned Monday, and while he looked rusty at times and made some turnovers, he also gave us glimpses of what the Kraken have been missing.
We loved the below shift from Dunn toward the end of the second period. In the clip, he’ll bounce in and out of the frame, but every time he touches the puck, it helps create offense. That starts with Dunn’s first little transition play at Seattle’s blue line and ends with his forecheck below the goal line.
Dunn being back in the lineup is a sight for very sore eyes.
Bonus Takeaway: Poor Yanni
We’ve all experienced some level of getting hit “in the mid-section,” and none of us want to experience it again. We felt this, Yanni.
It was good to see Gourde return to the game after this one.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
