At the official halfway point of the season, the Seattle Kraken are unofficially cooked. They showed some promise coming out of the holiday break with a shocking comeback win against the Vancouver Canucks, followed by a solid 60-minute victory over the Utah Hockey Club. But, as has been the case all season, the second some positive momentum starts to build, the wheels fall right back off the wagon, this time resulting in three consecutive losses (0-2-1) to close out a four-game homestand.
The most recent Kraken defeat came Monday at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, who came in on a four-game skid. While Seattle again battled hard to stay with a good (albeit struggling) team, conceding a brutal response goal and encountering some unbelievable saves by Jacob Markstrom ultimately sealed the Kraken’s fate.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Devils.
Takeaway #1: Jacob Markstrom wanted for grand larceny
Despite facing only 24 Kraken shots, the Devils’ netminder was the story of this game and rightfully earned the No. 1 star honors. This was one of those rare occasions where the question wasn’t “how many?” but rather, “how?” Seriously—how on Earth did he stop those?
The first of his three best saves came late in the first period with the game tied 1-1. The Eeli Tolvanen/Shane Wright/Oliver Bjorkstrand line orchestrated a beautiful 3-on-2 buildup that ended with Bjorkstrand storming down the slot for as good a look as you can get. His snap shot appeared destined for the top corner, but Markstrom sprawled to his left, going full street-hockey mode to get a piece of it with his glove.
Highway robbery by Jacob Markstrom on Oliver Bjorkstrand after a great buildup by Wright and Tolvanen.
The other two highway robberies came in the third period, both with the Kraken pressing to tie the game at 3-3. Wright and Tolvanen connected again for what seemed like a surefire goal for Tolvanen, who was staring at a wide-open net. In desperation, Markstrom lunged with his glove. With Tolvanen’s body positioning and the puck in the air, he had no choice but to direct it back toward Markstrom’s big, open mitt for another sensational save.
Minutes later, Markstrom delivered even more wizardry when Matty Beniers tipped a Kaapo Kakko shot and collected his own rebound, flipping it up and over Markstrom. With the goalie flopping flat onto his back, this floating puck would surely drop into the net, right?
WRONG!
From the depths of Hell (where Devils reside), Markstrom reached up and somehow batted the puck out of the air, preserving the tenuous one-goal lead.
UPDATE: THIS is the save of the year from Markstrom!
After the game, New Jersey forward Paul Cotter struggled to put into words what he saw from his netminder.
“I was speechless on a couple of [the saves]. He saved me a couple dashes,” Cotter said. “I mean, we’re nowhere near a win without him tonight.”
Added Markstrom: “It’s a win, two points. I don’t care how we do it. If I make five saves or 12 saves or 40 saves, if we win, I’m happy.”
Takeaway #2: The dreaded response goal
On Monday morning, Kraken coach Dan Bylsma emphasized how critical the second goal of the game is. If you concede the first, can you answer? Or if you score first, can you extend the lead and take control of the game? Unfortunately, the Kraken rarely capitalize on the latter scenario, so when they allow the first goal, they must respond.
Seattle did get the second goal in this game. Adam Larsson, using a Jared McCann screen to his advantage, banked a seeing-eye shot off the far post and in to tie the score at 1-1 at 15:47 of the first period.
But a case could be made that the fifth goal of this game was the most pivotal. The Kraken had just found the elusive equalizer 1:24 into the third period when Shane Wright hammered home a perfect Kakko saucer pass on the power play to make it 2-2.
While scoring that second goal is vital, so too is the next shift after any goal, and the Kraken seemed to forget that detail. Just 37 seconds later, Jack Hughes found Ondrej Palat in a soft spot in the slot, and Palat flicked a shot against the grain past Philipp Grubauer’s glove for the eventual game-winner.
Asked whether the Cotter goal with 24 seconds left in the second and the Palat response goal deflated Seattle, Bylsma said, “Yes, I agree with you.”
Takeaway #3: This feels like the end already
Maybe it’s just hyperbole and an overreaction to getting kicked while down, but this feels like the end of the Kraken’s playoff chances for the season.
…And there are still more than three months left.
Yes, there’s time for a miracle hot streak, but realistically, this team simply isn’t good enough to string together a long series of wins. To beat quality opponents, the Kraken must play near-flawless hockey for 60 minutes. While that’s possible on occasion, it won’t happen consistently enough to re-enter the playoff race.
The Kraken now sit seventh in the Pacific Division. At this rate, a last-place finish—below the Ducks and Sharks—is more plausible than a miraculous playoff berth.
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 Seattle Kraken captured three points out of a possible six over the past week. However, after securing two points in their first game of the week against Utah, it feels like a missed opportunity to gain more. Following Tuesday’s win over Utah, they came from behind to earn a point against Vancouver but then lost in regulation to Edmonton in a game where the Kraken got off to a horrible start. On top of that, injuries have started to pile up as the hope for any playoff contention push becomes more and more unlikely.
Kraken cold starts and playing from behind
The Kraken had a rough start to Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, conceding two goals within the first 5:18 of the game. Frankly, it could have been worse. Falling behind has been a recurring issue all season. The Kraken have allowed the first goal in 60 percent of their games this season—second worst in the league, behind only the New York Islanders. Their record is 8-16-0 when conceding the first goal, compared to 9-4-3 when scoring first. So far, they’ve trailed during 43 percent of their total game time.
To the team’s credit, Seattle has consistently shown resilience, never giving up and often battling back, as they did on Saturday. They were down 3-0 at one point in the game but managed to cut the deficit to 3-2 before Leon Draisaitl sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.
Injuries are stacking up
In case you missed it, the Kraken placed goaltender Joey Daccord (retroactive to Dec. 22) and forward Yanni Gourde (retroactive to Jan. 4) on injured reserve (IR) over the weekend. This move opened two roster spots, allowing the Kraken to call up defensemen Cale Fleury and Gustav Olofsson from Coachella Valley. Why two defensemen, you ask? On Saturday night, Adam Larsson missed the third period of the game against Edmonton. He was a full participant in the morning skate on Monday, and coach Dan Bylsma indicated that he is likely to be available against New Jersey. Daccord has been skating with the team, so we expect him back in the relative near future.
Bylsma also indicated that a second defenseman is dealing with an injury, but all six regulars were accounted for at morning skate, and Bylsma said the call-ups were “insurance.”
The Kraken’s playoff hopes are already slim, but with Gourde joining Jordan Eberle on IR—and multiple defensemen banged up—the odds have grown even longer.
PWHL in Seattle
Seattle truly showed up for the PWHL Takeover Tour, delivering an incredible game and an electric atmosphere. Seeing Kraken coach Jessica Campbell drop the ceremonial face-off gave me chills. The attendance of 12,608 was the highest for a PWHL game this season and the second highest in league history. Hats off to the Kraken organization, Climate Pledge Arena, and the PWHL for putting this event together.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Seattle could support a PWHL team. It might not happen during this round of expansion, but when the league starts looking westward, I fully expect Seattle to be on the short list for future teams.
Other musings
Blysma was asked Monday by Alison Lukan about how to address slow starts. He said, “With a loud voice.”
Yanni Gourde missed Saturday night’s game against Edmonton. While I don’t have exact data, it feels like the Gourde line has started most of the Kraken’s games this season. I can’t help but wonder if the Kraken’s rough start Saturday might have been avoided had Gourde played and started that game.
Saturday night might have been Philipp Grubauer’s best performance of the season. The Kraken had no business being in that game, but Phil gave them a chance to compete.
This week was my first time seeing Kaapo Kakko play live as a member of the Kraken. It’s hard to put into words, but his baseline across all aspects of his game feels higher than most Kraken players. While he might not excel at any one skill, he performs well above average in every area.
Matty Beniers had moments on Saturday where he looked the best he has all season. Though he didn’t register a point and only managed two shots on goal, he was noticeably driving play throughout the game.
The World Juniors tournament was a treat this year, with eight Kraken prospects participating. I expect four to return next year: Jakub Fibigr (CZE), Julius Miettinen (FIN), Berkly Catton (CAN), and Kim Saarinen (FIN). Beyond those four, there aren’t many candidates currently in the Kraken pipeline that might be in line for next year’s World Juniors—maybe Nathan Villeneuve (CAN), though that might be a stretch.
Speaking of the World Juniors, it’s hard to imagine the tournament going much better for 2023 first-round pick Eduard Šalé. He captained the bronze-medal-winning Czechia team, scored six goals in seven games, and tallied a goal in the bronze medal game. He also converted on two shootout attempts, including the game-winner.
I tend to adopt a favorite SHL team each season based on Kraken prospects, and for the past couple of years, it’s been HV71. One of my favorite Kraken prospects, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, plays for them. HV71 has won eight of their last 10 games, and Mølgaard has been a significant contributor with 10 points over that span. Being a point-per-game player in the SHL is incredibly difficult, and this is a promising sign of development for the 2023 second-round pick.
Goal of the Week
You might expect me to pick Eduard Šalé’s game-winning shootout goal as this week’s Goal of the Week—but he already claimed last week’s honors. This week, the title goes to Jani Nyman for his game-winning goal for Coachella Valley on Sunday night.
Jagger Firkus (CVF/SEA): Firkus is on a five-game point streak with Coachella Valley. He is currently tied for second in points for the Firebirds this season, alongside Nyman. Clarke Caswell (SCB/SEA): The Kraken’s fifth-round pick from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft has been on fire, tallying 10 points in his last 10 games for the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL. Vince Dunn (SEA): Dunn has racked up seven points in the four games since the Christmas break, including the game-winning goal against Vancouver last Saturday and the game-tying goal against Vancouver on Tuesday night.
The week ahead
The Kraken haven’t been a playoff-caliber team for a while, but you hope they can keep things interesting down the stretch and maintain the illusion that a postseason push is still possible. They face a tough test on Monday against the New Jersey Devils but then have three winnable road games later in the week: Columbus on Thursday, Buffalo on Saturday, and Detroit on Sunday.
Despite being “winnable,” the matchups won’t be easy. Both Columbus and Detroit have better records than the Kraken and have been playing well over their last 10 games. With the Kraken’s injury struggles, earning six out of eight points this week will be challenging—but it’s what they’ll need to keep the hope alive.
Getting called up to the NHL is supposed to be a thrilling moment for a player who has worked his way through various levels of Czech pro leagues and then spent just over a season in the American Hockey League.
With Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer temporarily out of the lineup because of an “unfortunate accident” at his home in November, 27-year-old Aleš Stezka got the second call-up of his career. With Grubauer unavailable, Stezka was needed to back up Joey Daccord for Seattle’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 12.
On the evening of Nov. 11, Stezka flew from Coachella Valley to Seattle, arriving late at night. He picked up a rental car and drove to his downtown hotel around midnight, where he parked in the hotel garage and made the seemingly innocuous decision to leave his gear inside the vehicle.
“I checked the car like three times [to see] if somebody could see the bag from the outside,” Stezka recalled. “And I used my light on the phone, and I couldn’t see in because I had very dark windows.”
Assuming his gear was safe in the hotel garage, Stezka went inside to get a few hours of sleep, knowing he would be back early in the morning to begin his gameday preparations. But when he returned to the car, he immediately recognized that something was amiss.
“I found out at like 6:30 a.m. I came to the car, because that’s a gameday, I wanted to be at the rink a little bit earlier to figure out everything,” Stezka said. “I came to the car and saw the broken window, and I was just like, ‘F**k!’
“I don’t know if the guys used lights, something special [to see in], but they just broke the window, take my hockey gear. They left the sticks in the car, just took the bag.”
The brazen smash-and-grab theft was especially disappointing for Stezka because it was still relatively early in the season, and all his gear was new. This included his Firebirds/Kraken combo mask that he had just unveiled three weeks prior. His bag also contained backup gear, including a second mask, a second pair of skates, and a second catch glove and blocker.
“It was actually crazy, because I never think it can happen, you know? And I just came to Seattle very late. I came to the hotel, like, 30 minutes after midnight. And I was [going to] wake up at something like 6 a.m., so I just parked at the hotel parking garage. But it’s my fault. I just left the stuff, left the hockey bag in the car.”
A gameday scramble
Fortunately for Stezka and the Kraken, he still had his equipment from the 2023-24 season, which he spent entirely with the Firebirds. There was just one problem with him wearing that set for the game later that night: some of that gear was 1,000 miles away in Coachella Valley.
When Stezka realized what had happened, he immediately got in touch with the Kraken to let them know about the incident. With Seattle’s game against the Blue Jackets looming in just 12 hours, head equipment manager Jeff Camelio and director of team services Brennan Baxandall sprang into action.
“I found out at 7 a.m. that his gear was stolen, and we instantly started trying to figure out how we were going to piece gear together to get him on the ice for that night,” Camelio said. “So luckily, we had [some of his old gear] from training camp, so that worked out. We had an old chest protector that he used, old pants, basically just outfitted him with all the old equipment that we could, and then we had some stuff actually flown in from Palm Springs that he had just switched out of.”
What they didn’t have was Stezka’s old pads, gloves, and mask, so they tagged Firebirds assistant equipment manager Justin Sommer to fly from Palm Springs with those items.
“Jeff, Baxy, and everyone around helped me a lot to fix the problem,” Stezka said. “They called the guys in Coachella. Our equipment guy [for the Firebirds], he just flew before the game with the old gear from last season.
“It was easier because that’s my old gear, but I feel so bad… I feel so bad because I had pretty new gear in [the bag].”
**Editor’s note: The gear shown in the above tweet is the gear that was stolen; the photo was taken a few days prior to the incident, during Stezka’s first of two call-ups in quick succession. The header photo is from last season and shows the replacement equipment he used in the game against Columbus.
It was an overwhelming situation for Stezka, who went from being excited to be part of the NHL roster, trying to fit in and quietly go about his business, to being smack-dab in the middle of a chaotic problem that required mountains getting moved on his behalf.
“It was my second call-up ever… I’m a new guy, and everything around that. But the guys helped me a lot here in the locker room too, [saying], ‘Don’t worry, just be ready for the game, and the guys will help you with everything.’ I was very grateful for them.”
Indeed, Stezka’s old gear did arrive in time for him to back up Daccord for the game, though perhaps his setup wasn’t quite as aesthetically pleasing as he had hoped after he replaced his shiny new duds with a beaten-up set from the previous AHL season.
“Jeff did a good job. He called Shifty, he sent him the mask, and Shifty did it in like one week, he did a new mask,” Stezka said. “And he’s a beauty. He helped me a lot, sending me every detail, and I’m very happy to work with him.”
Goalie gear thieves remain at large
One might wonder what would possess somebody to steal a set of custom gear fit for a 6-foot-4 professional hockey goalie, especially considering that it has his name embroidered on it and should be easily spotted as stolen goods.
But that question remains unanswered, as the gear still has not been recovered.
“[The Kraken] talked to the police, I talked to the hotel manager as well, but the gear still [hasn’t been] found,” Stezka said. “Me and my wife—I know Jeff, too, and the team—we’re trying to watch the goalie markets, the black markets, anywhere you can sell gear, but nothing.”
Stezka still feels terrible that the incident happened and (perhaps unfairly) blames himself for not bringing the equipment into the hotel with him that fateful night. But he also learned from the experience.
“I learned you never, never, never leave your stuff in the car… Shit happens, but I feel very bad because it’s a lot of money for a team, and I’m very glad for everyone who helped me on both sides.”
Added Camelio: “This was the first time I’ve had a whole set of goalie gear stolen. So this was a first for me in 25 years.”
If you happen upon a set of pro-spec True goalie gear with “Stezka” stitched into it, and/or a custom Aleš Stezka Firebirds/Kraken mask, please contact your local authorities.
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 Seattle Kraken won 2-1 against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday” … is what I would be writing if we could erase the first six minutes of the game (and also pretend Leon Draisaitl’s empty-net goal didn’t happen, though it wouldn’t have in this revisionist version of events).
Alas, we at Sound Of Hockey cannot rewrite portions of a hockey game. As such, the real result was a 4-2 Kraken loss.
“It’s taxing on you mentally [to frequently be down in games],” coach Dan Bylsma said. “The games go different ways, you get bounces, you don’t get bounces… In this game, a minute into the game, you’re down one and down two in the first period. It’s mentally challenging for the guys to continually mount a comeback in games.”
Here are Three Takeaways after a 4-2 Seattle Kraken loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Takeaway #1: What an abysmal start
Seattle opened this game with one of its worst six-minute stretches of hockey this season. It was puzzling to see the Kraken come out so flat because there’s simply no explanation for how they could lack energy in a game like this, even though we’ve seen that countless times over the past three and a half seasons.
Desperate for points, facing one of the best teams in the NHL—featuring two of the world’s top players—and playing in front of a packed house at home on a Saturday night, they should have been fired up. Instead, they came out flat, completely mismanaging the puck. They handed out turnovers like candy, missed checks, and Philipp Grubauer was left to fend for himself against three Grade A rush chances, two of which found the back of the net.
“Not good enough,” Bylsma said. “Early on, a little too much standing around, watching their good players, and not putting enough bodies on guys.”
“I mean, we’ve got to get better starts,” Jaden Schwartz said after scoring in the third period to bring the Kraken within one. “It’s tough coming back all the time in this league. It’s good to be able to do it, and we put ourselves in position to tie it up again. But we’ve just got to—especially with them playing last night—be sharper off the start, be on our toes, be aggressive, instead of kind of watching them and being on our heels.”
Schwartz nailed it with that phrase, “watching them.” It really felt like the Kraken were spectators, allowing the Oilers’ many offensive weapons to dictate the game.
On the first goal 57 seconds in, the Kraken had numbers with Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn, and Adam Larsson all back. Beniers tied up Viktor Arvidsson, but Larsson gave Leon Draisaitl too much room, and Dunn missed a check on Podkolzin on the wall, leaving him wide open to score and extend Draisaitl’s point streak to 14 games.
Four minutes later, Jeff Skinner doubled the lead on another coverage lapse by the top pair. Tye Kartye missed his check on Derek Ryan at the red line and hit linemate Ben Meyers instead, giving Ryan space to carry the puck into the Kraken zone. Again, Larsson gave Kasperi Kapanen too much room, and Dunn reacted too slowly to Skinner streaking through the middle. Skinner then went 1-on-1 with Grubauer and buried it.
God-awful start for the #SeaKraken, who are completely hanging their goalie out to dry.
This team never quits, and I genuinely thought a tying goal was coming in the third period. But the Kraken need to figure out how to play with leads rather than constantly chasing games.
Takeaway #2: Philipp Grubauer gave them a chance
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about goaltending in Three Takeaways, but Grubauer deserves a mention for his performance Saturday.
The Kraken skaters gave him little support in the opening minutes, and the deficit could have been worse if he hadn’t made a huge save on Connor McDavid’s breakaway. Despite the tough start, Grubauer made 28 saves on 31 shots in a game where Seattle was outshot nearly 2-to-1.
“He kept us in the game, for sure,” Bylsma said. “The McDavid breakaway save, and he was strong in other avenues. There was traffic in front, and he made some strong saves in there. He gave us a chance to come back in this game, for sure.”
He also did a full split to rob Draisaitl on a 2-on-1 in the third period.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers had 81 percent of the shot quality in this game. They should have scored more than they did, but Grubauer gave the Kraken a fighting chance.
Takeaway #3: Adam Larsson injured
The night started poorly for the Dunn/Larsson pairing and only worsened, as Adam Larsson left at the end of the second period with an upper-body injury. His last shift ended with 3:32 remaining in the frame.
On replay, his final shift looked fine, though he did get his stick caught under Connor Brown’s arm at the very end of the shift (see tweet below). Could that have tweaked his arm or shoulder?
Wonder if this little pull on Connor Brown with his stick hurt Larsson’s arm or shoulder.
After that little pull on the stick by Brown, Larsson exited the frame. Watching live, I didn’t notice him leave the bench immediately, but I did catch that the Kraken were short a player by the end of the second.
Bylsma said after the game, “We’ll have to see how it reacts at this point in time.”
The Kraken can’t afford to lose Larsson, their ironman and top-pair defenseman, for an extended period. Here’s hoping his injury responds well over the next couple of days.
Worth noting, Yanni Gourde was also a late scratch from this game with an injury.
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.
