The last 48 hours have been brutal for the Seattle Kraken and the few shreds of hope they had left for making the playoffs. The coach and the players had talked coming into this stretch—nine of their final 10 games at home before the 4 Nations Face-Off break—about how crucial it would be to get consistent results.
Things got off to a pretty good start, too, with wins against the Kings and the Sabres. But Seattle has lost three of its last four and was passed in the standings by the Anaheim Ducks with an embarrassing 6-4 defeat by that same feathered foe on Tuesday.
When you think about how this stretch has gone, you can realistically imagine the Kraken being back in the playoff conversation had things gone differently in the last two days. If they had capitalized on their strong start and golden opportunity to beat the superior Edmonton Oilers on Monday, and had gotten even a semblance of defense and goaltending against a weak Ducks team on Tuesday, they would be just four points behind the Calgary Flames for the last wild-card spot—with two games against those Flames coming in the next week.
Alas, the Kraken were dreadful in their own end against Anaheim and didn’t get bailed out by their netminder, and now they have gone the wrong direction, dropping to seventh place in the Pacific Division.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 6-4 Kraken loss to the Ducks.
Takeaway #1: Bad defense
The Kraken had every opportunity to win this game. Even after things unraveled in the second period, with the Ducks torching Philipp Grubauer for three goals on six shots, it felt like Seattle still could come back from two goals down in the third with how equally bad Anaheim was in its zone. And the Kraken did come out hot in the third, cutting the deficit to 5-4 with a nice power-play goal by Shane Wright at 6:15.
But Lukas Dostal was just good enough, and Seattle was just docile enough to fall short of an equalizer.
Let’s talk about how the Kraken got themselves into that position, though, down two goals heading into the final frame. Three of the first four goals conceded came off wide-open one-timers, with the first—a Troy Terry banger—coming just 1:23 into the contest.
I personally thought the most egregious defensive lapse came on Robby Fabbri’s goal at 5:39 of the second. Vince Dunn, who has played a starring role on too many goals against lately, tried to make an ill-advised breakout pass through the slot to Wright. In doing so, he put it right onto the tape of the red-hot Mason McTavish, who also scored in the contest for his fifth goal in his last three games. In the blink of an eye, the play turned the other way, and Fabbri had made it 4-3.
…Aaaaaand 4-3 Ducks. Fabbri. Bad turnover by Vince Dunn.
Brandon Montour said, “Every time we make a mistake, it seems like it’s in the back of the net, or our goalies have to make a big-time save. Any time you let up five, six goals, it’s tough to win those games.”
Takeaway #2: Bad goaltending
Hey, at least Philipp Grubauer got all the way through this game without getting pulled (although he may have been yanked yet again if the circumstances were different). The last time Grubauer had finished a game before Tuesday was in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 6. Since then, he started twice—once in Columbus and once in Detroit—getting an early hook from both after allowing four goals in the second period against the Blue Jackets and three goals on four shots against the Red Wings.
There was a lot of discussion about Grubauer with Seattle coach Dan Bylsma both before and after this Ducks matchup. In his pregame availability, Bylsma defended the netminder’s most recent outings, saying that the Detroit game was not on him and that his getting pulled was more of a statement to the team than to Grubauer.
After this Kraken loss to the Ducks, Bylsma said, “We hung him out to dry. The first three goals are all seams, one-timers. It was great to see him get the [sprawling glove] save in the first period on the penalty kill [against Trevor Zegras]. It’s a huge, huge sequence for us, huge sequence for him. He made an outstanding save for us, and that one should have snapped us into the game.”
BUT… but… For as good as that stop was, Jackson Lacombe’s goal to make it 5-3 at 7:58 of the second was equally bad, and that one proved to be the eventual game-winner.
At the end of the night, Grubauer had 17 saves on 22 shots, but Lacombe’s fateful innocuous-looking wrister from just inside the blue line that beat the goalie clean (I know, there was a partial screen from Josh Mahura) was Anaheim’s 12th shot of the game. So his final save percentage of .772 was actually a significant improvement from the .583 he had put up through the first half of this game.
It’s worth noting, I followed up on Bylsma’s “We hung him out to dry” statement by asking if the coach thinks those defensive breakdowns happen disproportionately more when Grubauer is in the game compared to Daccord.
Bylsma responded to that question with one word: “No.”
Without saying much, that response says a lot about how Bylsma views his team’s goaltending.
Takeaway #3: Kraken loss to Ducks felt oddly significant
There’s something about losing to fellow bottom-dwelling teams like the Sharks and Ducks that feels even more significant than the many losses this season to middling and good teams.
Postgame moods in the dressing room vary; sometimes the players and coach remain level-headed about defeats, perhaps recognizing that hockey is a chaotic game and that putting forth a strong effort can still end in a loss.
After this one, Montour, Eeli Tolvanen (who scored for the third game in a row, by the way), and Bylsma all seemed downright pissed to not get a result. The usually affable Montour repeated himself several times, reverting back to words and phrases like “awareness” and “clean some stuff up.” When I asked Tolvanen what led to the defensive breakdowns, he responded with a terse, “I really don’t know.”
Hear from Eeli Tolvanen on the sting of these two straight losses and what led to the defensive breakdowns tonight. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/2ffYpumEi7
Finally, when Bylsma was asked about the pain of this particular loss, he said, “Well, it’s the one in the moment, so it hurts a lot… The whole duration of the game, I think, we knew we needed to make it a hard game. We knew we needed to grind one out, back-to-back, and we just played too loose with our execution, too loose with the puck, and created a rush game, a high-event game. That was one we knew we’d have a tough time winning, and so that is the biggest disappointment.”
This was a bad 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.
That’s a shame. The Seattle Kraken took a good swing at the high-flying Edmonton Oilers on Monday, but one of the NHL’s best teams gained a shred of momentum in the second period, and that was all it needed to slip past Seattle for a 4-2 win.
In a game where the Kraken scored first—thanks to a positive goalie interference bounce—and carried a 2-1 lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes, they just couldn’t keep their foot on the gas for the full 60 minutes. In the end, a second-period lapse and a dismal power play cost them.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-2 Kraken loss to the Oilers.
Takeaway #1: Second-period letdown
The Kraken earned their second 5-on-3 in as many games toward the end of the first period. Even with the massive advantage, they didn’t generate much, and the Oilers came out and killed off the remaining 35 seconds when the second stanza began.
That seemed to spark Edmonton. Soon after returning to full strength, Connor McDavid had a 2-on-1 opportunity with Zach Hyman. Joey Daccord stopped the initial shot but lost track of it after it deflected off the inside of his blocker. McDavid buried his own rebound, tying the game at 2-2.
They gotta watch out for 97.
2-on-1 rush, and McDavid gets his own rebound. Daccord loses track of it after it hit the inside of his blocker.
Oilers looking a little different to start the 2nd so far…
The eventual game-winning goal by Corey Perry, scored at 9:38 of the second, came with several oddities. A little earlier, Hyman hit the crossbar with a wide-open net, and everyone in Rogers Place—including a goal horn operator with an itchy trigger finger—thought it was in. The horn blast created confusion in the building, and play on the ice went back and forth in a firewagony style. Seattle seemed momentarily disorganized.
Perry capitalized on the chaos by pulling off a variation of the “Hocus Pocus” play, sneaking onto the ice unnoticed by taking his time with a line change. While his mates defended down a man in their zone, Perry lingered near the offensive blue line, until Darnell Nurse found him with a stretch pass for a breakaway.
It was a clever move, but I partly blame the goal horn operator for causing the initial confusion. I also fault the Kraken for failing to convert on a 5-on-3, a missed opportunity that loomed large.
Takeaway #2: The power play killed the Kraken
I already mentioned the 5-on-3 in the previous Takeaway, but the Kraken’s power play as a whole struggled mightily in this game. Seattle had four power-play opportunities compared to Edmonton’s one. Not only did the Kraken fail to score on any of them, but they also struggled to create sustained pressure.
Coach Dan Bylsma didn’t hold back when assessing the team’s performance with the manpower advantage.
“Even the one in the third period, I think it was… It just wasn’t good enough,” Bylsma said. “You want your power play, A., to provide a goal, but B., provide a spark, and the power play didn’t do that. And that was a dent in the game.”
It’s also so easy to point to the failed 5-on-3 as the turning point in the game. Remember, against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Seattle converted on a 5-on-3, and that put the game on the rails for the Kraken. Bylsma emphasized after that game how crucial it was to convert on the opportunity.
But on this night, the Oilers killed the penalties with ease, and momentum swung firmly in their favor.
Takeaway #3: Interesting goaltending decision
Before the game, I was curious how Bylsma would manage his goaltenders for this back-to-back with travel. Conventional wisdom suggests using your stronger goalie against the better team and your backup against the weaker one.
Even with Joey Daccord in net for his 10th consecutive game (he didn’t start all of them but played in each), this matchup against the Oilers always felt like an uphill battle for the Kraken. To win, they needed more stellar play from Daccord and a full 60-minute effort from the team.
Daccord was solid, making 27 saves, though perhaps not as sharp as in his previous outings. Meanwhile, the team played well but fell short of the sustained 60-minute effort required to beat a team like Edmonton.
Now, Bylsma has no choice but to start Philipp Grubauer on Tuesday when the Anaheim Ducks visit Climate Pledge Arena. That shouldn’t be a concern; your backup goalie, especially one earning $5.9 million, should be able to handle the second game of a back-to-back against a relatively weak opponent.
But Grubauer has had two of his worst performances of his Kraken tenure when handling one segment of back-to-backs. On Nov. 29, he gave up seven goals on 26 shots in an 8-5 loss to the San Jose Sharks in the first of back-to-backs. That night, Bylsma clearly wanted to get the hook but resisted, knowing that he needed Daccord for the following night. Then, on Jan. 12, when Grubauer started the second leg of a back-to-back at the Detroit Red Wings, he allowed three goals on four shots before Daccord was forced to step in. That was the last time Grubauer has seen game action.
Part of me would have preferred to see Daccord rested Monday, giving Seattle the best chance to earn two points out of these four on Tuesday. That said, it was also encouraging to see the Kraken remain competitive with the Oilers, so… insert shrug emoji here.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The Kraken just wrapped up a fun week of hockey at Climate Pledge Arena, winning two out of three games with victories against the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their only loss came against the league-leading Washington Capitals. I won’t pretend it was the prettiest stretch of games, but let’s face it—winning is fun.
Saturdays are fun again
The win against the Penguins on Saturday marked the Kraken’s fourth home victory on a Saturday this season. Last season, they went 0-7-2 at home on Saturday nights. Pittsburgh seemed to dominate lengthy stretches of the game, but the Kraken capitalized on key opportunities and never trailed. An added bonus of Saturday’s game was the annual Kids Game, featuring several kids shadowing job functions during the event—not to mention the many young fans in the crowd, thanks to the family-friendly start time.
Face-off follow-ups
It was great to see people discussing my mention of Chandler Stephenson’s defensive capabilities on Reddit last week. Measuring defensive skills using public data is challenging because so many important events aren’t captured. Thinking out loud here: it would be great to have metrics like deflections of passes, elimination of passing lanes, coverage of players, possession in the defensive zone, controlled zone exits versus zone exits that immediately concede possession, and so on—all measured against the strength of the competition on the ice.
Someone in the Reddit thread pointed out Stephenson’s low face-off percentage in the defensive zone, as available on NHL.com stats. I commend the poster for digging into the data and investigating on their own. However, even that stat requires context.
For most of the season, Stephenson has been part of the first penalty kill unit, meaning he takes a lot of face-offs while the team is shorthanded. Being shorthanded naturally reduces a team’s chances of winning a face-off. League-wide, shorthanded teams win only 46.9 percent of face-offs in all scenarios. Meanwhile, Stephenson’s face-off percentage while shorthanded is 50.8 percent.
I should also point out that face-offs are an incomplete stat because what you really want is possession, which isn’t the same as simply winning the face-off. That said, face-off percentages are the best we have right now and are generally a good indicator of possession—though not 100 percent of the time.
Sign or trade
In case you missed it, we did an exercise on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast last week called “Sign or Trade,” focusing on the Seattle Kraken’s pending unrestricted free agents. Using the AFP Analytics midseason extension projection model, we analyzed a couple of players and shared our opinions on whether the Kraken front office should re-sign or trade them based on their forecasted cap hits.
Yanni Gourde’s projected cap hit was $4.1 million AAV over three years. We all agreed the Kraken should trade him if that is what it would require to re-sign him, but I wonder—at what point does the AAV start to make sense for the team? The Kraken need another center for next season, and there doesn’t appear to be anyone in the pipeline who could fill the fourth-line center role. So, if Yanni would stay for $3.5 million, would you consider it?
The other part of the equation is what the Kraken could get for Yanni on the trade market. As I mentioned last week, if a first-round draft pick is on the table, you have to make the trade regardless of Yanni’s potential re-signing number. You could always try to bring him back in free agency, but that rarely happens—so I wouldn’t count on it.
The other interesting player is Brandon Tanev, whose projected cap hit is $2.4 million AAV for two years. Tanev has played very well this season, and at those numbers, re-signing him would definitely be worth considering.
Other musings
The Kraken improved to 6-2-0 all-time against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The only Eastern Conference team they have a better record against is the Buffalo Sabres, who they defeated on Monday. Seattle is now 7-1-0 against the Sabres.
Fans at the Capitals and Penguins games this week had the chance to see goals from Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Neither player had scored at Climate Pledge Arena since the Kraken’s inaugural season.
With their win on Saturday, the Kraken’s record improved to 12-5-3 in games where they score first. When the opposition scores first, Seattle’s record is 10-20-0.
At this point, it feels like a stretch to consider Seattle, Anaheim, and Nashville in the playoff race. However, Nashville has been the hottest team in January and is inching back into the conversation.
I haven’t completely given up on the Kraken making things interesting, but until further notice, they are out of the playoffs and are likely sellers at the trade deadline.
The Kraken have two games against the Calgary Flames before the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Two regulation wins in those matchups would certainly make things more interesting.
The Capitals looked very strong when they played the Kraken last Thursday. Impressively, the Caps also boast one of the best prospect pools in the league—not bad for a team that hasn’t tanked. They’ve only missed the playoffs once in the last 10 seasons.
The big trade on Friday between the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche officially kicked off trade season. There’s usually a major trade in late January that starts to grease the trade gears—last year it was Elias Lindholm, and the year before, Bo Horvat. Expect trades to pick up steadily as we approach the March 7 trade deadline.
Matty Beniers is playing his best hockey of the season right now. His performance seemed to improve after the Kaapo Kakko trade. Since Kakko joined the team, Beniers has scored seven goals in 17 games; before that, he had just four goals in 33 games.
Speaking of the Kakko trade, Will Borgen signed a five-year contract with the New York Rangers over the weekend. The average annual value clocked in a $4.1 million. I’m happy for Will and, at the same time, thankful the Kraken did not sign for that price tag.
Buoy attended one of those mascot night events at a Portland Trail Blazers game. I wonder if all those mascots get together after work to enjoy a few “college sodas.”
Jared McCann (SEA) – McCann’s goal-scoring is off pace compared to previous seasons, but he’s contributing in other ways. He recorded one goal and four assists over the Kraken’s last three games.
Tyson Jugnauth (POR/SEA) – The unsigned Kraken prospect is on an active 10-game point streak, tallying six goals and 13 assists during that span.
Joey Daccord (SEA) – Daccord is 4-2-0 in his last six starts with an impressive .928 save percentage. Even in his two losses, he’s kept the Kraken competitive with a chance to win.
The week ahead
The Kraken face a tough matchup on Monday when they head to Edmonton to play the Oilers in Connor McDavid’s first game back after his three-game suspension. It’s hard to expect much from the Kraken in that game, as Edmonton has been playing well lately, winning seven of its last 10 games. Adding the best player in the league back into the lineup certainly won’t hurt the Oilers.
After Monday, the schedule lightens up with home games against Anaheim on Tuesday, San Jose on Thursday, and a Sunday game against Calgary. Both Anaheim and San Jose have been struggling recently. Anaheim is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games, while San Jose has managed just one win in its last 10. I don’t take anything for granted this season, but if there are two games you expect to win, these are them.
Calgary presents a bigger challenge. The Flames currently hold the last wild card spot and have been stingy on defense. One potential advantage for the Kraken is that Calgary will be playing the night before against the Red Wings, which might mean Seattle faces backup goaltender Dan Vladar instead of Calder Trophy candidate Dustin Wolf. That said, Vladar played well against the Kraken earlier this season, allowing just two goals in an overtime loss back in October.
I’ve accepted that a playoff push is unlikely, but I’d still like to see the Kraken make things interesting the rest of the way. Six points this week, including a regulation win against Calgary, are almost mandatory if they hope to have any shot at climbing back into the playoff picture. Either way, I still enjoy the winning—especially at home—so I’d probably be satisfied with a couple of home victories this week.
The Seattle Kraken secured their third win in four games on Saturday with a convincing 4-1 result, completing a season sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The win pulled the Kraken within six points of the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. However, there’s some smoke and mirrors in play; to reenter the playoff picture, Seattle still must leapfrog four teams despite having played as many as four additional games compared to the teams ahead of them.
So, the playoffs remain farfetched at this point, but who knows? If they can keep cooking and win, say, six of their next seven (again, farfetched) before the 4 Nations Face-Off break, they could at least get back into the conversation.
As it stands, let’s just say that the win on Saturday was a solid one, featuring some nice passing plays to create goals and more stellar goaltending from Joey Daccord, who stopped 28 of 29 shots.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-1 Kraken win over the Penguins.
Takeaway #1: Joey Daccord shines again
I keep expecting Daccord to show cracks in the armor, especially with coach Dan Bylsma having no choice but to lean on him game after game. But all Daccord has done is continue to rise to the occasion and put up outstanding performances.
In his six starts since returning from the upper-body injury he suffered on Dec. 22, Daccord is 4-2-0 with a .928 save percentage. In the two losses (Winnipeg and Washington), he allowed two goals per game while his team managed a measly one combined goal at the other end.
This performance against Pittsburgh didn’t require quite as many flashy saves as the game against the Caps on Thursday, but you can see from the way he’s reading the play that he seems to know where the puck is going before it gets there.
As a prime example, watch the below 3-on-2 opportunity from the first period, in which Drew O’Connor ends up in alone with Daccord. Daccord gives O’Connor plenty of room on the glove side, instead opting to hold closer to the blocker-side post, reading that O’Connor is going to try to go five-hole. Indeed, O’Connor did try to get Daccord to open up, but Joey clamped his pads down and rejected the scoring chance.
I asked Daccord after the game if he’s feeling any different right now because he does look especially dialed in. Here’s what he said: “No, not at all. I try to just be the same every day. I know if I just play like myself and play like I’m able to, then I don’t need to elevate above what I’m capable of at a consistent level. So I just try to bring the same mindset, the same focus, same energy levels every single day. And if I do that, then I feel like I’m able to put a pretty consistent game on the ice.”
As for the heavy workload he’s been shouldering? “I like playing a lot. So, it feels like it’s just another day. Most goalies will tell you that they like playing a lot, and for me, I felt like the third period of last game just carried into this game and just kept rolling. And yeah, I love it. They tell me to play, I play. They tell me to sit, I sit.”
Takeaway #2: Tic-tac-toe passing
After a paltry offensive performance against the high-flying Washington Capitals on Thursday, Seattle bounced back by seizing rush opportunities to slide past the Penguins. Three of the four goals came off transition plays, with two of those coming on bona fide odd-man rushes and one from a shrewd pass to space by Shane Wright to create something out of nothing.
The first of the three rush goals by Oliver Bjorkstrand made it 1-0 at 2:16 of the second period. Chandler Stephenson stole the puck inside Seattle’s zone to set up a 2-on-1 with Bjorkstrand. I always love when everyone in the arena expects a certain play, and the puck carrier makes a different play that works out.
This was one of those scenarios. Instead of saucing it across to Bjorkstrand, Stephenson dropped it back to a trailing Andre Burakovsky, turning the 2-on-1 into a 3-on-2. Burky seemed ready for it, and he, in turn, made a perfect dish into Bjorkstrand’s wheelhouse for the one-timer into an open net.
“Truth be told, I was probably [looking for Stephenson] driving and shooting the puck,” Bylsma said. “He made a better play to Andre, and Andre over to Bjorky for that goal.”
The play Wright made on the Tolvanen goal was subtle but brilliant. He was surrounded by three Pittsburgh defenders coming over the line with no direct passes available. So he laid it into the corner where only McCann could get to it, and McCann made a perfect pass to Tolvanen, who was left wide open as a result.
EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨
Smart play by Shane Wright to throw it into the corner, which creates something out of nothing, then McCann makes a perfect pass.
“Wright put the puck to space and let me skate into it,” McCann said. “Obviously, he is a very skilled player who… is going to continue to use his offense to help us.”
And finally, Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers continued building on their chemistry after Kakko intercepted a pass at the offensive blue line and set up Beniers off a clear-cut 2-on-1. That made it 4-1 and sealed the game for the Kraken.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
Kaapo Kakko with the steal and the pass, Beniers with the finish.
“Love the Matty goal, too,” Bylsma said. “Great passing play, good defense for that line in the neutral zone, creating the turnover, but Kakko to Matty, getting that goal, yes, great passing.”
The pretty passing plays don’t always result in goals, but when they work out, they’re fun to watch.
Takeaway #3: Critical 5-on-3 conversion
With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, Kris Letang cross-checked Beniers to give the Kraken a rare 5-on-3 opportunity. It felt like a turning point in the contest one way or the other because if Pittsburgh kills that off, it’s probably a big momentum killer for the Kraken and a swing in the other direction for the Penguins.
Seattle wisely called a timeout to regroup and let Jess Campbell draw up a plan, resulting in a crucial power-play conversion. It wasn’t anything pretty, just Vince Dunn letting it rip from the point and getting a friendly bounce off Noel Acciari while Jaden Schwartz wreaked havoc in front of the net.
HE DUNN DID IT! 🚨
Vince with a big blast that looked like it got a deflection off Noel Acciari.
“I think we were able to generate some good chances [on the 5-on-3],” Dunn said. “I think we took what was given, and [Jaden Schwartz] has been so good out front of the net all year… did his part and made it easy for me.”
The goal got Seattle into the third period with a 2-1 lead, and it was all Kraken after that.
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.
