Kraken coach Lane Lambert was on fire in his press conference following an uninspiring 4-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, in a critical “four-point” game against a team that entered the night two points ahead of Seattle in the standings.
The whole presser is worth a watch, but here were a few highlights:
“Terrible, terrible hockey game for our team. Terrible first 40 minutes. We had a push at the end, but I don’t have a logical explanation for an illogical event. That was the worst 40 minutes we played all year.”
“Well, you always hesitate to say, ’It can’t get any worse,’ but at that point in time [after the second period], there was only one way to go, and that was up for us.”
“When you leave it up to chance, and you play 20 minutes in a 60-minute hockey game, you’re not going to have success very often. So, one word can describe the game for me, it’s ‘disappointment.’ Friday night, big game, division opponent, four-point game in front of our fans, I’m actually dumbfounded.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken loss to the Ducks.
Takeaway 1: Just a dreadful start
I really thought this team had figured out how to start games this season. But it has become a major problem again over the past month, a continuation of four previous years of periodic struggles in first periods. And Friday’s opening 20 minutes were especially ugly.
The issues began about a minute into the contest. Eeli Tolvanen tried to force a pass to Berkly Catton, which was easily cut off by Pavel Mintyukov at the Anaheim blue line. The Ducks transitioned quickly, with Jeffrey Viel then finding Cutter Gauthier at the Seattle blue line. Gauthier recognized that Vince Dunn was completely flat-footed, turned on the jets to burn around the defenseman with ease, and snapped a shot into the gaping opening that Philipp Grubauer—too deep in his net on the play—was giving him on the far side.
The early goals are getting ridiculous.
Cutter Gauthier burns around Vince Dunn, and Grubi gives him way too much net.
The goal came on the first shot of the game at 1:02 of the first period, extending Seattle’s streak of surrendering a goal in the first six minutes to nine straight games.
“We didn’t start in the first two periods,” Jordan Eberle said. “In my opinion, we were getting out-battled. We were kind of all over the place early on, our systems were disconnected. In the third, we made a push, but at the end of the day, you’re down two, and it’s a tough way to come back. We can’t keep doing this to ourselves.”
Things got worse before they got better, with another strange and ugly trend rearing its head once again: short-handed goals against. In the offensive zone, Matty Beniers and Eberle both lunged for a loose puck but were beaten by Ian Moore, who chipped it out of the zone to spring Ryan Poehling on a breakaway. Poehling deposited it behind Grubauer to make it 2-0.
…And now, a fourth short-handed goal against in five games.
That was the fourth short-handed goal the Kraken have allowed in their last five games.
Those two trends—early goals against and short-handed goals—are killing this team right now and have contributed heavily to its 2-5-2 record over the last nine games. Like Lane Lambert, I too am “dumbfounded” about how these two things keep happening.
Meanwhile, Seattle managed just three shots on goal in the first period and 11 through two before finally turning things on and doubling that total in the third.
Takeaway 2: Believe it or not, they almost tied that game
For as bad as the Kraken were through the first two periods, Jared McCann did get them on the board with a classic Beniers-to-Eberle-to-McCann snipe at 1:55 of the second. They gave that goal right back, though, via a Chris Kreider power-play marker just 2:05 later, and continued to sleepwalk through the middle frame.
But in the third period, they finally woke up after the “It can’t get any worse” conversation Lambert alluded to, pulling within a goal and creating several bona fide scoring chances that made it feel like they were about to tie the game.
In fact, Chandler Stephenson appeared to have the equalizer after an insane touch pass from Berkly Catton in the neutral zone sprung his billet dad on a breakaway. Stephenson made a nice move, hitting the brakes and getting Lukas Dostal to slide the wrong way, but as he deked back to his left, the puck rolled off his stick.
WHOOP! What a pass by Berkly Catton. 😱
Chandler Stephenson had Dostal dead to rights but lost the handle on it. That would have been a goal of the year candidate. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/sXv0g25cp1
If there’s one silver lining from this otherwise miserable game, it’s that the Kraken reminded us in the third period that they are capable of playing on their toes.
Takeaway 3: The Shane Wright situation
Shane Wright did contribute in this game, setting up Jaden Schwartz for an easy tap-in goal that pulled Seattle back within 3-2.
The larger story surrounding Wright lately, though, has been his name popping up in trade rumors. Multiple national reporters have surmised that the Kraken would be willing to move the 22-year-old center.
We gave our takes on the situation on the latestSound Of Hockey Podcast, so give that a listen. My general belief is that Wright could be traded if the right offer comes along—just like almost any player in the Kraken organization—but I don’t believe Seattle is actively “shopping” him, per se. Rather, they’re looking to upgrade offensively, and Wright is a young player who could bring back significant value, so of course they should be listening.
That said, I asked Wright how he’s been handling the “outside noise,” and he responded: “I don’t really care too much about that. It’s no offense to you guys, reporters, at the end of the day, you can’t really trust too much what they say. And at the end of day, it’s just rumors. I’m not too worried about that.”
I also asked Lambert what he thought of Wright’s game and how he prevents trade chatter from becoming a distraction for his young center.
“I thought his game was good. It was really good tonight,” Lambert said. “I think his game’s been good for a while. I think there’s areas of Shane’s game that we’re working on that he’s improved on a lot since the beginning of the year. The outside noise is outside noise. The speculation is speculation. I have no idea [about any of that], but my job is to make sure that he’s ready to play, and I think he’s playing well. And I thought he played well tonight.”
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.
Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week, we’ll pass along some Kraken-related takeaways from our preliminary 2026 NHL Draft work, along with a couple notable injury updates. Beyond that, we’ll have other news, weekly and season-to-date data updates, all-shifts videos, the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, and a preview of the week ahead, as always.
If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Way-too-early 2026 NHL Draft thoughts
Yesterday, we posted the mid-season Sound Of Hockey Big Board, which ranked 411 draft prospects based on nine public draft analyst and scouting sources. Personally, I’m still deep in the weeds sorting through the early-round candidates in an effort to form comparative thoughts. I’d say I’m about halfway there, hoping to complete enough viewings by the end of the CHL season, when we at Sound Of Hockey tend to publish our final “Data Score” watchlist. (You can find the preseason version here.)
A complicating factor this early is that there is still significant uncertainty about where Seattle will be drafting. By the time you read this, Seattle’s first-round pick could sit anywhere between No. 8 and No. 18 in a hypothetical draft order (without even considering the added variable of the draft lottery). And it’s not outlandish to think that the pick could be outside this range when all is said and done. We can be a bit more confident with the Tampa Bay first-round pick Seattle holds due to the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand trade. That pick will very likely fall in the 26-to-32 range.
In attempting to project the pick, there is yet one further variable: The Seattle Kraken shuffled responsibilities among their assistant general managers after hiring Ryan Jankowski. Alexandra Mandrycky, who has more of an analytics bent, moved to the pro scouting side, and Jankowski, who is a bit more of a traditional scout and player-development executive, took over the top spot in managing the amateur side. Of course, the Kraken still have Jason Botterill (and Ron Francis) at the top. It’s hard to know how much this management change will matter, if at all, when it comes to the players considered and selected in June. But it’s a point to track.
With all of that said, here are the top 35 on the mid-season Big Board:
At first blush, this draft presents Seattle with a prime opportunity to select a “Grade A” top-four defenseman. I’d put Keaton Verhoeff (No. 3), Chase Reid (No. 4), Carson Carels (No. 7), Daxon Rudolph (No. 12), and Alberts Smits (No. 6) in this category. Each is worthy of a high first-round pick and would justify departing from my general inclination toward drafting forwards high. I’d put Xavier Villeneuve (No. 9) and Ryan Lin (No. 16) in a second tier as intriguing smaller, offense-forward options as well.
The last time we had a defense-heavy top of the draft (2024), we saw a few of those players fall down the board a bit as teams prioritized big forwards and centers in particular. If history were to repeat here, it is not difficult to imagine one or more of Ethan Belchetz, Caleb Malholtra, or Oliver Suvanto getting drafted before Reid or Carels, for example.
My way-too-early thought is that Reid or Carels at a pick like No. 8, or Rudolph at a pick like No. 17, would be a solid win for the Kraken. When it comes to Tampa Bay’s pick, I’d just be spitballing at this point, but assuming you go back to the forward ranks, Pierce Mbuyi is a junior scorer who should stack up well both based on the data and the tape at that point in the draft. (Plus, his last name is pronounced like “Buoy,” so…) Ryan Roobroeck could be a worthy second-pick, high-risk flier. Nikita Klepov is an easy player to like if he were still on the board. (More on him below.)
In reality, all I can say with conviction given Seattle’s track record is that we should keep tabs on goalies playing junior hockey in Finland, including Frantisek Poletin (No. 99 on the Big Board) and Juuso Ainasto (No. 81). After taking a year off from the goalie market in 2025, they’re “due” to return to the Finnish well in 2026.
Notes on four Kraken prospects
Alexis Bernier | D | Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
Alexis Bernier has been taking part in on-ice activities with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, his new QMJHL team, for a couple of weeks now, and it appears his return to play is imminent following offseason ACL reconstruction surgery. Local reports indicate he should be in the lineup Friday, Jan. 23, when the Saguenéens drop the puck at 4:00 pm PT against the Val-d’Or Foreurs. Coming into the season, I was uncertain Bernier would see significant time, but now he has a couple dozen regular-season games, as well as a probable playoff run, to make an impact before the 2025-26 season concludes.
Jake O’Brien | F | Brantford Bulldogs (OHL)
In other good injury news, top prospect Jake O’Brien returned to the ice last Sunday. He missed almost a month following a lower-body injury that was initially deemed minor. O’Brien got back to his point-producing ways in a hurry, scoring three goals and adding an assist in two games last week. It put him in the running for Prospect of the Week, but he came up just a bit short compared with the next two players we’ll mention.
Carson Rehkopf | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Carson Rehkopf has spent the majority of this season on the Firebirds’ fourth line, seeing relatively little ice time. The lesson—that Rehkopf needs to round out his game and grind his way up from the bottom—is a valuable one, but there have been long stretches of negligible impact for the skilled forward. Personally, I reached a nadir in my view of his development while watching last Sunday’s game against Abbotsford. He was scoreless and did not accomplish much at all that night.
Then came Wednesday’s game against San Jose, and he flipped the script. Rehkopf scored on all three of his shots on goal, registering his first professional hat trick. The skill is there, and hopefully a performance like this allows him to unlock it with a bit more frequency moving forward.
🧢 CARSON REHKOPF WITH HIS FIRST PRO HAT TRICK!!!!! 🧢 4-2 FIIIIREEEEBIRDDSSSSS! pic.twitter.com/pIktElzQdC
Victor Ostman | G | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
With top goalie prospect Nikke Kokko out week to week, there was concern that the Firebirds could be in for a rough stretch. The opposite has happened. The Firebirds have rattled off six straight wins, and that is due in large part to the strong play of goalie Victor Ostman, who has stepped into the “starter” role with Kokko out. In Ostman’s two starts this past week, he posted a .950 save percentage and earned two wins, one via shutout. That effort earned him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week status.
Kraken prospects data update
Logan Morrison’s season has flown under the radar a bit, but he has quietly led the offensive attack for the Firebirds. He reached the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his professional career last week. Morrison, 23, is currently on pace to amass 38 goals and 30 assists in 72 AHL games this year.
AHL All-Star Tyson Jugnauth, 21, is third among all AHL defensemen in scoring.
Kim Saarinen, 19, continues to post strong numbers back in Finland’s top professional league after the WJC break. As of Friday, his .917 save percentage is tied for the best mark in Liiga.
Though not included in these updates typically because he is on an AHL deal, goalie Jack LaFontaine’s performance to date warrants some mention. He’s (an almost ludicrous) 17-2-1 in the ECHL this season, with a .921 save percentage and a 2.21 goals-against average. In his two AHL starts since Nikke Kokko’s injury, he has two wins, a .945 save percentage, and a shutout. Terrific stuff.
Bernier’s projected return to the ice is our Deep Sea Hockey Game of the Week. The matchup with the Val-d’Or Foreurs is available to stream for those with a FloHockey subscription.
Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Nikita Klepov
Nikita Klepov is a high-pace, physically engaged, and defensive-minded winger. He has offensive skill to dream on too, even if it’s a rung below the truly elite players in the draft. The 6-foot forward has 59 points in 43 OHL games, which is third in the OHL and most among undrafted players. He is also a relatively young draft-eligible player. There’s a lot to like in this profile.
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.
The Kraken didn’t make it easy on themselves, taking seven penalties in the game and giving up a goal in the first six minutes for the eighth consecutive contest. But they rode an impressive night from their penalty kill and another strong performance by Philipp Grubauer to a desperately needed 4-1 win over the Islanders.
Vince Dunn and Jared McCann were especially impressive on the offensive end of the ice, and the fourth line chipped in yet again to help coach Lane Lambert defeat the team that fired him almost exactly two years ago to the day.
“It’s been two years. So, I mean, I have a lot of good memories from being in the New York Islanders organization,” Lambert said. “We had a lot of success in that organization when I was there. There’s not that many players left, I guess, that were there; there’s eight or nine, I guess. But certainly, those guys, we went through a lot of battles together. It was nice to see some of them pregame a little bit, just to say ‘hi,’ but when the game starts… it did feel good to beat them, there’s no question about it, but it felt better just to get a win. We need to get on track.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-1 Kraken win over the Islanders.
Takeaway 1: A BIG night for the penalty kill
Penalties were the name of this game, with Seattle finding itself shorthanded for six of the first eight minutes of the contest and then four more times over the course of the night. After conceding an Anthony Duclair marker on the first penalty just 2:38 into the game, Seattle’s penalty killers recovered and put together a remarkable showing the rest of the way.
Despite the early goal against, Seattle padded its PK stats in this one, finishing at an 86 percent success rate and nudging the season-long number up slightly to 72.6 percent—still good for just 30th in the NHL.
“I thought our structure was good,” Lambert said. “And so for them, they were looking for some passing lanes, some seams and things like that, and we were taking those situations away, which stopped them from shooting at times. The other thing is that I thought we had some great commitment. We did block some shots in that situation, so you have to have that if you’re going to have success on the penalty kill.”
What was especially important, though, was that after Seattle gave up the Duclair goal, it killed off two more penalties in quick succession to avoid going into a deeper hole. Then the power play capitalized on a 5-on-3 opportunity at the other end to tie the game 1-1.
Early in that 5-on-3 advantage, the Islanders got a clear and sent the puck the length of the ice. What I loved was that McCann sprinted all the way down to retrieve it but—recognizing the situation and the numerical advantage the Kraken had—didn’t wait for his teammates to regroup for a controlled breakout. Instead, he flew straight through the neutral zone and re-gained the offensive zone, and then it felt like just a matter of time before Seattle scored.
Sure enough, a McCann shot was blocked but skipped to Dunn at the top of the circle, who fired it back toward Ilya Sorokin. Dunn’s shot hit Matty Beniers in front and found its way in at 10:40 of the first period.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
On a 5-on-3, McCann's shot got blocked, but it caromed right to Vince Dunn, who got a deflection off Beniers and in.
“I thought even just in zone, we were just attacking and being a threat when we could,” Dunn said. “Jared was shooting a lot of pucks, and sometimes you get guys out of position when you’re shooting pucks, maybe they go down to block it, and it bounces somewhere a little funny, and then you get a better look from there.”
Added Lambert: “We clearly have to stay out of the box. We can’t take that many penalties. I don’t necessarily know if they were all penalties, but they were called, and having given up the first goal early on, I thought our power play did a great job of capitalizing on that 5-on-3 when we really needed them to, so it was a great job by them. And then for the rest of the night, after that first power play that they had, I think we did an outstanding job. And I thought our goaltender was great.”
Takeaway 2: Another strong Grubi night
It’s becoming a broken record, but stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Philipp Grubauer had a great game, stopping 24 of 25 shots and improving to a .919 save percentage in 19 appearances, with a 10-4-3 record and a 2.37 goals-against average.
“I think just the way we play, all together,” Grubauer said of what’s been helping him find success. “It’s not like one guy. Obviously it helps when guys get in the lane and box guys out, make it easy for us back there. So, yeah, it’s just one save at a time, one TV timeout at a time, and that’s it.”
The first of my two favorite stops of the night came midway through the second period, when a floating wrister through traffic by Tony DeAngelo created a rebound for Emil Heineman, who took two whacks at it right at the top of the crease. Grubauer extended his right pad and kicked both away. The second came in the third period on Casey Cizikas off a partial breakaway. Cizikas deked to his backhand and tried to slip it through the five-hole, but Grubauer clamped it down and then batted the puck out of the air to clear it from harm’s way.
Grubauer picked up his first point of the season with the second assist on McCann’s empty-net goal.
“What I thought of his play is what I think of his play here for the whole year,” Lambert said. “He’s played well, he looks dialed in, he’s focused, he’s tight. He’s not getting out of position, sliding out of position. He seems in a good place. And yeah, it’s nice to see him get a point, for sure.”
When I jokingly asked Grubauer if he was trying to create some offense at the end of the game, he said, “No, I’m not going for [the empty net], if that’s what you’re asking. No, I’d rather have one of our guys make the play up the boards or shoot it. So, yeah, got the apple, but most importantly, we got the goal, and I don’t really care about the point there. It’s more about the win.”
Takeaway 3: Ben Meyers appreciation
Just a quick note to say that Ben Meyers deserves all the praise in the world for the way he has performed for the Kraken this season. He has taken the fourth-line center role and run with it, helping to make that Seattle’s most consistent line, regardless of who his linemates have been on any given night.
In this one, he came up with a massive (and painful) shot block in the second period, was a key piece of the penalty kill that was so critical, and teamed up with Ryan Winterton to create this beauty of a Vince Dunn goal:
This win stopped the bleeding for the Kraken, who had spiraled to 1-4-2 in their previous seven games. It also got them back into the final wild card spot by the hair on their chinny chin chins. The race remains incredibly tight.
Another game, another early deficit for the Seattle Kraken, who—despite starting the first couple minutes on their toes—quickly gave up two goals in the early stages against the Pittsburgh Penguins and found themselves chasing throughout the game.
The Kraken did rally back, as they often have during this stretch of losses, but after Seattle tied it in the second period, Brett Kulak scored 50 seconds later to regain the lead, and Pittsburgh pulled away in the end.
That’s Seattle’s fourth straight loss (0-3-1) and sixth loss in seven games (1-4-2) after winning eight of their previous nine (8-0-1).
“What’s happening right now is we’re making mistakes that are going in the back of our net,” coach Lane Lambert said. “And we’ve got to correct those mistakes.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a frustrating 6-3 Kraken loss to the Penguins.
Takeaway 1: What is with these early goals against?
Just when you thought they’d bucked the trend of giving up an early goal—after getting an impressive penalty kill from 3:29 to 5:29 of the first—the Kraken surrendered a benign-looking shot to defenseman Parker Wotherspoon at the point. His attempt found its way through traffic and in. There were no terrible, glaring mistakes on the play, but Joey Daccord couldn’t see it, and the puck got through.
Death, taxes, #SeaKraken giving up an early goal against.
“I think it’s everyone just playing better,” Ryan Lindgren said when asked how to nip the early goals against. “I think we’re just too loose right now in the D-zone. We’re giving up too many chances, we’re hanging our goalies out to dry a little bit. When we’re playing our best hockey, we’re a hard defending team.”
Seattle had a chance to quickly level the game with a power play of its own, but instead of evening things up, the Kraken put themselves in a deeper hole. Chandler Stephenson tried to make a little chip pass at the blue line, but Connor Dewar read it and stepped up, springing himself for a breakaway. He scored his first of two goals on the night, and once again the Kraken were hiking up a mountain, as they have been on several occasions lately.
Wow. And now another short-handed goal against, and the #SeaKraken trail 2-0 early.
Loose play at the offensive blue line, and Connor Dewar picks it off and scores on the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/rjnCoshrEJ
The shorthanded goals against are also an alarming trend. This marked the Kraken’s third straight game in which they’ve given up a shorty.
“It’s always correctable,” Lambert said. “We have a face-off battle in Utah the other day, and they end up coming out of that with a 3-on-2, we play that very poorly. Tonight, we knew that they were locking the bench side with their forward, and their forward was going to step, and that was pre-scouted for our players. That was indicated to them. They saw a video on it, and they stepped, got a breakaway. So we’ve got to be better.”
Takeaway 2: Goals through traffic
Three goals against in this game floated through traffic and eluded Daccord. Wotherspoon’s icebreaker just missed Jordan Eberle, then flew between Brandon Montour and Anthony Mantha as they battled at the top of the crease.
Brett Kulak’s goal—which killed Seattle’s momentum and put Pittsburgh back in the driver’s seat—followed a face-off in Seattle’s end. Sidney Crosby won it back, Kulak walked the line, and sent a soft wrister that fluttered past Adam Larsson and into the top corner.
Penguins answer right back and regain a 3-2 lead. Gaudreau loses the face-off, and then Brett Kulak just sends a wrist shot through traffic. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/VrU8uCfXHy
Then, just 2:21 into the third period, Justin Brazeau scored what proved to be the eventual dagger, using Jamie Oleksiak as a screen and firing through his legs to make it 4-2.
Justin Brazeau makes it 4-2. Joey's had a hard time with shots through screens today. This time, it goes through Oleksiak's legs. pic.twitter.com/jm19hxbnBK
It’s hard to decide where the blame falls on goals like these. Defenders are trying to block shots and/or box players out, but when the block is missed, the goalie is left in a brutal spot.
Meanwhile, Daccord certainly didn’t have his best night, allowing five goals on 31 shots. But when pucks come from distance and you can’t see—or even hear—a wrist shot leave the stick, all you can do is read the body language of the players in front of you. You hope the puck finds you, but it’s a bit of a crapshoot. Daccord got no puck luck in this one.
“I have to go back and take a little bit of a look at some of the goals,” Lambert said, when asked about Daccord’s performance. “But, I’ve got to think that there’s maybe a couple we’d like to have him back there and put us in a better chance to have an opportunity to win the game.”
Takeaway 3: Jaden Schwartz on the fourth line
I wrote a Kraken Notebook on Sunday that touched on the challenges of having veteran players return to the lineup and potentially disrupt the team’s chemistry. Lambert had implied at practice that some line shuffling could be coming as he searched for the right mix again.
I knew he experimented last game with Schwartz on the fourth line alongside Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton, but it was still a bit surprising to see Schwartz start this game on that bottom trio while Freddy Gaudreau moved back up to reunite with Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen.
For Schwartz, it might be a tough pill to swallow, but if he was bothered by the demotion—even if it was purely a numbers thing—it didn’t show in his performance. The fourth line was the only truly effective line for the Kraken in this one, creating both of the team’s 5-on-5 goals.
The first came off a textbook forecheck by Ryan Winterton as the F2 and Schwartz as the F1, with Winterton prying the puck loose to Schwartz, who then found Ben Meyers—the F3—trailing in the right circle. Meyers sniped it over Stuart Skinner’s right shoulder.
The second goal was pretty as well. Ryker Evans set Meyers up for a Grade A chance, but Skinner slid across and robbed him. Winterton jumped on the rebound and—instead of shoveling it back into Skinner—found Ryan Lindgren in the slot, giving the defenseman an open net for his second goal as a Kraken.
THE LINDY HOP! 🕺🚨
The newly assembled fourth line does it again. Meyers with the shot, huge save by Skinner, but Ryan Lindgren cleans up the rebound.
I don’t know how I feel about Schwartz on the fourth line. There’s still something off about the makeup of this team with a fully healthy roster and Jacob Melanson back in the AHL.
But Schwartz did seem to jell pretty nicely with Meyers and Winterton.
“I liked the fourth line,” Lambert said. “I’ve liked the fourth line for a while. We need the other lines to be better.”
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.
