by Andy Eide | Feb 1, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Seattle Kraken are in Boston Tuesday to face the world-famous Bruins, an original-six team, if you’re into those kinds of things.
Boston has the history and the tradition, which of course has no impact on the game, but Seattle will have its hands full in this one. For starters, the Bruins enter the game with a 25-14-3 record and in fourth place of the tough Atlantic Division.
They are coming off a 6-1 drubbing Sunday at the hands of the Dallas Stars so should be in a sour mood when the Kraken show up. Offensively, Boston is 15th in the league with 3.02 goals per game but only have a plus-ten goal differential. The Bruins are not invincible and are 14-8-1 at home.
Is the Perfection Line still perfect?
The Bruins still feature one of the more dangerous top lines in the NHL. Led by the all-popular Brad Marchand (21g, 26a, 47p), Dunkin Donut enthusiast David Pastrnak (20-20=40), and the ageless Patrice Bergeron (12-21=33) the so-called ‘Perfection Line’ is still kind of perfect.
There’s a bit of a fall-off after that top line, however. They’re getting scoring from Taylor Hall (27 points) and Charlie McAvoy (28 points) on the back end but not much from anyone else.
It doesn’t take a hockey expert to see that the Kraken will have to try and contain the Perfection Line if they want points. Easier said than done, but must be a key to victory.
Who’s stopping the puck for the Bruins?
Former Buffalo Sabres sort-of-good goalie Linus Ullmark will start in net against the Kraken. Overall, Ullmark is having a decent season with a 15-6-0 record and .912 save percentage. He’s allowed four goals twice over his last three starts, including that loss to Dallas, so if you are the Kraken… shots, shots, shots.
Ullmark was a pupil of Kraken goalie coach Andrew Allen when the two were in Buffalo. Has Allen spilled all Ullmark’s secrets to the team this week? We will find out.
Bruins odds and ends
Boston is 16-0-0 when leading after one period while Seattle has trailed after the first period 21 times this season – and ended up winning three of those games.
On the power play, the Bruins are sixth in the NHL with a 25.4 percent success rate. At home, it’s even better where they are at 28.6 percent and second best in the NHL. So, don’t take penalties.
Killing penalties, Boston is ninth best at home with an 84.7 percent success rate.
From the Northwest to Boston
There are a couple of local connections with the Bruins. One is obvious while the other may fly under the radar.
The latter is Tuesday’s backup goalie Jeremy Swayman who grew up in Anchorage, Alaska. After Alaska, Swayman played his college hockey for the University of Maine which means he was once a Black Bear and is now a Bruin.
Defenseman Brandon Carlo has spent some time in Washington State with the Tri-City Americans. Carlo, a physical defenseman, spent three seasons in Kennewick with the Americans from 2013 to 2016. The Bruins selected him with the 37th pick during the 2015 NHL Draft.
by Andy Eide | Jan 30, 2022 | Uncategorized
Tied at 2-2 with 34 seconds left in regulation, the New York Rangers won a faceoff back to the point and onto the stick of defenseman K’Andre Miller. Seattle Kraken forward Riley Sheahan raced out to cover Miller but was hit square in the chest by New York’s Chris Kreider. There was no interference call, and Miller fired a shot that found the net to give the Rangers a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
The goal spoiled what was a dramatic comeback by Seattle.
“’I’m gonna stay away,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said after the game about the goal. “I’m not going to waste time on that play or how I feel about it. I think that would take away from the spotlight of how well I think our team played and how hard our team played today.”
After heavily outshooting the Rangers to the tune of 42-24, Yanni Gourde’s one-timer at 18:52 of the third period on a 6-on-4 power play tied the game at 2-2 and appeared to give the Kraken a shot at winning in overtime for the second straight game.
“Honestly, the game was right there,” Gourde said. “At least getting out of here with a point. Very unfortunate. We battled, you gotta be proud of the guys there because they battled for 60 and unfortunately, we weren’t able to come up with any points tonight, but we had the right mentality.”
Like on Oct. 31 at Climate Pledge Arena, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was too much for the Kraken. In that first game between these teams, he made 31 saves to win 3-1. On Sunday, he kicked away 40 shots to win 3-2.
Jared McCann scored for the third straight game and Philipp Grubauer was sharp, making 21 saves. The Kraken were 1-for-5 on the power play.
“I thought we played a really good game throughout, and I thought we generated a lot,” Mark Giordano said. “I don’t know what the shots ended up, but we got a lot of pucks toward [Shesterkin]. You’re not gonna get more than two or three on that guy most nights, he’s a top goaltender in the league for a reason. Made a lot of big saves tonight but we executed pretty well there.”
How it played out for the Kraken
The Rangers opened the scoring at 11:46 of the first period. After quick passing on the power play they worked it to Mika Zibanejad who scored on a one-timer from the circle to the right of Grubauer.
A Zibanejad shot at 4:23 of the second period would extend the lead after the puck hit the post and was tapped in by Alexis Lafrenière to make it 2-0.
Seattle got one back from McCann at 7:17 when he finished a quick passing play with Marcus Johansson and Jordan Eberle to cut the lead to 2-1.
“It’s just a tough way to lose,” Giordano, who had an assist, said. “It was a fun game to play in. I always loved coming to this rink and playing in New York and I feel like we’ve been on the wrong end of those way too many times this year. So hopefully in the next 40 it’ll change the other way.”
The Kraken outshot New York 25-12 over the first two periods but found themselves trailing 2-1.
Injury bug bites Kraken before and during game
Calle Jarnkrok, who has been hot for Seattle, was a late scratch Sunday after taking warmups. He reportedly had an upper body injury that prevented him from playing. Morgan Geekie was inserted into the lineup without warming up and played 9:54 of the game with five shots on goal and won three of four faceoffs that he took.
In the first period, Karson Kuhlman slammed into the side boards hard, left the game, and did not return.
“This group is growing together, and I say it every day, we’ve still got a ways to go, but the signs and the results of what we’re doing are improving,” Hakstol said. “Today we played like a pretty tight hockey team, and we had some injury issues before the game, during the game, and guys just stepped forward and continue working. We’re still working towards exactly who we want to be, but again, we played a pretty good game tonight.”
Tentacle Tales
+ McCann’s goal was his 18th of the season, and he is one away from his career high, set during the 2018-2019 season playing with both Florida and Pittsburgh.
+ Seattle had 42 shots on goal Sunday which is a franchise record.
+ Miller’s go-ahead goal with 34 seconds left is the second go-ahead goal the Rangers have scored in the final minute of a game, which is the most in the NHL this season.
+ The Kraken will next be in action Tuesday when they play the Boston Bruins.
by Andy Eide | Jan 27, 2022 | Uncategorized
Philipp Grubauer stared down Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry in a classic duel that ended with the Seattle Kraken winning in overtime for the first time in franchise history, 2-1 at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena Thursday night.
Adam Larssson won it for the Kraken at 1:17 of overtime when he came off the bench, got a pass from Alex Wennberg, and beat Jarry from high in the slot.
But the hero for the Kraken was Grubauer. The goalie kept his team in the game making 23 saves and continuing his hot play of late.
“Great job by everybody” Grubauer said. “We were playing really tight, didn’t give them a lot of room to make plays like other games. As long as you keep that at 0-0 you have a chance. Once they got that goal we went right back at it. I think we had games where we didn’t come back after giving up a goal. Tonight everybody did a good job.”
The two teams battled through the first 40 minutes on Thursday with neither goaltender blinking. Jarry was just as tough as Grubauer and ended the night by stopping 27 of 29 Kraken shots.
Pittsburgh went ahead at 8:41 of the third period when Evgeni Malkin made it 1-0 with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from between the circles and past a screened Grubauer.
The Kraken pushed from there, outshooting the Penguins 18-4 in the third period, but could not solve Jarry. After two failed power play attempts Vince Dunn lifted a shot from the point at 16:04 that was tipped past Jarry by former Penguin Jared McCann to tie the game and force overtime.
“Dunner is a great defenseman, I know he’s going to make a play, just tried to get my stick on it,” McCann said. “[Marcus Johansson] made a play there, got it back to Dunner.”
It was the second straight game with a goal for McCann who is two away from his career high of 19.
“It’s a good win in this building, it’s a hard place to win,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “For us it’s an enjoyable win but one that we worked for. Our game didn’t change a whole lot from the drop of the puck to the game winner in overtime… We pushed a little bit in the third period without any risk to our game and that’s a good characteristic to our team.”
Grubauer won the game on one shift in second period
As solid as Grubauer was all night, it was one shift with about four minutes left in the second that may have swung the game.
The Penguins hemmed Seattle in its own zone for over two minutes. Johansson broke his stick early in the shift rendering him nearly useless to help get the puck out. Pittsburgh had Malkin and Sidney Crosby on the ice and turned the Seattle zone into a shooting gallery.
The Kraken could not corral the puck to clear, but Grubauer stayed steady.
“Guys were blocking shots like crazy,” Grubauer said. “Getting in shooting lanes and letting me see the puck by boxing out guys, knowing where their forwards are… I think it’s building over the last couple games at home. Last game wasn’t our best one, but I think since we’ve come out of Christmas break, we’ve been playing our game, and everybody is buying in.”
Johansson ended up on the ice for a three-minute shift and Mark Giordano for 2:26. It was an incredible stretch and logic says that the Penguins should have scored.
Grubauer wasn’t just good there. He made saves in tight all night, including a stop on Jeff Carter midway through the period.
Over his last five starts, Grubauer is 4-1-0 with a .914 save percentage.
Kraken figuring out overtime
The past two chances the Kraken have had in overtime they’ve played well. Against the Chicago Blackhawks on the recent homestand, they dominated overtime, hit a post just before it ended, and got the win in the shootout.
“Over the break we had a chance to talk about how we want to manage the overtime,” Hakstol said. “Just try to manage our shift lengths, not try to force things, and take what the game gives you until there’s a breakdown. We got that on the game-winning goal.”
The talk over the break has created results and raised the confidence level.
McCann started the overtime and nearly scored on the first shift.
“We’re going to get one,” McCann said about what he was thinking just before the face-off. “We’re due. It was a good team effort, we played well, played to our strengths and we’ve got to build on this.”
by Andy Eide | Jan 27, 2022 | Uncategorized
The Seattle Kraken find themselves in Pittsburgh Thursday for a tough road matchup against the Penguins. Pittsburgh has been playing well with a 27-10-5 record which is good for second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point back of the New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh is especially tough at home where it has a 13-5-2 record, meaning the Kraken have their tentacles full Thursday night.
“This team feeds off of momentum in this building,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said after morning skate. “Typically, Pittsburgh starts well in this building, and they feed off of momentum that they generate, especially offensively. We’ve got to be really ready to meet that head on. This core group has won together, they’re a deep team… they start well, they compete very hard in this building.”
Philipp Grubauer will start again for the Kraken, and he’ll be up against Tristan Jarry who is in the middle of a great rebound season. Jarry struggled in the playoffs last year, earning the ire of the fans and local media; it’s hard to believe fans would blame the goalie, but there it was.
This season, Jarry has gotten his skates under him and comes into Tuesday with a 2.12 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. Oh, and his record is 23-7-4 which is not too shabby. Seattle needs to get traffic and shots on him to stand a chance.
This is the second meeting of the Penguins and Kraken
Back on Dec. 6, the Penguins came to Climate Pledge Arena and scored three times in the first period to skate away with an easy 6-1 win.
Pittsburgh played that game without Evgeni Malkin who was rehabbing an injury. He’s been been back now for eight games and, of course, has nine points. With Sidney Crosby playing like Sidney Crosby, Malkin’s return makes the Penguins that much tougher.
“I think Geno’s getting better with every game that he’s played,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday. “He missed a lot of time, that’s not an easy challenge for any player coming back into the lineup. I give Geno credit for how hard he worked… his timing, his conditioning, just the intensity of an NHL game is difficult to simulate.
“I do think he’s getting better. You can see the impact he has on our team, particularly offensively with his instincts. We really like where we’re trending and we’re a much more difficult team to play against with him in the lineup.”
Just what the Kraken want to hear.
Other Penguins to watch
Your eyes are naturally drawn to Crosby and Malkin when Pittsburgh is playing, but their attack comes from more than just the two of them.
Up front, Evan Rodrigues has had a breakout season with 15 goals and 32 points. Jake Guentzel is having another strong season and leads the team in goals (21) and points (40).
On the back end, Kris Letang is killing it this year and has 37 points. Seattle needs to be aware of him joining the rush and make sure they keep a third man high in the offensive zone to prevent odd-man chances.
Some Penguins odds and ends
Pittsburgh can score. The Penguins are averaging 3.4 goals per game and the third period has been their most productive period from a goal scoring aspect.
With all the firepower they have, surprisingly they’re not dominant on special teams. Their power play is 23rd overall, and at home it’s been 28th in the league with a 14.9 percent success rate. Of course, that doesn’t mean you want to give Crosby, Malkin, et al a ton of chances with the man advantage.
They’ve won eight in a row at home, which it seems like every team the Kraken have played on the road of late has done, making Thursday’s night game just a bit more daunting.
by Darren Brown | Jan 26, 2022 | Uncategorized
BONUS EPISODE WITH A BIG-TIME GUEST ALERT! John Forslund deserves his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, so John Forslund gets his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast.
Darren and Andy spoke with the TV voice of the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena prior to Kraken morning skate last week. John does not disappoint. He tells fantastic stories that range from the beginning of Desert Storm to punching mascots, and he takes you through the journey that led him to becoming the legendary broadcaster that he is today.
This conversation will make you laugh and feel inspired all at once. When it’s done, you’ll think you’ve known John personally for years.
SUBSCRIBE! ENJOY! REVIEW!
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by Darren Brown | Jan 25, 2022 | Uncategorized
The guys cover a LOT in this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, and in the process, they introduce you to the newest member of the Seattle Kraken, Karson Kuhlman. Kuhlman was claimed off waivers from the Boston Bruins last week, so he talks about the whirlwind it has been to get to Seattle and get acclimated to his new team and city. He also shares some thoughts on playing for the UMD Bulldogs and the Bruins and explains why Darren is wrong about Duck, Duck, Grey Duck.
Aside from the chat with Karson, the guys also dig into the last three Kraken games since the previous episode, in which Seattle won two out of three against the Sharks, Blues, and Panthers. John, Andy, and Darren are especially amped up about the outcome of the Florida game. They also talk about the Coachella Valley Firebirds jersey and Darren defends Jeremy Lauzon again.
Before getting to the Kuhlman interview, they dig into the very difficult topic of racism in hockey, hoping that the conversation can fuel even the smallest change in a few folks out there.
After the Kuhlman interview, the guys move on to their segments, which this week include Goalie Gear Corner, Weekly One-Timers, and Three Stars.
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