The Seattle Kraken’s rampage through Canada reached the capital Saturday and once again they left after kicking over the furniture and emptying the fridge. Eight different Seattle players scored in an 8-4 rout of the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“We got off to a good start,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We wanted to push off with a good start.”
It was the fourth straight win for the Kraken and the third straight win to start the Kraken’s seven-game road trip. Last season the Kraken won 11 road games but Friday was the 12th win already this season.
“We’re just a better hockey team (than last year),” Hakstol said. “That encompasses everything, from what our group looks like on paper to how we play every night. We’ve worked hard to be successful on the road. That’s not an easy thing to do but we’ve found different ways to win games.”
Jordan Eberle and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and two assists. Vince Dunn, Justin Schultz, Matty Beniers, and Daniel Sprong each chipped in a goal and an assist. Lost in all the offense was the 18th win on 19 saves by Martin Jones for the Kraken (22-12-4).
Tim Stutzle set the pace for Ottawa with a hat trick for the Senators (18-18-3), who had a three-game win streak snapped.
The score indicates that the game was devoid of drama, but Ottawa did erase a two-goal deficit to tie the game at 3-3 in the second period.
But as they’ve done over the last four games, the Kraken had a response. Stutzle scored twice in 8:34 to even the game and appeared to give the Senators all the momentum. But, 22 seconds later, Daniel Sprong would score off a rush for his 12th goal to make it 4-3.
“They score, they’re feeling it,” Eberle said. “Obviously they think they have a chance and he comes back with a goal that shuts that down… those are big momentum shifts. As you start getting into important games and playoff-type hockey as you go down the stretch, that’s all it is, it’s momentum swings. You have to be a team that can counter.”
Beniers would score at 14:13 to make it 5-3. The play started with Beniers taking a big hit in his own end but he had managed to get the puck up ice. He got up and followed the play and as the puck went into the corner where Eberle won a battle, Beniers headed for the slot.
Eberle hit him with a pass and Beniers roofed his rookie-leading 14th goal of the season. He has scored a goal in each of his last three games.
The two goals turned the tide and Seattle would add on with goals from Dunn at 1:19 of the third to make it 6-3, and Eberle at 4:55 as he put back a rebound to make it 7-3.
Stutzle interrupted the Kraken scoring at 5:20 to record the hat trick and cut the lead to 7.-4 but the Kraken quelled that uprising with an Andre Burakovsky goal on the doorstep at 9:59.
It was another team win and the Kraken ended the night with 13 players recording a point.
Seattle built an early 3-1 first period lead with goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jared McCann, and Schultz.
Scoring from everyone
The Kraken aren’t relying on one guy or line to get scoring. During their four-game win streak, they’ve outscored the opponents 22-8.
Seattle hasn’t had a player score twice in any of the four wins which speaks to the depth. They’ve gotten contributions from all four lines and attacked teams in waves.
“I think the strength of this group is in the depth that we have,” Eberle said. “Not just on the forwards side but on the defense, goalies and you see teams that have four lines and six D that can contribute and are dangerous. In my opinion, a lot of teams that go deep in the playoffs are because of that.”
Tentacle Tales
Seattle scored eight goals in a game for the third time this season which leads the NHL. The last team with more was the Pittsburgh Penguins who did it four times in 2011-2012.
It was the first time that Seattle has scored five or more goals three times in a row.
Stutzle picked up his second career hat trick.
The Kraken lead the NHL in response goals – scoring within a minute of the opponents. Seattle has done it nine times this year.
The Kraken flipped the script on the Oilers Tuesday, just four days after Edmonton embarrassed Seattle 7-2 at Climate Pledge Arena.
In the first meeting between these two teams, Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer was pulled just four minutes into the game, as Edmonton sliced and diced Seattle’s disjointed defense and potted four goals in the first period.
Tuesday at Rogers Place, it was a different story. The Kraken came out looking a lot more structurally sound in the first period and got to the intermission down just 1-0 after a power-play goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Then, after Connor McDavid got a highlight-reel goal early in the second, Seattle turned it on and hung four goals of their own on Stuart Skinner, sending him to the bench for Jack Campbell.
“Obviously, it was a lot of emphasis on what happened last game [against Edmonton],” said Adam Larsson, who extended his point streak to a career-high seven games. “That kind of made us even more hungry today. I thought from top to bottom, every guy played a solid game.”
In the end, the Kraken exorcised their Oilers demons and earned an enormous 5-2 win, putting themselves back into third place in the Pacific Division and starting their longest road trip of the season on a positive note. Here are our Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Crucial offside challenge took serious cojones
By the end of the first period Tuesday, Edmonton’s league-leading power play was three-for-three on the season against Seattle. Early in the third, it appeared that lethal unit had improved to four-for-four when McDavid found Leon Draisaitl through the seam, and Draisaitl rifled it past Martin Jones.
[INSERT RECORD SCRATCH SOUND HERE.]
But wait! Coach Dave Hakstol challenged the goal for an offside entry into the zone!
Replay showed that Zach Hyman’s trailing skate blade was just a fraction of an inch over the line before the puck, negating the goal and keeping the score 4-2.
That was a gutsy call by Hakstol and a huge catch by video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan.
“That’s Tim and Brady doing a great job,” said Hakstol. “Working through their process, taking the short amount of time that they have, and they got it right. And that’s a really tight call, but it’s clear, and at the end of the day, that is the right call.”
Had the call gone the other way, the score would have been 4-3, and Seattle would have gone right back to the PK against a power play that was having its way with the Kraken.
Of course, the goal being negated meant Jamie Oleksiak’s penalty was not yet over. The PK absolutely had to finish off that crucial kill, or the successful challenge would have been effectively moot. Seattle’s PKers finished the job, though, sapping what would have surely been a big momentum swing for Edmonton.
Takeaway #2: That second period escalated quickly
Seattle certainly looked better in the first 20 minutes than it did in the previous matchup against Edmonton, but when the second period started, McDavid went back to his dastardly ways and scored a banger to make it 2-0. In that moment, we had visions of the best player in the world again taking over the game and piling up points for another easy Oilers win.
Instead, the Kraken minimized the damage done by the superstar to just that one point on the night, and they completely turned the game on its ear from then on.
“I think we actually played pretty well in the first,” said Yanni Gourde. “I thought we came out, played hard, did the right thing, put the puck deep. Second period, we got that one goal, and it really gave us some wings offensively.”
Matty Beniers got the scoring started with a baseball swing at a Daniel Sprong rebound, notching Seattle’s second power-play goal in as many games. Then just 31 seconds later, Beniers again got on the scoresheet, throwing a puck at Skinner that dropped right to Jaden Schwartz for an easy tap in that tied the game.
Beniers putting up two points was a sight for sore eyes. The star rookie had gone eight games without a goal and only had two assists during that same stretch.
But it didn’t stop there. At 12:42 of the frame, Justin Schultz rifled a puck on net that Skinner kicked out into the slot. Eeli Tolvanen batted the rebound back toward the Edmonton goal but hit Gourde, who quickly spun and slapped it by Skinner.
Coincidentally, Gourde’s goal was also his first since Dec. 11, the same night Beniers had last scored.
Finally, off an offensive-zone face-off, Schwartz fired a puck from the corner that hit Skinner in the mask and caromed out in front. Alex Wennberg picked it up, spun, and laid a perfect blind pass on the tape of Jared McCann, who buried it in an open net for his team-leading 17th goal.
The fourth goal ended the night for Skinner and put the game on the rails for Seattle.
Takeaway #3: Off on the right foot
After a mostly painful December, it has been good to see the Kraken turn the page and start the new calendar year off on the right foot with consecutive wins over the Islanders and Oilers. Seattle has played the right way in these games, showing good structure, improved special teams, and patience to wait for its chances and capitalize.
“It was really nice,” said Larsson. “I thought the way we played too, it’s good to get rewarded.”
Meanwhile, Martin Jones has returned to the form we saw from him earlier this season, stopping 48 out of 51 shots in these two games. He was calm, cool, and collected against the Oilers, turning away 30 shots on the night.
A big piece of that was the way Seattle defended, holding Edmonton’s stars mostly at bay and allowing Jones to see pucks. This win was a true team effort.
That is Kraken hockey, which the group had certainly lost sight of after the end of its early-season streak of success and throughout the December doldrums. Here’s hoping they can keep building as they head to eastern Canada.
It’s a holiday tradition unlike any other, in certain countries anyway. The IIHF 2023 World Junior Championship gets underway on Dec. 26 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Moncton, New Brunswick.
In Canada, the tournament is must-watch television for hockey fans of all ages. It hasn’t reached that level here in the United States, and hockey fans are missing a good time.
The tournament, which features the best players under 20 years old in the world, is filled each year with compelling games that highlight top players on their way to the NHL, and this year, fans of Pacific Northwest hockey have plenty of reasons to watch and enjoy the tournament.
Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright is playing for Canada and has been named captain of the squad. Canada also has rostered four guys who play for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Olen Zellweger of the Everett Silvertips. As well as six local players, the Canadians are coached by Everett head coach Dennis Williams. Perhaps the team should change its name to Team Puget Sound.
As the captain of Team Canada and playing in Canada, the pressure and scrutiny that Wright will experience is as great, if not greater, than what he’s faced so far in the NHL. Luckily, the guy whose locker stall in the Kraken dressing room sits next to Wright is Jordan Eberle, who is well versed on what comes along with playing for Team Canada.
“Enjoy the pressure,” Eberle said last week. “It’s a quick tournament that goes by fast. You don’t play many games so just try and sit back and enjoy the atmosphere and the energy of the games. I think for me, it’s still one of the funnest tournaments to watch. You know, just based on how hard the kids are going, to big hits, celebrations, I suppose that kind of stuff makes the viewership high, so just enjoy the experience.”
Eberle played for Team Canada twice when he was coming up in the hockey ranks. In 2008 he was part of a gold-medal winner, and in 2009 he returned to the tournament as a 19-year-old and won a silver medal.
With a flair for the dramatic, he scored one of the most memorable goals in 2008 to save Canada during a semi-final against Russia which allowed Canada to win in a shootout and ultimately win the gold medal.
That goal lives on and is cited by many of the younger players who came after Eberle. It’s a play that gets pointed to as an inspirational moment for Canadians and has spawned World Junior dreams for many.
“I look back on that tournament, and for me, it was kind of a stepping stone to get confidence to get into the NHL,” Eberle said. “I’m sure Wrighter will use it the same way. As a kid you dream of playing in the tournament so when you get the chance to do it, you want to take advantage of it and just enjoy the moment.”
Sitting in the stall on the other side of Eberle is rookie Matty Beniers who has his own World Junior Championship story.
Raised outside of Boston, Mass., Beniers played for the U.S. on the World Junior team in 2021. That tournament was in the COVID bubble at Edmonton, and Beniers was part of a team that upset the Canadians in the gold-medal game, something that seemed unlikely for the Candians who were packed with NHL first-round picks.
While Eberle grew up in Canada dreaming of playing in the tournament, it was a bit different for Beniers.
“I watched ‘er growing up,” he said. “I wasn’t a huge sports watcher outside of like Boston teams. So growing up I didn’t watch a ton of hockey and stuff like that. I just kind of watched, obviously the Bruins, but I grew up in other sports, so I didn’t watch it much, but I remember getting older, then I started watching a little bit more.”
It wasn’t a near religious experience for Beniers like it was close to being for Canadian youngsters like Eberle, but he had similar advice for Wright as he prepares to win gold for the Canadians, something they’ve done 19 times before.
“Have fun, it’s a great time,” Beniers said. “Playing for your country is always super fun. He’s playing for Canada so I don’t know if I can totally root for the team, but for him and hoping he does well, I think it’d be fun and you know the role that he’ll be in, it’s awesome.”
A quick look at Team Canada
Wright will be an obvious player to watch, especially here in Seattle but he’s far from alone. He leads the Northwest contingent and will be joined by Thunderbirds Kevin Korchinksi, Nolan Allen, Reid Schaefer, and goalie Thomas Milic.
Kevin Korchinski is one of four Seattle Thunderbirds playing for Canada at the WJC. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Zellweger will be in the top Canadian defensive pair and on their power play so he’ll see plenty of ice time.
The Canadian team will be fun to watch for other reasons though. Wunderkind Connor Bedard, who is the presumptive first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and just 17, is a human highlight reel. So far, in their camp, Bedard has been playing on Wright’s wing, which will be fun and near impossible to stop.
Wright isn’t the only player on the roster with some NHL experience. The Los Angeles Kings have loaned defenseman Brandt Clarke, and the Arizona Coyotes sent forward Dylan Guenther, which only adds to the quality of talent they’ve assembled.
Once again, Canada will be the favorite to end up with a gold medal.
A quick look at the U.S.
The United States team this year is not devoid of star players either. They are not as loaded as the Canadians, but they can play and won’t be an easy out at the tournament for anyone, including the Canadians.
The U.S. has their share of players with NHL draft pick credentials. USA is led by defenseman Luke Hughes, who plays for the University of Michigan and was the fourth overall pick in 2021 by the New Jersey Devils. He’s not alone, as Logan Cooley, selected with the pick just prior to Wright in this past summer’s draft by Arizona, will add his speed to the U.S. top six.
Tyler Boucher, who was a first-round pick (10th overall) by the Ottawa Senators will also be a forward to watch and is the lone CHLer on the roster. He currently plays for the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL. Currently playing professionally for the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, Chaz Lucius will be another formidable player.
The U.S. doesn’t have a Beniers-type player on its roster this year, but that doesn’t take them out of medal contention. World Juniors may not be as big a deal for American players growing up as it is for their northern counterparts, but this team will be good and a must-watch for U.S. hockey fans everywhere.
We’ve talked on a number of occasions throughout this season about the Seattle Kraken minimizing the damage when things don’t go their way. It’s our belief that this is the key—on both a micro and macro scale—for sustainable success for this team.
In terms of individual games, that means only giving up one goal at a time and pushing back right away after opposing teams score. In terms of the season, that means not letting poor play for a couple of nights turn into long losing streaks.
Just when it felt like Seattle might be descending into a long, miserable stretch of losses, the Kraken played a complete 60-minute game Sunday to knock off the Florida Panthers. Five different players scored, including Matty Beniers, Andre Burakovsky, Jordan Eberle, Daniel Sprong, and Yanni Gourde, and Martin Jones was solid in net.
The needed victory halted the team’s losing streak at three games and gave the group hope that it could still have a successful road trip through the southeastern United States.
Here are our Three Takeaways from an impressive 5-2 Kraken win over the Panthers.
Takeaway #1: What more can we say about Matty Beniers?
We would stop writing about Matty Beniers all the time if he stopped finding new ways to impress us. But he raised eyebrows yet again Sunday by firing a heat-seeking missile past Sergei Bobrovsky a minute into the game and later sticking up for Justin Schultz after a filthy hit by Ryan Lomberg in the third period.
Beniers’ goal, which gave the Kraken an early 1-0 lead, was a thing of beauty. After Carter Verhaeghe fumbled the puck in Florida’s zone, Jared McCann jumped on it and threw a backhand pass to the top of the slot. Beniers was there and leaned into a one-timer that was past Bobrovsky in a flash.
Then, seven minutes into the third period, and with the Kraken holding a tenuous 2-1 lead, Beniers grabbed a loose puck at the offensive blue line and snapped it toward the net. Jordan Eberle got his stick on it and redirected it past Bobrovsky to give the Kraken a two-goal lead. Seattle pulled away from there.
Beniers’ goal and assist were central to the Kraken victory, but racking up points is nothing new for the NHL’s leading rookie scorer. What was new Sunday was Beniers jumping in to stick up for Schultz after the dangerous Lombard hit.
Good lord! Just an awful hit by Lomberg on Schultz in retaliation after Schultz had gotten tangled with him seconds earlier.
Just one game after Jamie Oleksiak was assessed a match penalty and then a three-game suspension for head contact with Washington’s Alexander Alexeyev, Schultz—Oleksiak’s usual defense partner—got his stick up on Lombard during a race for the puck. In retaliation, Lombard slammed Schultz into the end boards from behind.
After the egregious hit, the closest player to Lombard was Beniers, the 20-year-old skilled forward not known for his physical play. Beniers didn’t hesitate, though, and went right after Lombard.
“A hit like that, it’s just kind of what you do,” Beniers said.
Well, sure, it’s what you do if you’re a veteran NHL player. But if you’re Matty Beniers, an act like that earns you even more respect from teammates, coaches, and fans.
Lombard was given a five-minute major and game misconduct, and he will almost surely be hearing from the league. Schultz left the game and did not return, though the incident happened midway through the third period. So, there was little opportunity for the Kraken’s offensive defenseman to come back.
Takeaway #2: Is Kraken goaltending back?
It’s no coincidence that as Seattle’s recent hot streak ended, its goaltending started to slip. Pucks were going in that weren’t going in in weeks prior, and Jones and Philipp Grubauer traded off delivering up-and-down performances.
Grubauer had an excellent game Friday and nearly stole a win for the Kraken against the Capitals. That night, he stopped 34 of 36 shots but was done in by a goal off Oleksiak’s foot and a power-play tally by old friend, Marcus Johansson.
Jones followed that up Sunday with an impressive outing of his own, kicking out 23 of the 25 shots he faced.
“First half of the game, he had some key saves,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “And he had a couple saves that maybe didn’t look like— they may not have appeared as difficult as they were, right through traffic and things like that. He was a real key in this one.”
After four starts in a row in which Jones wasn’t at his best, he was back to being the composed netminder we came to expect during Grubauer’s extended injury absence. Jones never seemed phased against the Panthers, and on the rare occasion that things broke down for Seattle, he calmly dropped to his butterfly and kicked away almost every puck that was fired his way.
“He was phenomenal,” said Yanni Gourde. “Great game by him. He’s super calm in net, and he’s played very good hockey.”
Takeaway #3: A complete team effort
There was concern amongst the Sound Of Hockey braintrust that things could be going sideways for the Kraken, especially after bad habits had crept in in the latter stages of the team’s hot streak. Defensive lapses were back, and the team was playing way too loose for several games in a row.
But the Kraken did a good job of assuaging any such fears Sunday by playing a complete end-to-end game and earning every bit of that 5-2 victory.
“That’s something we’ve been struggling with,” Beniers said. “I think it was— before the game, you know, playing a full 60 minutes, that was a recognition before the game. It was just something we kind of harped on, and we were able to put it in action tonight.”
In the last few outings, we had seen a few of those lapses that were so common in the team’s inaugural season but hadn’t happened often for the current group.
After the Panthers got on the board in the second period, the Kraken didn’t slump and give up another quick one. Instead, they pushed right back and regained the lead thanks to an Andre Burakovsky sizzler into the upper corner of Florida’s net.
After Burakovsky’s snipe, Seattle’s game was on the rails, and the team never looked back.
“I thought we were really, really good tonight,” said Jones. “That felt like how we were playing on that seven-game winning streak. That was a really strong effort from us, top to bottom.”
Hakstol was also pleased with the team’s performance. “We were pretty consistent throughout the hockey game,” he said. “Specialty teams were solid and contributed to the win, goaltending was good, and that’s what it takes to get a good road win.”
Monday Musings is a collection of random thoughts and observations about the last week of activity from the hockey world with an emphasis on the Kraken and other happenings around the Puget Sound hockey community.
Kraken thoughts
The Kraken went 2-1-0 for the week and sit comfortably in second place in the Pacific Division. The boys continue to bank those points in pursuit of the playoffs. Their current record of 15-6-3 is putting them about on pace for a 113-point season. There is and should be a sense of optimism around this team right now, but this week has raised a couple yellow flags.
The Good
The Kraken’s thrilling 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday was an epic. The boys showed some resilience in coming back from a two-goal deficit that included a tying goal by Yanni Gourde with less than three minutes left in regulation. The icing on the cake was a game-winning goal by Matty Beniers just seven seconds into overtime.
After a pedestrian first period by the Kraken, they pretty much dominated the rest of the game with Philipp Grubauer coming up big when they needed him. We have seen some great games at Climate Pledge Arena, but I will put this one toward the top.
The Bad
The great thing about this team this year is you go into every game anticipating a win. At the very least, you expect them to be competitive and play a close game deep into the third. When that doesn’t happen, it feels like a letdown. The Kraken looked competitive in Saturday night’s game against the Florida Panthers, but a 5-1 loss at home can make you feel like you just got your teeth kicked in. Even the best teams in the league take it on the chin from time to time so let’s not overreact here. It is just a loss, and it is also ok to be upset about it.
Sometimes the toughest thing for me about a Kraken loss is the wait for the next game. I want to see them redeem themselves as soon as possible. Tuesday night cannot come soon enough.
The Ugly
You are allowed to win ugly. Tuesday night’s 9-8 overtime win against the Kings might have been a lot of fun for fans, but it is about as ugly of a win as you can get. The goaltending was sketchy at best, but there was poor defensive play all over the ice that night. If you have not watched the condensed replay of the game, do yourself a solid and give it a viewing.
Regardless of your feeling about that game, the Kraken walked away with two points in the standings, and as Darren Brown said on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, “It is better to win ugly than lose pretty.”
Goalie interference
At the Kraken game on Saturday night, I was sitting next to someone I did not know. He seemed like a new fan with plenty of passion. During the coach’s challenge of the first goal, he was adamant that it would get overturned. He asked me what I thought, and I told him flat out that I had no idea and it I would not be surprised either way. The goal would get confirmed, which led to a bench penalty against the Kraken, and the Panthers scored again on the subsequent power play.
If the outcome of the goaltender interference challenge is so variable, why challenge? Darren did an excellent job at covering the mindset of Hakstol in the challenge in his first takeaway from the game.
From an analytical perspective, I look at it as a math problem. Let us assume there is literally a 50/50 chance of getting the goal reversed. That will mean there is also a 50/50 chance you are assessed a penalty and will go on a penalty kill. If your penalty kill is killing penalties at a rate of .750 or so, you will more than likely kill that penalty off and there really is no harm. That is massively oversimplifying the analytical view, but in my perspective, that exercise should be part of the consideration.
Penalty kill woes
The Kraken penalty kill has been stinking as of late. Here is a look at how the team has performed by game so far, with the size and number on the circle representing the number of times the team was shorthanded in that game.
Part of the recent drop could be related to Morgan Geekie being out of the lineup, and another part could just be the ebb and flow during the season. Another aspect of penalty kills could be they are putting themselves shorthanded with more penalties this year.
That is true, but across the league, they are not the biggest offenders.
Regardless, the penalty kill has been bad. Geekie should be coming back, and I expect the team to make some adjustments sooner rather than later. In the meantime, let us continue to monitor for some improvement.
Other Kraken musings:
After the Kraken lost their first three overtime games of the season, Thursday night’s thrilling win against the Capitals marked their fourth overtime win in a row. They have yet to play in a game that went to a shoutout.
Florida’s win on Saturday night was their first point ever against the Kraken.
For those of you that attended or viewed my presentation at SEAHAC over the weekend: all three of the Kraken goals against the Capitals on Thursday night were ‘High-Danger’ goals, and the Kings had over 72 percent of the shot attempts in the third period.
I think the team misses Geekie right now. He is an integral part of the penalty kill and has become a bit of a faceoff specialist as well. Geekie led the team in faceoff percentage during November.
Shane Wright’s conditioning assignment with the Coachella Valley Firebirds is now over. I believe the Kraken hope to get him in the lineup at least once before deciding on loaning him to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship.
Tuesday night against Montreal would be a fitting time for Wright to draw in, but it will largely come down to Geekie’s status. The penalty kill needs Geekie. If he is not ready to play Tuesday, Wright should play.
This all-Kraken panel was fun to hear. It featured general manager Ron Francis, strength and conditioning coach Nate Brookreson, amateur scout Chris MacDonald, and video coach Tim Ohashi. Give it a watch.
After the 2019 SEAHAC conference, I wanted to create a meetup-type community of Seattle-based folks interested in hockey analytics. After attending the 2022 SEAHAC, I am convinced I need to make this happen. Would love to hear what other individuals think about the idea.
Alex Wennberg appreciation bullet. He flies a bit under the radar, but I have loved his gameplay this season. We do not talk about him nearly enough. That’s all.
Matty Beniers (SEA) – Three goals in three games for Matty, including the thrilling overtime winner on Thursday night.
On the docket
Montreal Canadiens – Tuesday, Dec. 5, at Climate Pledge Arena
Montreal is having a better than expected season but still faces an uphill battle to get in the playoffs. The Habs will be playing the Kraken on the second night of back-to-backs, but this will be a battle.
Canadiens Current Record: 12-11-1
Players to watch:
Kirby Dach – After being traded to Montreal, the 21-year-old center is having a solid season and is currently third on the team in points. Dach played a few years for the Saskatoon Blades before going to the Blackhawks. Cole Caufield – Like Dach, Caufield was selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Caufield is known for his small size but big shot. He is currently tied for the team lead in goals with 13.
Washington Capitals – Friday, Dec. 9, at Capital One Arena
The Caps will have the loss to the Kraken fresh in their memory and will be looking for redemption. The team has been hammered with injuries this season, but beating Alex Ovechkin and company is never an easy task.
Capitals Current Record: 10-12-4
Players to watch:
Nic Dowd – I did not call him out last week, but I did notice him in the game against the Kraken on Thursday. Dowd was born in Huntsville, Ala., and played one year of junior hockey for the Wenatchee Wild in central Washington. He plays an important role for the Capitals. Dylan Strome – Speaking of noticing someone, I literally did not notice Strome on Thursday night against the Kraken. He is second on the team in points and is a pretty good playmaker out there.
Florida Panthers – Sunday, Dec. 11, at FLA Live Arena
These guys again. The Panthers game on Sunday kicks off a bit of a gauntlet of a schedule for the Kraken. Hopefully they can get some redemption of their own to start this stretch on a good foot.
Panthers Current Record: 12-9-4
Players to watch:
Carter Verhaeghe – With two goals against the Kraken last week, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on him in this one. He leads the Panthers with 14 goals on the season. Matthew Tkachuk – He was a pest on Saturday night, and I imagine he will be a pest on Sunday. He is also a really good player.
Chart of the week
Skeptics of the Seattle Kraken have been pointing to the shooting percentage as not sustainable, thinking the Kraken will return to earth after such a hot start. There is some room to be skeptical on the sustainability of the shooting percentage, but someone must lead the league in shooting, and as one former pro athlete in Seattle once said, “Why not us?”.
As always, thanks for reading, and I love the engagement and discussion we have in the comments section. If there is a topic you want me to dig into, feel free to leave in the comments I will aim to address it next week.
When Carson Soucy took a penalty at 17:04 of the third period, and the Rangers pulled their goalie to give themselves a six-on-four advantage over the Kraken, things suddenly felt uncomfortably familiar. When Vincent Trocheck banged home a loose puck to tie the game at 2-2 with under two minutes left, it brought on a nasty sense of deja vu.
That is almost exactly how Seattle’s previous game Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets had played out. That one ended early into the overtime period after Andre Burakovsky tried to force a play in the offensive zone, leading to a Jets goal at the other end.
This time, though, Seattle looked better prepared and had learned its lesson about overtime. The outcome was a thrilling 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Hockey Fights Cancer Night. It gave the Kraken their first points ever against the Blueshirts and points in eight of their last 10 games.
Here are our Three Takeaways from an exciting and emotional night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Takeaway #1: Justin Schultz was the star of the show
Justin Schultz was signed in the offseason to be a puck-moving defenseman that could chip in offensively from time to time. He did just that Thursday and ended up as the night’s No. 1 star. With the game level at 1-1 and deadlocked in a goalie duel, it was Schultz that finally broke through against reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Igor Shesterkin at 9:27 of the third.
Seattle hadn’t scored since 2:45 into the game, and Shesterkin had been outstanding. But after Burakovsky circled the wagons and passed to Schultz at the blue line, the defenseman walked the line and got a shot through traffic. It appeared to change directions off a Ranger player or two and ultimately eluded Shesterkin to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead.
After the Kraken gave up the tying goal late in the third (more on that in a bit), it was again Schultz who got Seattle over the hump in overtime and sent the fans home happy. Jordan Eberle drove around Artemi Panarin and shoveled a shot into Shesterkin’s pads. The rebound squirted across for a crashing Schultz, and he made no mistake, slapping it past Shesterkin.
“It’s just a good offensive play, and a lot of times that’s how it happens, right?” coach Dave Hakstol said. “It’s a dirty rebound, and Schultz is right there to punch it in.”
Takeaway #2: Practice makes perfect
While the late tying goal with Soucy in the box and Seattle facing a six-on-four felt eerily similar to Sunday, Seattle got a nice pushback in the closing minutes of regulation that made this game feel slightly different. The Kraken didn’t score before the horn, but they did get some great looks to regain confidence and momentum going into the overtime frame.
When the three-on-three session began, it was quickly evident the Kraken had changed their overtime strategy.
“Just a little bit more structure, I think,” said Schultz. “And a little bit more of a plan.”
The improvement wasn’t by happenstance. After Seattle lost to the Jets in overtime Sunday, the third time it had lost in as many OT tries this season, the team went to work practicing that scenario. We saw the team do a controlled three-on-three scrimmage Tuesday, and they were spotted doing similar work Wednesday.
“The three games that we lost were a little bit all over the place,” Schultz added. “We just sat down and practiced it, and I thought you noticed it tonight. We did a much better job.”
Jared McCann, who scored the game’s first goal, also credited the win to Seattle’s three-on-three practice this week. “We felt more confident going into it,” he said. “We made some plays, but we were smart with the puck.”
The biggest difference was Seattle’s willingness to take the puck backward and regroup. If nothing was available to them offensively, they circled to the neutral zone, got a line change with possession, and went back to work. That’s how you win in overtime.
The Kraken are a perfect two-for-two in their history at getting us choked up and teary eyed on Hockey Fights Cancer Night. Thursday’s game was emotional. Friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and frequent anthem singer for the Seattle Thunderbirds, Paul Klein, got the call to sing before the game. Paul has recently recovered from throat cancer, and we can tell you he is one of the nicest guys we’ve ever met.
Joined on the ice by his oncologist from Virginia Mason Hospital, Klein sang the Star Spangled Banner like the pro that he is. He looked like he was fighting back emotions of his own as he sang, but the crowd inside Climate Pledge Arena gave him a little extra help, and he even got a big “GO PAUL!” from somewhere in the 200 level.
WOW! Let’s hear it for friend of the pod and nicest guy in the world, Paul Klein! That was awesome!
“This night was a culmination of how supported I felt during my treatment and care at Virginia Mason,” Klein said. “To have my doctor next to me as I sang at a regular season NHL game with my hometown team was incredible, in the truest sense of the word. I have never felt so loved, as I poured my heart into an anthem that I’ve sung at least 700 times over the last 30 years. It was overwhelming.”
Klein said the first person he saw when he came off the ice was Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke. “[Leiweke] stared at me with his mouth open and then stretched out his arms and held me,” Klein said. Leiweke told Klein, “Paul, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more beautiful anthem.”
We are so honored to have had Paul Klein, who just finished treatment for throat cancer at @VMFHealth, sing the National Anthem ahead of tonight’s game.
Kraken game ops didn’t stop there. In the first period, Eddie Olczyk introduced the night’s “Hero of the Deep,” Julie Self, who sadly passed away from cancer recently. Self was a huge Kraken fan and used her love for the team to help her through some of the hardest parts of her fight. Eddie started his presentation by saying, “Hi Kraken fans, I’m Eddie Olczyk, a stage-three colon cancer survivor.” On behalf of the Kraken, Olczyk then presented $32,000 to charity in Julie’s honor and welcomed members of her family to the game.
Midway through the second period, Olczyk was again featured in a heartfelt video interview in which he talked about how important his support system was in getting him through his own battle. “It’s ok to feel scared, it’s ok to feel sorry for yourself,” Olczyk said in the video. “But you gotta fight. You gotta believe.”
After the game, Yanni Gourde and Joonas Donskoi were seen touring kids with the Make-A-Wish Foundation around the Kraken dressing room. “You really can’t put it into words,” Hakstol said, on the importance of the night. “I mean, we’re fighting a battle in here to win a hockey game, but the perspective of things in life— we were fortunate to have a few young kids that were here on Make-A-Wish, and just everybody that’s involved in Hockey Fights Cancer Night, it’s such an important night. It’s such an important recognition for everybody; not only the individuals, but the families that are dealing with and working through the process of fighting cancer.”
Cancer has touched everyone in some way, and it truly is a heartwarming experience to feel the love and support that people give one another on Hockey Fights Cancer Night.
Now, if Kraken game ops could kindly leave our tear ducts alone, we would appreciate that.
