Photo Gallery – Torrent vs Charge – March 29th

Photo Gallery – Torrent vs Charge – March 29th

by | Mar 29, 2026 | Uncategorized

Three Takeaways – Kraken take 3-2 shootout loss at Sabres but gain ground in playoff race

Three Takeaways – Kraken take 3-2 shootout loss at Sabres but gain ground in playoff race

by | Mar 28, 2026 | Uncategorized

It wasn’t the best road trip for the Seattle Kraken, but when you consider how it started—a 3-1 loss in a critical matchup with the Nashville Predators, followed by a 5-2 drubbing by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Seattle’s fourth straight regulation loss at the time—closing it out 1-2-2 is downright palatable.

One could even make the argument that Seattle deserved better in this 3-2 shootout loss to Buffalo, but after the Kraken jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the Sabres chipped away and took advantage of a cheesy penalty call and an ill-timed turnover to tie the game.

“I thought we battled hard,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done. I thought our goaltender was outstanding, gave us the game he needed. I thought we had a lot of really good chances. We have to score.”

Once the game got through overtime and into a shootout, you knew it was going to be a Buffalo win. Indeed, the Kraken went 0-for-2, Buffalo went 2-for-2, and that was it. The Kraken are now just 1-for-7 on the season in games that have gone to a shootout. Hopefully, that miserable stat doesn’t come back to bite them when this season is said and done, but every standings point means so much right now.

Speaking of which, Seattle’s single point on the evening was more than the Los Angeles Kings (6-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth) or Nashville Predators (4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens) earned. The Kraken still have to jump both of those teams to get back into the playoff picture, but they’re now just one point behind the Kings and two behind the Predators, with a game in hand on both.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres.

Takeaway 1: Solid performance

The Kraken didn’t get the second point in the standings, but they played a strong game from top to bottom. Remember, these aren’t the Buffalo Sabres of yesteryear. Although they hadn’t been at their absolute best in recent games, they’ve been one of the better teams in the NHL throughout the second half of the season.

What has been encouraging about the Kraken’s last two performances—against Buffalo on Saturday and at Tampa Bay on Thursday—is that they’ve played on their toes for much of the games. In this case, they did let a 2-0 lead slip away, but they also had plenty of opportunities to add a third goal on the night.

The first period was a nice blend of weathering the storm and creating offensive opportunities, even taking advantage of a blue-line turnover forced by Chandler Stephenson to take a 1-0 lead. Stephenson read Bowen Byram’s breakout pass and got enough of it to deflect it to Bobby McMann. Seattle then transitioned quickly back to offense, with Buffalo suddenly in disarray. McMann passed to Kakko and drove to the net, then Kakko faked a shot and instead made an exceptional seam pass to Stephenson, who snapped it under the bar.

The goal felt almost like a mirror image of the one Kakko scored against the Lightning on Thursday, but this time, he returned the favor with an elite pass to Stephenson after being set up beautifully by his linemate in Tampa Bay.

McMann also scored his seventh goal in eight games as a Kraken on an outstanding individual effort. He fought through a Rasmus Dahlin check along the wall, then went skate-to-stick at full speed and snapped it past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to put Seattle up by two goals at 13:18 of the second.

Behind the strong team performance, Philipp Grubauer also dazzled for the vast majority of the game (not so much in the shootout) and gave his teammates every chance to win. You could tell he was dialed in from the jump, and in the end, he came away with 34 saves on 36 shots and improved to a .911 save percentage on the season, inching ever closer to the types of numbers he used to put up with the Capitals and Avalanche.

The only two Buffalo goals came off a bogus power play on a phantom slash by Adam Larsson and one costly mistake when Jordan Eberle lost a puck at the defensive blue line to Zach Benson. Both he and Vince Dunn then went after Benson, creating a 2-on-1 that was finished on the short side by Peyton Krebs. That goal came at 11:39 of the third and cost Seattle the win.

“[This game] was a little bit more open, I guess, so to speak,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Give our guys credit, we made some good plays offensively. We just have to put the puck in the net. We have point-blank shots, and we had opportunities to win the hockey game.”

Still, this was a solid performance from the Kraken, who have looked very good in their last two games (and the final six minutes at Florida).

Takeaway 2: Special teams a deciding factor

We haven’t talked much about special teams lately, but they were a big-time factor in this game. Say what you want about the bad call on Larsson that led to Dahlin’s goal—teams will get their chances on the power play, and that’s just how it is. You have to come up with big penalty kills at key moments, and although Seattle had an impressive one late in the game after Oscar Fisker Mølgaard inadvertently swatted a puck out of the air and into the seats, the Dahlin goal came too easily and gave the Sabres the foot in the door that they needed.

On that goal, the four killers saw Tage Thompson passing to Jason Zucker in the slot and all converged on him. But the puck actually skittered out to Dahlin at the top of the slot, which gave him ample time to walk in, pick his spot, and rip it past Grubauer.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the puck, Seattle had four chances on the power play and came up empty.

Takeaway 3: Good on the Big Rig

Lambert has talked a few times recently about the importance of players standing up for each other, and we saw that in spades against the Lightning, and again against the Sabres.

Shane Wright got clobbered for the second game in a row, this time by Logan Stanley, who came all the way across the ice and buried Wright with a high hit that ultimately knocked him out of the game. Immediately after the hit, Jared McCann and Vince Dunn went after Stanley and made it clear that what he had done was not acceptable.

Stanley’s hit on Wright came with 1:38 left in the first. At 2:29 of the second, Jamie Oleksiak—the only player on the team who can match up with the 6-foot-7, 231-pound Stanley—made him answer the bell.

It was a solid heavyweight bout, and although Oleksiak didn’t drub Stanley, it was exactly the kind of response you want to see when an opposing player takes a run at one of yours and injures him.

The way the Kraken have stuck up for each other over the last couple of games has been another encouraging sign that this team really does care and wants to make it into the playoffs.

—

The Kraken will sleep in their own beds at home on Saturday, then take a day off Sunday. They will practice Monday before flying to Edmonton for their oddly timed one-game trip to face the Oilers.

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.

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Down on the Farm – Kraken prospect playoff preview

Down on the Farm – Kraken prospect playoff preview

by | Mar 28, 2026 | Uncategorized

This is “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. As of Mar. 27, the AHL and the ECHL are the only leagues with Kraken prospects that still have regular-season games remaining. Teams in other European, collegiate, and junior hockey leagues have moved into their postseason phases. This means that the season is fully over for some players, while it is hitting its highest stakes for others. We’ll update you on playoff season and where to find your Kraken prospects still playing hockey as we turn the calendar to April.

After that, we’ll update you on Jake O’Brien’s OHL franchise scoring achievement, pass on additional Kraken prospect news, video, and data updates, and, as always, the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.

If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column or mailbag, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.

Previewing the CHL playoffs

All of Seattle’s CHL prospects—two in the QMJHL, three in the OHL, and three in the WHL—are on teams that advanced to the playoffs and remain in action. Several have a legitimate shot at a Memorial Cup run on stacked teams.

Of local interest in the Puget Sound area, Ryden Evers and the Penticton Vees will visit the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday, Mar. 31, and Wednesday, Apr. 1. Julius Miettinen and the Everett Silvertips are driving for the WHL Championship with a local matchup against the Portland Winterhawks that started on Friday, Mar. 27. Let’s dive in.

QMJHL Playoffs: Alexis Bernier, D, Chicoutimi Saguenéens

The Chicoutimi Saguenéens are the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference of the QMJHL playoffs and a legitimate contender to win that league and perhaps even more. The Saguenéens finished third in the final regular-season CHL Top-10 Ranking. For his part, Bernier joined the team in a midseason trade and entered the lineup a few weeks later after being cleared from offseason ACL reconstruction surgery. His two-way play had an immediate impact. In 21 games, he had an eye-popping +17 on-ice goal differential at even strength, not to mention 12 points. As of late Friday, Mar. 27, the Saguenéens are up 1-0 in their series.

QMJHL Playoffs: Will Reynolds, D, Newfoundland Regiment

The Newfoundland Regiment enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, matched up with the No. 6 Cape Breton Eagles. Reynolds showed a solid two-way game in the regular season, posting a +25 plus-minus, which was second-best on the team. He also had three goals and 22 assists; his 25 points were second-most among defensemen on the Regiment. Reynolds has an assist and is plus-one through the first two games of the series, which is level at one game apiece. The series resumes Tuesday in Cape Breton.

While the teams will reseed going into the second round, if all of the favorites prevail, we could see a second-round matchup pitting Reynolds against Bernier.

OHL Playoffs: Jake O’Brien, F, Brantford Bulldogs

Kraken 2025 first-round pick and (nearly) consensus top prospect Jake O’Brien and the Brantford Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed in the OHL Eastern Conference and No. 6 overall in the final regular-season CHL Top-10 Ranking. O’Brien has been the Bulldogs’ captain and leading scorer this season, piling up 93 points in just 53 games played. Brantford’s first-round opponent is Nathan Villeneuve’s former team, the Sudbury Wolves. Though O’Brien was held off the scoresheet in Game 1, the Bulldogs prevailed and lead the series 1-0 as of Friday, Mar. 27.

OHL Playoffs: Nathan Villeneuve, F, and Jakub Fibigr, D, Windsor Spitfires

The Windsor Spitfires are the No. 2 seed in the OHL’s Western Conference and face the Guelph Storm in the first round. 2024 second-round pick Nathan Villeneuve had been sidelined following a hit taken on Mar. 8, but he returned for Game 1 of this playoff series, scoring a goal. 2024 seventh-round pick Jakub Fibigr had a goal and an assist in the opener, which was a win for the Spitfires. Villeneuve and Fibigr both joined the Spitfires in midseason trades. While their scoring production has cooled a bit since joining Windsor, they have each played important roles for a team with hopes of a deep playoff run.

WHL Playoffs: Julius Miettinen, F, Everett Silvertips

The Everett Silvertips are a wagon. The team finished the season with 57 wins, smashing their franchise record and nearly equaling the all-time WHL mark. The Silvertips are the No. 1-ranked team in the final regular-season CHL Top-10 Rankings. Kraken 2024 second-round pick Julius Miettinen has been a big part of the team’s success, scoring 76 points in 52 games to go along with strong defensive-zone play. For the Silvertips, who are the No. 1 seed in the WHL Western Conference, anything short of a WHL Championship will be a disappointment. The Silvertips took Game 1 against the Portland Winterhawks on Friday, Mar. 27, and Miettinen was the first star, scoring two goals and adding an assist.

WHL Playoffs: Ryden Evers, F, Penticton Vees

The Vees are a remarkable success story in their first season in the WHL. They set the record for most wins by a WHL expansion team and finished at No. 8 in the final regular-season CHL Top-10 Ranking. Recent Kraken free-agent signee Ryden Evers has been a big part of that equation as the team’s top center. During the regular season, Evers led the team in goals, was second in points, and third in plus-minus. The Vees are the No. 2 seed in the WHL Western Conference and took Game 1 against the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday, Mar. 27.

WHL Playoffs: Blake Fiddler, D, Edmonton Oil Kings

Over in the WHL’s Eastern Conference, 2025 second-round pick Blake Fiddler and the Edmonton Oil Kings are the No. 3 seed. Fiddler had a solid scoring season, but his on-ice impact may have improved more on the defensive side of things. His +23 on-ice goal differential at even strength was a marked improvement from last season. The Oil Kings dropped Game 1 to Saskatoon on Friday, Mar. 27, and will look to even things up on Sunday as the series continues.

Previewing the NCAA Frozen Four tournament

Unlike the grinding seven-game series in the CHL, the NCAA postseason is a single-elimination tournament. Three of the four Kraken prospects playing in the NCHC made the NCAA field of 16 and have now advanced to the final eight. This includes a Sunday rematch of Zaccharya Wisdom and Western Michigan against Clarke Caswell and Denver University. Let’s break it all down.

NCAA Playoffs: Ollie Josephson, F, Univ. of North Dakota

After a strong season that saw the team finish first in the NCHC regular-season standings, though fall short in the playoffs, the University of North Dakota still earned the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA tournament field. Ollie Josephson was a utility center for the Fighting Hawks, playing in all situations and driving solid results. However, a lower-body injury suffered during the NCHC playoffs has held him out of the NCAA tournament thus far. Even without Josephson, the Fighting Hawks defeated Merrimack in their first-round matchup and will square off against Quinnipiac on Saturday, Mar. 28, with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line.

NCAA Playoffs: Clarke Caswell, F, Denver Univ.

Perennial powerhouse Denver University finished second in the NCHC regular season but took the conference crown in the postseason tournament with a string of dramatic victories. Seattle Kraken prospect Clarke Caswell has played a key top-six role for the Pioneers all season and drove the play that handed Denver the NCHC championship in overtime.

Denver’s strong play continued in the NCAA tournament, as the team defeated Cornell University 5-0. That sets a regional final matchup against NCHC rival Western Michigan University on Sunday. With Zaccharya Wisdom on the other side, we’re guaranteed to have a Kraken prospect in the Frozen Four.

NCAA Playoffs: Zaccharya Wisdom, F, Western Michigan Univ.

The Western Michigan Broncos bowed out of the NCHC tournament in a thrilling game against the Pioneers and now get a rematch on an even bigger stage in the regional final of the NCAA tournament. Wisdom played a big role in the Broncos’ first-round win, scoring a goal and adding an assist in a win over Minnesota State. (Also, check out this video on Wisdom’s journey.)

Previewing the European leagues playoffs

When we look overseas, Seattle goaltending prospects take center stage. Though Visa Vedenpaa missed the Liiga playoffs, fellow Kraken goalie prospect Kim Saarinen not only made the playoffs, he has already powered his club HPK through the first round. In the KHL, Semyon Vyazovoi is also in the playoffs and performing well so far.

As for the skaters, forward Loke Krantz’s SHL team missed the playoffs, and defenseman Karl Annborn’s season is also done. (More on him in a moment.)

Liiga Playoffs: Kim Saarinen, G, HPK

Saarinen started four games in a span of five days for his Liiga team, HPK, in the first round of the Liiga playoffs. By winning three of those games, HPK advanced to the second round. Saarinen was a big reason why HPK is still playing. He posted a .967 save percentage and a shutout in the first-round matchup. HPK gets Tappara in the next round, with play starting on Saturday, Mar. 28. Can Saarinen go as far in the Liiga playoffs as fellow Kraken prospect Nikke Kokko did in his age-19 season? The younger goalie is off to a good start.

KHL Playoffs: Semyon Vyazovoi, G, Salavat Yulaev Ufa

Like Saarinen, Semyon Vyazovoi has started each of his club’s playoff games so far. Vyazovoi’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa lead their series against Yekaterinburg Avto two games to one. Vyazovoi has one win via shutout, and in the other two games he has given up five goals total. In a curious coincidence, four of those goals were scored by Seattle Kraken legend Daniel Sprong.

Notes on three other Kraken prospects

Karl Annborn | D | HV71 (SHL)

As the season neared its end, Kraken prospect Karl Annborn’s SHL club, HV71, recalled him from a loan to Allsvenskan team Västerås IK. Annborn suited up in three games down the stretch, including one game for HV71 in the relegation tournament.

If HV71 playing in relegation sounds familiar, it should. HV71 won the relegation round to avoid demotion to Allsvenskan in each of the last two years with Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard on the roster. Back in the same position again, HV71 once again saved itself from demotion with a win over Leksands IF. (In another interesting parallel, Västerås IK also saved itself from relegation from Allsvenskan via postseason play.) Annborn’s season is now over. He projects to return to HV71 next season with the goal of earning a regular role in the SHL.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard earned a promotion to the NHL this past week, but before he did, he had five points in two AHL games, including a game-tying goal and an overtime winner.

This performance is enough to make Fisker Mølgaard your Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, narrowly edging sterling postseason performances from Saarinen and Vyazovoi. The NHL promotion was the tiebreaker.

Jake O’Brien | F | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)

O’Brien and the Bulldogs are focused on the postseason now, but a regular-season accomplishment is worthy of note. O’Brien now owns the Bulldogs’ franchise record for career regular-season points. He set the mark on a power-play goal last Friday late in a matchup with the North Bay Battalion. With an assist later in the game, he finished with 255 career points. O’Brien is very likely to be in the AHL next season (if not the NHL), so this will likely be where his OHL mark remains.

Check out O’Brien’s shifts from the record-setting game, along with the team celebration after his landmark goal, below.

Kraken prospects data update

Jani Nyman’s first game back with the Coachella Valley Firebirds saw him score two more AHL goals.

Ty Nelson is closing out the season on a strong scoring pace. With two goals and two assists in the last week, he has narrowed the gap with Tyson Jugnauth for second-most points among defensemen on the Firebirds.

Nikke Kokko had a strong week, posting a .919 save percentage in two starts, both wins.

Victor Ostman kept pace with Kokko, winning his lone start on the strength of a .903 save percentage.

Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker

3 wins: Jagger Firkus, Jake O’Brien, Kim Saarinen, Julius Miettinen

2 wins: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Logan Morrison, Nathan Villeneuve, Semyon Vyazovoi

1 win: Alexis Bernier, Barrett Hall, Ollie Josephson, Tyson Jugnauth, Nikke Kokko, Victor Ostman, Zaccharya Wisdom

Previewing the week ahead

This week’s Deep Sea Hockey Game of the Week is the Sunday NCAA Tournament matchup between NCHC rivals Denver and Western Michigan. The game is on ESPN 2 and ESPN+.

Setting the NHL Draft Lottery

Reports indicate that the NHL Draft Lottery has been scheduled for May 5, 2026. If the Kraken do not make the playoffs, they will enter the draft lottery. Currently, the Kraken are No. 10 in the draft lottery, which gives the team a 3.5 percent chance of the No. 1 overall pick. Looking the other direction, the Kraken are just three points out of the second wild-card position.

Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Adam Goljer

Adam Goljer is a Slovak right-shot defenseman who skated for Team Slovakia at both the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2026 World Junior Championship. He’s got pro size and mobility, as well as experience playing against professionals in the top-level Slovak league, which makes for an appealing package. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic had Goljer No. 32 in his most recent prospect rankings. Goljer was No. 45 on our mid-season Big Board.

Recent prospect updates

March 21, 2026: Saarinen’s Liiga dominance, and the Kraken development track record

March 13, 2026: Kraken prospects mailbag – part 2

March 7, 2026: Seattle Kraken sign Ryden Evers, trade from draft asset depth

February 27, 2026: Rangers claim Tye Kartye, Kraken re-sign two forwards

February 20: 2026: David Goyette suspended for 20 games

February 13, 2026: Projecting NHL futures for Logan Morrison and Jagger Firkus

February 6, 2026: Seattle Kraken prospects midseason mailbag

January 30, 2026: Kraken prospect trade value tiers

January 23, 2026: Alexis Bernier set to return, early 2026 NHL Draft thoughts

January 16, 2026: Jacob Melanson is speeding toward an NHL future despite the demotion

January 9, 2026: World Juniors reports, CHL trades

January 2, 2026: Mid-season Kraken prospect ranking

Curtis Isacke

Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.

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NHL Road Trip Guide: Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning travel tips

NHL Road Trip Guide: Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning travel tips

by | Mar 27, 2026 | Uncategorized

It’s been a pleasure to follow the Seattle Kraken on the road for their last two games at the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning. The hockey was fun—they racked up three out of four possible standings points in unlikely fashion, rallying back from a late three-goal deficit to get a point against the Panthers on Tuesday and then putting forth a gritty, full-team performance against the Lightning on Thursday, stealing a 4-3 overtime win from a top-tier opponent in a tough building.

But this article really isn’t about what happened with the team, more so what fans should expect if considering making the trek to Florida to watch their favorite team take on the Panthers and the Lightning. It’s written from the perspective of somebody following the Seattle Kraken, but most of it is applicable for fans considering the trip from any city around the NHL.

The Florida / Tampa Bay road trip is a good one for NHL fans

While the NHL schedulers won’t always put these two Sunshine State matchups in the same order (i.e., Panthers, then Lightning), teams regularly visit these two opponents in relatively quick succession, making for a very feasible multiple-game road trip that you should consider adding to your hockey bucket list if you haven’t done it before.

As far as sunny destinations go, I liked it better than Southern California. Dallas and Vegas are also great for very different reasons (I generally dislike going to Las Vegas, but as a hockey trip, it’s about as easy as it gets and features tons of built-in entertainment beyond going to the game), but those are likely single-team, single-game trips.

If you’re looking to hit more than one game and also catch some rays, this combination of Florida-based contests is a great option. In terms of maximizing convenience, I still don’t think you can beat a trip to the New York area, where you may theoretically get to watch your team play three games against the Rangers, Islanders, and Devils, all while taking trains to the three arenas and not even having to change hotels.

This Florida trip is not nearly as convenient as that, but it comes with some great perks.

Challenging logistics for Sunrise

The Florida swing is not the easiest trip Seattle makes by any means—the flights are long, and getting from South Florida to Tampa (or vice versa) requires either a flight or a four-plus-hour drive. What’s more, the remote location of Amerant Bank Arena (home of the Panthers) isn’t all that accessible for visiting fans.

Having gone there, I now understand why Florida has not drawn that well historically, and sadly, they are back to this trend, with the seats only about half-full Tuesday despite two straight Stanley Cups and Paul Maurice coaching his 2,000th game that night (to be fair to the fans, the Panthers organization should have made a much bigger deal out of this than they did).

While I absolutely think you should make this trip, there are a few things to consider when you’re planning your jaunt to Florida in the next couple of seasons.

First, for my Seattle readers, there aren’t many flight options from SEA in either direction for either destination. With Amerant Bank Arena located in Sunrise, you can fly into (or out of, if the schedule is reversed on the next trip) Miami or Fort Lauderdale, which creates a couple more non-stop choices. I ended up flying to Miami because of a more suitable arrival time on Delta (my preferred airline), but after talking to former Panther Brandon Montour, I learned that teams stay near the beach in Fort Lauderdale and that this is widely viewed as the best base of operations.

I do agree with that sentiment, having now stayed in that area, which makes for a proper beach vacation feel. You’ll also be close to the infamous Elbo Room, which is a truly comical, cash-only, open-air dive bar famously frequented by Panthers players.

Knowing what I know now, I would still stay near Fort Lauderdale Beach but would instead fly to FLL. Flying to Miami, I got stuck in rush-hour traffic between MIA and my hotel in Fort Lauderdale Beach, which extended that commute from 45 minutes when I mapped it out to an hour and 15 minutes in actuality. So, fly to FLL.

Aside from the great beach situation and high-end hotel and dining options, another reason teams stay in the Fort Lauderdale Beach area is that the Panthers’ beautiful practice facility (I would argue even nicer than Kraken Community Iceplex) is 10 minutes away. The Kraken held morning skate at that rink on Tuesday, went back to their hotel, and then bused the 40-minute ride out to Sunrise for the game in the evening. Fans won’t be allowed at morning skate, so this isn’t really a factor to consider, but it was something I took into account for my own purposes. If you catch wind of an open practice happening while you’re in town, Baptist Health IcePlex is a nice side quest.

I’m sure you could also get away with staying in Hollywood or Boca Raton, but I can’t really comment on those locations since I didn’t visit them. It is also possible to stay out near Amerant Bank Arena, but don’t do that. Aside from a mall in the area, it’s desolate around there.

The location of Florida’s arena also brings ground transportation into the conversation. I’m not a huge fan of renting a car when I travel, and you could probably make it work Ubering around, but I think the costs mostly balance out between rideshares and a rental car. Parking in Fort Lauderdale Beach was tough. I read somewhere that there is street parking, but I couldn’t find a place to leave my rental car overnight. So, I ended up shelling out quite a bit of money to use the valet at my hotel. Still, with Amerant Bank Arena being so far away—and given my long commute from MIA to Fort Lauderdale—I was very thankful to have my own wheels.

As for getting from the Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood area to Tampa (or vice versa), I don’t think there’s a wrong choice between flying and driving (but again, if you fly, I wouldn’t recommend MIA). Assuming your trip starts with a game at the Panthers, you may already have a rental car, which makes driving relatively easy, but bear in mind it is a solid (and boring, straight-across-the-Everglades) four hours without traffic. The total door-to-door travel time whether you drive or fly is probably in the same ballpark, and driving is cheaper.

Tampa is much easier

The Tampa portion of the trip is much easier than the Sunrise part. TPA airport is 10 minutes from downtown, Benchmark International Arena is in the heart of the city, and you truly do not need your own vehicle; Ubers are easy and cheap, and the city is fairly compact. I ended up keeping my rental car for the entirety of the trip, but I wish I had ditched it once I got to Tampa.

I stayed 10 minutes from the arena in Ybor City, the historic district, which boasts some cool architecture and cobblestone streets, tons of restaurants, bars, and cigar lounges (a Tampa specialty), and—oddly, but also awesomely—a massive population of wild chickens roaming the neighborhood.

You can also look into the Hyde Park neighborhood, which felt more upscale than Ybor City, or even stay downtown within walking distance of the arena. That area was also quite buzzy.

I knew very little about Tampa before spending a couple of days there, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a great visit. I didn’t get out and explore the nearby beaches in Clearwater or St. Petersburg, nor did I go to Busch Gardens. (As a roller coaster lover who doesn’t get to ride many roller coasters, I wanted to get on the world-renowned Iron Gwazi. Next time!) Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed being in Tampa and getting to experience a Lightning game day.

Arena comparisons

Neither Benchmark International Arena in Tampa nor Amerant Bank Arena is new. At 30 and 28 years old, respectively, they lack many of the modern amenities that Climate Pledge Arena boasts, though both have received cosmetic upgrades over the years. Still, you can tell they’re older buildings.

Comparing the two, however, the whole vibe in Tampa is infinitely better. It’s a loud crowd, you’re in the heart of the city with plenty of pre- and post-game options in the neighborhood, and the massive pipe organ and lightning coils that send visible bolts around during the pregame show are all highly unique touches. If you’re choosing just one of the two road stops, pick Tampa, but both places naturally bring a solid hockey/vacation mix.

I hope this is helpful when you plan your own NHL road trip to Florida. For those that have made this trip before, what would you do differently?

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.

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Three Takeaways – Montour scores twice, Kraken earn “gutsy” 4-3 OT win at Lightning

Three Takeaways – Montour scores twice, Kraken earn “gutsy” 4-3 OT win at Lightning

by | Mar 26, 2026 | Uncategorized

Seattle Kraken coach Lane Lambert wondered aloud on Wednesday if his team’s rally back from a three-goal deficit to steal a standings point at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday could be the “event” that gets the group playing up to its potential again, something it has not done since before the Olympic break. After watching the Kraken play at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, there may be something to Lambert’s theory.

Facing long odds in this game, the Kraken played some of the best and most emotional hockey they’ve played in months, sticking up for each other, cutting down on (but not eliminating) defensive mistakes, and capitalizing on their opportunities. They also got a huge game from Philipp Grubauer—in the second half of the contest, especially—and rewarded him with a 4-3 overtime win.

Brandon Montour scored twice, Bobby McMann scored his sixth goal in seven games as a Kraken, Kaapo Kakko finished a dazzling play by Chandler Stephenson, and Berkly Catton had his first NHL fight and was generally awesome in this game.

“We were resilient,” Lambert said. “It was a hard game, and we had some guys get banged up. I thought Berkly Catton stepping up and fighting was a real spark for our hockey team. It just shows his character, and I just thought that we were resilient.”

Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators lost 4-2 at home to the New Jersey Devils, so Seattle is back within three points of a playoff spot with a game in hand.

Here are Three Takeaways from a big-time 4-3 Kraken win over the Lightning.

Takeaway 1: Taking their lumps, playing for each other

As Lambert indicated with his comment about guys getting “banged up,” there were two situations in this game in which I thought a player was about to leave but ended up staying. The first was when Shane Wright took a nasty slam into the end wall after an awkward hit by Charle-Edouard D’Astous. He was hunched over on the bench and talking to head athletic trainer Justin Rogers for several minutes but stayed in the game and ended up making a play to create the game-winning goal.

In overtime, Catton tried to make a cross-crease pass to Montour, but Andrei Vasilevskiy read the play and deflected the puck out of harm’s way… or did he? Wright—who had looked very hurt in the first period—reacted quickly and beat Nikita Kucherov to a loose puck at the top of the right circle, quickly sending it back to Montour at the bottom of the circle. Montour delayed and showed pass before letting a sneaky shot go that slipped through Vasilevskiy’s pads.

“Obviously, Shane [made a great play] on that one with the back check,” Montour said. “[It was] 3-on-2. I tried the five-hole a couple times, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. And with a good goalie like that, you hope to catch him off guard, and luckily, we did.”

Also in this game, Jordan Eberle took a nasty hit from Emil Lilleberg two minutes into the second period and hit his head on the ice. Catton—of all people—challenged the first guy he found, which happened to be J.J. Moser, not Lilleberg, who had actually made the hit.

“Apparently I got the wrong guy. I didn’t even know,” Catton said. “I just kind of was looking for whoever got him, and I don’t know… one of their guys looked at me, so we just kind of dropped them.”

This was Catton’s first career fight at the NHL level after also dropping the gloves once in the WHL. His inexperience showed a bit, but he did well to take one punch, throw one, and then get to the ice. He said his eye was partially closed immediately after, so although he didn’t know if he got punched, he thought Moser may have caught him.

The timing of Catton’s bout was funny. I had just interviewed him at morning skate on Thursday and asked him which player on the team he looked up to and tried to emulate the most, and he immediately said, “Jordan.” Watch that interview here:

“It’s your captain,” Catton said after the game. “You’ve got to pick up your captain, that’s just kind of an unwritten rule of hockey. So I did the best I could, but I had to do it.”

Catton’s fight was one of several brouhahas in a game that turned into one of the feistiest and most emotionally charged of the season for Seattle.

Eberle, by the way, went down the tunnel for a while but returned and finished the game. Matty Beniers also looked shaken up for a brief period in the second and didn’t play the first nine minutes of the third. For a time, the Kraken were down to just eight healthy forwards, because Lambert had opted to roll with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second game in a row, scratching Jacob Melanson and keeping Cale Fleury in. Lambert said he did this because he liked that it allowed him to move people around and “double-shift” Catton.

But the coach also said with a laugh, “I didn’t like [the 11 and seven lineup] when we had about three injuries and we were down to eight forwards, but it was what it was.

“It’s a huge moment for our hockey team, just guys battling through the adversity,” Lambert said. “So there’s no question that those guys [Eberle, Wright, and Beniers] gutting it out… it was a very, very gutsy win for our hockey team.”

Takeaway 2: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard shows well in first game after call-up

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, who was recalled on Wednesday from the Coachella Valley Firebirds and replaced Jani Nyman on the roster, was thrown right in on the third line.

I thought he was excellent in the game, looking fast and confident and defending like a veteran center. Lambert, too, raved about Mølgaard’s performance.

“I liked him. He’s quick, he’s fast, he’s smart. He’s a good hockey player,” Lambert said. “You can rely on him in those [defensive] areas. That’s huge for any young player—you have to be able to rely on them defensively—and certainly, you could tell he’s played the game at a higher level, Olympics, elite leagues, and all those things. He’s having a great year in Coachella Valley and well deserving of the call-up. And we’ll continue to use him, and I expect his ice time to grow.”

Mølgaard drew a penalty 13 minutes into the game when he got in first on the forecheck and was body-slammed to the ice by Lilleberg. Just after that penalty ended, Mølgaard was back on the ice for an offensive-zone face-off. The puck came out of the zone, and Mølgaard sprinted after it and used his body positioning to fight Jake Guentzel off the puck. In one motion, he bumped it off the boards to start Seattle’s transition back to offense, and in a flash, Freddy Gaudreau found Montour cutting to the net, and Montour deposited it for his first of two goals on the night.

Takeaway 3: Big game for Philipp Grubauer

The Kraken have been relying heavily on Joey Daccord lately, which Lambert said at morning skate was because of Joey’s puck play and the fact that the organization viewed him as “the guy” at the start of the season. Since Grubauer’s last start—which happened to be a 6-2 loss to these same Lightning (one could argue that none of the six goals scored in that game were his fault) on St. Patrick’s Day—Daccord went 0-2-1 in three consecutive starts with uninspiring stats.

The time was right to get Grubauer back in, and he was up to the challenge against the high-octane Lightning, making 30 saves on the night.

The goals Grubauer allowed in this one came from a blown coverage for a wide-open Anthony Cirelli, a Guentzel breakaway, and Corey Perry marching down the slot and one-timing a power-play goal.

All three of those came in the first half of the game, and from then on, Grubauer shut things down and held on long enough for Montour to find the game-winner.

His most critical save came with two minutes left in the second period when Ryker Evans fanned on a pass at the offensive blue line, which sprung Pontus Holmberg on a breakaway. Grubauer shouldered it away to keep the game tied at 3-3 heading to the second intermission.

“I think at that point, every save is critical because I gave one up on the earlier breakaway there, so if that goes in, it’s a different story, maybe,” Grubauer said.

Added Lambert: “He played an outstanding game. He played a game that we needed him to play, and certainly with some of the ice times were high for the forwards because of guys being out… Grubi made some huge saves, including in overtime.”

What a win. The Kraken have life, folks!

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.

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Kraken Notebook – Checking in with Lane Lambert as season hangs in the balance

Kraken Notebook – Checking in with Lane Lambert as season hangs in the balance

by | Mar 25, 2026 | Uncategorized

The Seattle Kraken are truly on their last tentacle. The other seven tentacles have been sliced off at this point, and while the rest of the Pacific Division has done everything in its power to keep the Kraken afloat by mostly matching Seattle’s losing pace, the Nashville Predators—sadly—did not get the memo. After selling a couple of fringe pieces at the deadline, Nashville has surprisingly caught fire with five straight wins and a 7-2-1 record in its last 10, including two victories over Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Kraken finally turned on the desperation we’ve been hoping to see Tuesday at the Florida Panthers, but they didn’t do it until they were down 4-1 with six minutes left to play. They rallied back to salvage a point but came up short in a shootout.

It appears the hole the Kraken have dug themselves since the Olympic break—going 4-9-1 in 14 games to fall five points out of a playoff spot—will be too deep to escape, but coach Lane Lambert isn’t ready to write off the season just yet. He indicated he hopes the comeback in the third period against Florida can be the spark that finally gets his team back on track.

“There was a lot of positives to that game, and obviously, the comeback was huge,” Lambert said at an optional practice at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa on Wednesday. “The point was huge. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get two, but to be down like that, mount the comeback like that, hopefully that catapults us here. We kind of always say there has to be some sort of event that happens. Maybe that was our event.”

There are technically three games left on this six-game road trip, but the Kraken will face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, then head home for a day to change their clothes before going back out to Edmonton to face the Oilers on Tuesday. The Lightning are 4-0-1 in their last five games and just embarrassed the Kraken 6-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on St. Patrick’s Day, and the Sabres have lost in regulation just once since Feb. 5. Hold onto your butts.

Top-line Berkly Catton

Being on the road with the team has its benefits, like the occasional opportunity to be the only reporter in a press scrum with the team’s head coach. That’s what happened Wednesday, so I took full advantage and held Lane Lambert “hostage” with a wide range of questions that led to a surprisingly long 1-on-1 presser.

You can hear the full conversation here:

One thing I wanted to dig into a little more with Lambert was his decision to elevate Berkly Catton to the top line in Seattle’s 5-4 shootout loss in Sunrise on Tuesday. Of course, part of that is just looking for a spark, and it worked in a way, as Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle (Catton’s linemates) both scored, and Bobby McMann—who vacated the line and was replaced by Catton—also potted the game-tying goal to complete the third-period comeback.

“If you watch Berkly play, obviously, on the production side of it, we’d love to have more,” Lambert said. “But at the same time, he’s making plays. He made a couple of extremely elite plays last night. And for me, from an offensive standpoint, we need him, certainly with [Jared] McCann being out and [Jaden] Schwartz being out. I think he’s got some elite vision, elite talent in order to make some plays. And so I thought he played a very good game last night.”

That’s some high praise of the 19-year-old rookie.

Meanwhile, although I didn’t explicitly state it in Three Takeaways on Tuesday, I thought Beniers—who is also the guest on this week’s Sound Of Hockey Podcast, publishing relatively soon—was Seattle’s best player against Florida. His play to drive to the net, deke, and tuck the puck into an open net while falling to the ice was an outstanding individual effort and was representative of the type of desperation this team has needed for several weeks now.

“I do [agree that he’s putting forth an outstanding effort], actually,” Lambert said. “I think that his leadership qualities… they’re coming through, as well, coming through on the bench. There’s different things that he’s doing that maybe people don’t see from that standpoint, and he’s bringing his ‘A’ game, he’s bringing his desperation.”

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard in, Jani Nyman out

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard has been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley, and Jani Nyman has been reassigned. Lambert hasn’t plainly stated that Nyman is a bad fit for his roster right now, but his actions have certainly indicated that.

After Nyman took a minus-four rating in just 8:15 of ice time on the fourth line at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, Lambert was so disinterested in putting him back in the lineup on Tuesday that he opted to dress Cale Fleury as a seventh defenseman and play one forward short. All that to say, it was unsurprising when the Fisker Mølgaard swap was officially made Wednesday.

“We’ve been running with four penalty killers here, a little bit,” Lambert said. “Oscar’s a pretty smart player, obviously, a penalty killer, he’s playing well down there. I think, as it stands right now, his game is a little more suited for this time of the year, from that standpoint. So we’ll see where we go.”

How I read this is that Lambert simply doesn’t trust Nyman defensively but does feel more comfortable putting Fisker Mølgaard in, if needed.

Wishing the Winterton family the best

Ryan Winterton has been absent from the Kraken roster for several days, and it was revealed Wednesday that his older brother, Jacob, passed away after a battle with cancer.

“Obviously, it’s an extremely difficult time for Ryan and his family,” Lambert said. “We’re obviously always very, very supportive of him. I can’t imagine… And certainly, we just want everyone from [the Winterton] family to be as good as they could possibly be. In terms of his game, when he comes back… We miss him, and we can use him.”

Devastating news. Ryan is such a genuinely nice young man and doesn’t deserve to experience this kind of loss. Wishing peace and love to the entire Winterton family and all those who were close to Jacob.

Other odds and ends

  • Jaden Schwartz, out indefinitely with an upper-body injury after getting inadvertently kicked in the face in a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 7, has been on the road trip—a good sign that he remains on the road to recovery after that scary incident.
  • Matty Beniers told me during his SOH Podcast interview that he thinks Seattle tends to get a “bad rap” around the league. I asked why this is, and he said he thought it was mostly related to the weather. He refuted the claim nicely. Give that interview a listen when it comes out; it’s a fun 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.

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