It’s almost comical to imagine that an 18-year-old playing in his eighth career NHL game, running up against a fellow 18-year-old playing in his 20th career NHL game, could be a storyline that dominates the hockey world. But that is what we’re going to get for the next 36 hours or so. It has been confirmed that Seattle Kraken No. 4 overall pick, Shane Wright, will be in the lineup Tuesday against the No. 1 overall pick, Juraj Slafkovsky, and the Montreal Canadiens.
If it weren’t for how the 2022 NHL Entry Draft played out, this would not be a particularly notable storyline. It draws attention because everybody who is anybody with an opinion on the draft assumed for the longest time that Wright would end up as that No. 1 pick and begin his career with the Habs. Instead, he slipped all the way down to No. 4, and as Kraken director of amateur scouting Robert Kron said, “Christmas came early” for Seattle.
Since obtaining exceptional status to join the OHL early in 2019, Wright had been tagged as the consensus top pick. Once Montreal won the NHL Draft Lottery, pundits far and wide started penciling him onto the Canadiens roster for years to come.
Yet, in the days and weeks leading up to the draft, the winds started to shift. It became less of a foregone conclusion that Wright would be selected first overall, as so many had been predicting for so long. Lo and behold, Wright’s name was not called first by Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes. Instead, it was Slafkovsky who hustled onto the stage at Bell Centre and donned the Montreal bleu, blanc, et rouge.
Knowing the context of the next two picks, it was unsurprising to see New Jersey take defenseman Simon Nemec at No. 2 and only slightly surprising to see Arizona select Logan Cooley at No. 3. When the Kraken went on the clock, general manager Ron Francis wasted no time in proudly announcing that Seattle would take Wright at No. 4.
A lot was made in the days that followed the draft of how disappointed Wright must have been and how he gave the Montreal draft table a hard look from the stage.
Wright has since dispelled the theory that he was intentionally staring anyone down, and contrary to popular wisdom, he has displayed nothing but positivity about his situation since arriving in Seattle.
Now, Wright will get his first chance to show Montreal that it made the wrong choice.
Wright is back from the AHL
Wright has been in an odd spot during the early stages of his first pro season. Too good to return to the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, but not quite developed enough to crack Seattle’s roster full time, he’s been stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Because of the transfer rules between the CHL and the NHL and because of his age, Wright is not eligible to spend this season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Truth be told, we believe the AHL would be the perfect place for him right now, as he would be able to play every night and get plenty of minutes on the top line. Instead, Wright spent the first two months of the season mostly scratched by the Kraken. During that time, he did get good, hard work in with the team’s coaches and players, helping him adjust to the speed of the best hockey league in the world.
The healthy scratches ended up affording Wright a unique opportunity to get some of that AHL experience he so sorely needed. Thanks to a loophole in the rules, by scratching him five games in a row, Seattle was allowed to assign Wright to the Firebirds on a two-week conditioning stint.
Wright performed well with Coachella Valley, scoring four goals in five games and adding a shootout goal. Kraken coach Dave Hakstol liked what he saw as well but cautioned against reading too much into the offensive success.
“You got to be careful to over-analyze everything,” Hakstol said. “Really nice to be able to see him play some minutes. Nice to see him have— he had some early success, in terms of the offensive side, scoring a couple goals. Those are all real positives.”
Now, Wright’s conditioning stint is over, and he returned to Kraken practice Monday.
Slafkovsky has had a good start
The situation for Slafkovsky has been quite different. Though Montreal has been punching above its weight to get itself narrowly above .500, it is a team that is focused on developing its young players for the future with no real aspirations of contending this season. That focus on development has allowed coach Martin St. Louis to be patient with Slafkovsky, keeping him in key roles in the lineup and building him up to as many as 14 minutes of ice time per game.
Playing on a line with veterans Sean Monahan and Josh Anderson, Slafkovsky has started to produce offensively. He now has four goals and three assists, including a point in each of his last two games.
Physically much larger than Wright and having already played against men in the Finnish Liiga, we are not surprised to see Slafkovsky transitioning to the NHL faster, though we still believe Wright has the highest upside of anyone in the 2022 draft.
As for what’s happening on the other side, Wright isn’t too worried about what Slafkovsky is doing for Montreal. “Two different situations with what’s going on,” Wright said. “I’m really more focused on myself and my game and what I’m doing here and what I want to bring to the team here.”
A challenging development road for Wright
Wright has been forced out of the NHL lineup mostly by circumstance. Seattle is proving itself to be a contender and has always maintained its goal this season is to make the playoffs. So, how could Hakstol continue to send him out night after night if Wright wasn’t giving the Kraken the best chance to win?
It’s a tough spot for the coach and the player, but the Kraken got creative and found a way to get Wright some additional playing time in the AHL. It will be worth watching to see if that extra time has helped build Wright up to being NHL ready.
Through the first couple months of the season, Hakstol said the Kraken have been happy with Wright’s approach but recognized that every player’s journey is different. “I’ve been through this with many young players, players that go on to be great players. Every player is different in their trajectory and their pathway and how they’re going to get there.”
Whether the short stint with Coachella Valley did enough to make Wright more effective at the NHL level remains to be seen, but Wright believes it helped him in the short term. “I definitely gained a lot of confidence down there,” Wright said. “It was nice to be able to play a lot of high minutes, get a lot of touches, and play the puck as well, and just kind of play my game. You know, be myself and regain that confidence in myself and my abilities and hopefully bring that back to Seattle.”
Wright will likely only get limited, fourth-line playing time again Tuesday, but it sure will be fun to see him on the ice next to the guy that knocked him out of the top spot in the 2022 draft.
Monday Musings is a collection of random thoughts and observations about the last week of activity from the hockey world with an emphasis on the Kraken and other happenings around the Puget Sound hockey community.
Kraken thoughts
The Kraken went 2-1-0 for the week and sit comfortably in second place in the Pacific Division. The boys continue to bank those points in pursuit of the playoffs. Their current record of 15-6-3 is putting them about on pace for a 113-point season. There is and should be a sense of optimism around this team right now, but this week has raised a couple yellow flags.
The Good
The Kraken’s thrilling 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday was an epic. The boys showed some resilience in coming back from a two-goal deficit that included a tying goal by Yanni Gourde with less than three minutes left in regulation. The icing on the cake was a game-winning goal by Matty Beniers just seven seconds into overtime.
After a pedestrian first period by the Kraken, they pretty much dominated the rest of the game with Philipp Grubauer coming up big when they needed him. We have seen some great games at Climate Pledge Arena, but I will put this one toward the top.
The Bad
The great thing about this team this year is you go into every game anticipating a win. At the very least, you expect them to be competitive and play a close game deep into the third. When that doesn’t happen, it feels like a letdown. The Kraken looked competitive in Saturday night’s game against the Florida Panthers, but a 5-1 loss at home can make you feel like you just got your teeth kicked in. Even the best teams in the league take it on the chin from time to time so let’s not overreact here. It is just a loss, and it is also ok to be upset about it.
Sometimes the toughest thing for me about a Kraken loss is the wait for the next game. I want to see them redeem themselves as soon as possible. Tuesday night cannot come soon enough.
The Ugly
You are allowed to win ugly. Tuesday night’s 9-8 overtime win against the Kings might have been a lot of fun for fans, but it is about as ugly of a win as you can get. The goaltending was sketchy at best, but there was poor defensive play all over the ice that night. If you have not watched the condensed replay of the game, do yourself a solid and give it a viewing.
Regardless of your feeling about that game, the Kraken walked away with two points in the standings, and as Darren Brown said on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, “It is better to win ugly than lose pretty.”
Goalie interference
At the Kraken game on Saturday night, I was sitting next to someone I did not know. He seemed like a new fan with plenty of passion. During the coach’s challenge of the first goal, he was adamant that it would get overturned. He asked me what I thought, and I told him flat out that I had no idea and it I would not be surprised either way. The goal would get confirmed, which led to a bench penalty against the Kraken, and the Panthers scored again on the subsequent power play.
If the outcome of the goaltender interference challenge is so variable, why challenge? Darren did an excellent job at covering the mindset of Hakstol in the challenge in his first takeaway from the game.
From an analytical perspective, I look at it as a math problem. Let us assume there is literally a 50/50 chance of getting the goal reversed. That will mean there is also a 50/50 chance you are assessed a penalty and will go on a penalty kill. If your penalty kill is killing penalties at a rate of .750 or so, you will more than likely kill that penalty off and there really is no harm. That is massively oversimplifying the analytical view, but in my perspective, that exercise should be part of the consideration.
Penalty kill woes
The Kraken penalty kill has been stinking as of late. Here is a look at how the team has performed by game so far, with the size and number on the circle representing the number of times the team was shorthanded in that game.
Part of the recent drop could be related to Morgan Geekie being out of the lineup, and another part could just be the ebb and flow during the season. Another aspect of penalty kills could be they are putting themselves shorthanded with more penalties this year.
That is true, but across the league, they are not the biggest offenders.
Regardless, the penalty kill has been bad. Geekie should be coming back, and I expect the team to make some adjustments sooner rather than later. In the meantime, let us continue to monitor for some improvement.
Other Kraken musings:
After the Kraken lost their first three overtime games of the season, Thursday night’s thrilling win against the Capitals marked their fourth overtime win in a row. They have yet to play in a game that went to a shoutout.
Florida’s win on Saturday night was their first point ever against the Kraken.
For those of you that attended or viewed my presentation at SEAHAC over the weekend: all three of the Kraken goals against the Capitals on Thursday night were ‘High-Danger’ goals, and the Kings had over 72 percent of the shot attempts in the third period.
I think the team misses Geekie right now. He is an integral part of the penalty kill and has become a bit of a faceoff specialist as well. Geekie led the team in faceoff percentage during November.
Shane Wright’s conditioning assignment with the Coachella Valley Firebirds is now over. I believe the Kraken hope to get him in the lineup at least once before deciding on loaning him to Team Canada for the World Junior Championship.
Tuesday night against Montreal would be a fitting time for Wright to draw in, but it will largely come down to Geekie’s status. The penalty kill needs Geekie. If he is not ready to play Tuesday, Wright should play.
This all-Kraken panel was fun to hear. It featured general manager Ron Francis, strength and conditioning coach Nate Brookreson, amateur scout Chris MacDonald, and video coach Tim Ohashi. Give it a watch.
After the 2019 SEAHAC conference, I wanted to create a meetup-type community of Seattle-based folks interested in hockey analytics. After attending the 2022 SEAHAC, I am convinced I need to make this happen. Would love to hear what other individuals think about the idea.
Alex Wennberg appreciation bullet. He flies a bit under the radar, but I have loved his gameplay this season. We do not talk about him nearly enough. That’s all.
Matty Beniers (SEA) – Three goals in three games for Matty, including the thrilling overtime winner on Thursday night.
On the docket
Montreal Canadiens – Tuesday, Dec. 5, at Climate Pledge Arena
Montreal is having a better than expected season but still faces an uphill battle to get in the playoffs. The Habs will be playing the Kraken on the second night of back-to-backs, but this will be a battle.
Canadiens Current Record: 12-11-1
Players to watch:
Kirby Dach – After being traded to Montreal, the 21-year-old center is having a solid season and is currently third on the team in points. Dach played a few years for the Saskatoon Blades before going to the Blackhawks. Cole Caufield – Like Dach, Caufield was selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Caufield is known for his small size but big shot. He is currently tied for the team lead in goals with 13.
Washington Capitals – Friday, Dec. 9, at Capital One Arena
The Caps will have the loss to the Kraken fresh in their memory and will be looking for redemption. The team has been hammered with injuries this season, but beating Alex Ovechkin and company is never an easy task.
Capitals Current Record: 10-12-4
Players to watch:
Nic Dowd – I did not call him out last week, but I did notice him in the game against the Kraken on Thursday. Dowd was born in Huntsville, Ala., and played one year of junior hockey for the Wenatchee Wild in central Washington. He plays an important role for the Capitals. Dylan Strome – Speaking of noticing someone, I literally did not notice Strome on Thursday night against the Kraken. He is second on the team in points and is a pretty good playmaker out there.
Florida Panthers – Sunday, Dec. 11, at FLA Live Arena
These guys again. The Panthers game on Sunday kicks off a bit of a gauntlet of a schedule for the Kraken. Hopefully they can get some redemption of their own to start this stretch on a good foot.
Panthers Current Record: 12-9-4
Players to watch:
Carter Verhaeghe – With two goals against the Kraken last week, it might be a good idea to keep an eye on him in this one. He leads the Panthers with 14 goals on the season. Matthew Tkachuk – He was a pest on Saturday night, and I imagine he will be a pest on Sunday. He is also a really good player.
Chart of the week
Skeptics of the Seattle Kraken have been pointing to the shooting percentage as not sustainable, thinking the Kraken will return to earth after such a hot start. There is some room to be skeptical on the sustainability of the shooting percentage, but someone must lead the league in shooting, and as one former pro athlete in Seattle once said, “Why not us?”.
As always, thanks for reading, and I love the engagement and discussion we have in the comments section. If there is a topic you want me to dig into, feel free to leave in the comments I will aim to address it next week.
On Episode 216.5, John and Darren sat down with Sound Of Hockey contributor Curtis to answer all your Mailbag questions over college sodas at a local watering hole.
Sticking with the more “raw” nature of .5 episodes, there’s lots of background ambiance in this one, but the guys think it’s a pretty fun chat and hope you enjoy it.
Topics in the Mailbag touch on the sustainability of the Kraken’s success, what they can do to get better, and whether they should mortgage the future to give themselves a chance at a deeper playoff run.
That’s the way the cookie crumbles. The Kraken lost 5-1 to the Florida Panthers Saturday, snapping their franchise-record win streak at seven games.
For a while, it felt like this game could end up being a carbon copy of the previous Kraken game against the Capitals, in which Seattle overcame a 2-0 deficit and pulled out a thrilling 3-2 overtime win. Instead, Spencer Knight came up big for the Cats, the Kraken gave up three power-play goals against, and Florida pulled away in the end.
You can’t win ’em all.
Here are our Three Takeaways from Seattle’s first loss since Nov. 13.
Takeaway #1: A penalty for a lost challenge is a terrible rule
Seven minutes into the first period Saturday, Marc Staal collided with Philipp Grubauer and eliminated any chance the Seattle netminder had of getting back in position to make the next save. Carter Verhaeghe scored into a wide-open net.
Ruled a good goal. 1-0 Panthers, and that means the Kraken have to send a guy for the box.
The rule for goalie interference says contact with the goalie outside the crease is allowed if the player makes an attempt to avoid said contact. This was a lot of contact, though, so we thought it could be overturned. Sure enough, Kraken coach Dave Hakstol challenged, but the call went against Seattle.
“The challenge— there’s two different ways to look at it,” Hakstol said. “I feel like in that case, Philipp didn’t have a chance to do his job. Their look and their ruling at it was different than my viewpoint, but that’s not for me to determine.”
As a result, not only did the goal stand, but the Kraken had to send a player to the penalty box for delay of game. On the ensuing power play, Verhaeghe scored his second goal in 26 seconds.
“Obviously it’s frustrating, but you can’t focus on it,” said Jared McCann of the lost challenge. “We have a lot of veteran guys here who just kind of calm us down and let us play hockey.”
We don’t get that worked up about goalie interference. The rule is confusing, and there are plenty of times that we think it will go one way, only to have the call go the opposite way. You win some, you lose some, it is what it is, yada yada.
What we do get worked up about is the penalty that comes with a lost challenge. Again, we understand why the call went against the Kraken in this case, but if it had gone the other way, that also would have been completely understandable. When a call is truly debatable like that, why should a team be penalized for challenging? It makes no sense.
“That’s part of the game,” Hakstol said. “You gotta make your decision. You got 20 or 30 seconds to look at it, make the best decision possible. In that case, I felt that our goaltender— we needed to stand up for him a little bit. He didn’t have a chance to make that save. The determination on the other side, that’s not up to me.”
Alright, screw it, we’re ranting about the refs now. As long as we’ve gone there, we might as well call out that we thought Vince Dunn getting an extra two minutes for his sparring session with Verhaeghe was bogus. It led to Matthew Tkachuk’s power-play goal at 5:51 of the second period.
Another power-play goal for the Cats, as it bounces in off Tkachuk.
We thought it was bogus because 1.) that was a two-person dance in which both players got plenty of shots in, and 2.) Tkachuk unnecessarily involved himself and gave Dunn a good whack after things had calmed between Dunn and Verhaeghe. So how does Dunn end up with four minutes there?
Hakstol called Dunn’s penalty “undisciplined,” and said the goal against—which pushed Florida’s lead to 3-1—was the turning point in the game, so maybe there was something more there from Dunn that we didn’t catch.
Last thing, the refs were in the way a hilarious amount of times Saturday. We know they’re always trying to get out of the way, but they were like extra defenders for Florida at times.
Ok, this rare referee rant has now come to an end.
Takeaway #2: The Kraken penalty kill is a serious issue
We aren’t that far removed from the Kraken going six games without a power-play goal against, a streak that lasted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 13. That stretch made us believe that Seattle had resolved its penalty kill issues from early in the season, but since that streak ended against the Winnipeg Jets on Nov. 13, the Kraken have had a hard time with the manpower disadvantage. In fact, their PK has been downright stinky.
“It’s hard. I mean, a couple— we just can’t catch a break,” said Carson Soucy. “[They’ve been] shooting it wide a couple games in a row now, where it hits one of us or hits one of them and goes in. We’re trying to do the right things. I think it’s going to come around.”
The PK cost the Kraken in a big way Saturday against the Panthers. Our rant in Takeaway #1 about the refs becomes moot if Seattle just kills off the penalties, but that didn’t happen.
In addition to Verhaeghe scoring after the challenge, Tkachuk scored after the aforementioned bogus extra penalty on Dunn, and Gustav Forsling added a third power-play goal for the Cats at 13:03 of the third period. Worth noting, Grubauer probably wanted that one back, being that it was an unscreened blast from the point. Still, it came with the Kraken down a man, something that has happened far too often lately.
“We need to do a little better job in denying our blue line,” said Hakstol. “We need to do a little better job in finding our pressure. There were too many pucks that were going through seams tonight, which not only creates opportunities, but maintains possession. There’s different pieces that simply have to be better.”
Seattle has done a good job at fixing issues this season, but the PK has now dropped to 30th in the league with just a 66.7 percent success rate. That needs to be fixed again.
Takeaway #3: Spencer Knight was a factor, but the Kraken weren’t good enough
The Kraken were going to lose eventually, and there are worse things in the world than dropping one to a talented Florida Panthers team in a game when Spencer Knight is making enormous saves for his team. Hakstol was not happy with the way his team played, though.
“I don’t think there were very many parts of our game that were very good tonight,” Hakstol said. “So, that’s going to be a tough way to win a hockey game.”
Our immediate assessment of the performance was a little more friendly to the Kraken, because despite the bad breaks in the first period, it felt for a while like Seattle was going to get back in it, just like the previous game against Washington.
“I think we were just off a little from the start,” said Soucy. “They capitalized a couple early on the challenge and stuff. We did a good job trying to fight back, had our looks.”
Knight made an enormous save on Matty Beniers in the closing seconds of the first period, where he stretched to his left and just got his toe on what looked like a sure goal. Had Seattle scored there and gone to the room trailing by just one, we think the game would have had a different outcome.
OH MY WORD! What a save by Spencer Knight on his old Team USA teammate, Matty Beniers! pic.twitter.com/BFtGTlDvjb
“We had some good looks,” said Soucy. “He made a couple key, timely saves. When we’re trying to fight back, that just kind of drains us. You think you need one of those to go in, and then [they kind of] build the lead, makes it a little more.”
Just when you thought the Seattle Kraken would have their win streak snapped at six, they flipped Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals on its head and skated away with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory.
After Daniel Sprong drove hard to the net and Yanni Gourde cleaned up the rebound with 2:27 left in regulation, the crowd inside Climate Pledge Arena went berserk. But when Matty Beniers scored the game winner just seven seconds into overtime, the volume level inside the building may have hit a new all-time high.
The crowd was right to be excited; that was as thrilling a win as we’ve seen from this team, and it brought Seattle within two points of Vegas for first place in the Pacific Division with two games still in hand. The Kraken have now won seven games in a row for the first time in franchise history, and they’re 12-1-1 in their last 14. Perhaps most importantly, they got back to playing their game Thursday after a bizarre 9-8 win left an odd taste in the mouths of players and fans alike.
Here are our Three Takeaways from the Kraken’s latest triumph, a 3-2 overtime thriller over the Capitals.
Takeaway #1: The legend of Matty Beniers grows
It’s almost comical to think that we at Sound Of Hockey were recently expressing concern over Beniers’ stretch of six games without a point. Since then, he has erupted for 12 points in his subsequent six games and now leads all rookies in scoring.
Though he was held to just one measly point Thursday, it was an enormous one. Off the face-off to start the overtime period, Lars Eller tried to push the puck back to John Carlson. But sensing that Carlson was going to have a hard time handling it, both Beniers and Andre Burakovsky jumped past their marks and attacked the defenseman at the Washington blue line. Sure enough, Carlson coughed up the puck to Beniers, and he was off to the races.
Showing once again a level of poise typically reserved for seasoned veterans, Beniers made no mistake. He looked up, found his spot, and rifled it through Darcy Kuemper to send the Kraken faithful home happy yet again. The goal came just seven seconds into the three-on-three period, giving the Kraken their fourth overtime win in their last four tries.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME, MATTY?
Beniers WINS IT 7 seconds into overtime!
7 straight wins for the #SeaKraken, who are now 2 points behind Vegas for 1st in the Pacific!
“Those two guys did a great job creating that loose puck,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “It’s a 50-50 puck, and those are— I don’t care if it’s overtime, three-on-three or five-on-five in the middle of the game. It comes down to little battles like that.”
Jaden Schwartz was on the bench when the winning goal was scored. He said he couldn’t recall seeing a game end like that, so soon after the center-ice face-off. “It happened so fast that I think I was grabbing water, actually,” Schwartz said. “I looked up, and he was on a breakaway.”
Worth noting, Beniers did take his first NHL penalty in this game when he somehow flung Anthony Mantha’s stick all the way up into the protective netting behind Washington’s goal in the third period.
“I’m gonna sit him down right away [Friday], and we’ll go through that,” joked Hakstol.
Takeaway #2: Philipp Grubauer is starting to play
The great thing about having a platoon of two reliable goaltenders is when one falters, the other—at least in theory—can take the baton and run with it. Martin Jones was incredible in Philipp Grubauer’s absence and deserved to continue taking the lion’s share of starts, even after Grubauer came back from his injury. But with Jones showing signs of cracking in his last three starts, it was high time to get Grubi in more frequently.
After a solid 20-save win against the Golden Knights Friday, Grubauer turned in a 21-save performance against the Capitals Thursday. While that doesn’t sound like that many shots, he had some 10-bell stops in the second and third periods that gave his team a chance to win.
Grubauer did give up two goals in the first period, including one off an unscreened blast by Martin Fehervary that had us wondering if he was on his game early.
“First period was a little tough,” Grubauer said. “Two goals on three or four shots there, that’s not how you want to start things off. But second period went well, and that’s the type of period I needed for myself to get back into this.”
The German Gentleman made a key save off a deflection with eight seconds left in the opening frame that seemed to settle him down. “They made a nice play there,” he said. “Obviously, [it’s a] timely save. If that goes in, it’s 3-0 going into the second period and might be game over.”
When Grubauer came out for the second period, you could almost tell nothing else was getting past him for the remainder of the night. His best save came on a two-on-one rush for the Capitals. TJ Oshie made a ridiculous play to get the puck across to Evgeny Kuznetsov. On what looked like a sure goal, Grubauer slid to his left in a full split and robbed Kuznetsov.
He also stood tall against one of the best goal scorers of all time, Alex Ovechkin, who had five shots on goal, including a few of his patented power-play blasts.
“[Ovechkin] shot one in the first period from the boards, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Grubauer recalled. “He can definitely shoot it, and for us goalies, you can’t really react to it. You’ve just gotta be in position and hope that it hits you. That’s why he’s scored so many goals, right?” Grubauer added that having plenty of practice time against Ovechkin during their time together in Washington is a big help now in being able to stop him as an opponent.
If you go back to the game against Colorado, the night when Grubauer got hurt, he has now had three solid starts in a row. We think there’s a good chance Hakstol hands him the reins for a bit, so let’s see if he can run with that opportunity.
Takeaway #3: Playing their game
THAT is Kraken hockey, baby. It was clear from morning skate on Thursday that the Kraken were putting a lot of emphasis on getting back to the tight defensive structure that they pride themselves on playing.
“I thought we played like we should play, like we’re used to seeing the Kraken win games,” said Gourde. “This is exactly the type of game that we want to be in.”
After giving up four or more goals in three out of their previous four games, including eight goals against in Los Angeles on Tuesday, there was something oddly refreshing about a tight-checking, low-scoring affair.
“This feels so much better,” Gourde added. “Giving up eight goals and winning a game, I mean, every win is important, especially against a divisional rival like LA, but this feels much more like a Kraken win.”
Schwartz offered up similar sentiments to Gourde on how the team played in LA compared to how it played at home against the Caps. “We know we can’t be giving up that many chances and turning pucks over, giving up the middle of the ice,” Schwartz said. “So we just need to be harder together, support each other a little more and just play better defensively.”
They did those things Thursday. We sounded alarm bells on this week’s Sound Of Hockey Podcast that the group could have some bad habits creeping in. But the Kraken quieted those alarms Thursday and played a good, sound game in all three zones that re-established our belief that this win streak can continue for many games to come.
We all witnessed perhaps the craziest hockey game ever on Tuesday, and 9-8 overtime contest between the Kraken and the Kings, and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here to talk about it. Fresh off the bizarre game, John, Andy, and Darren have lots of opinions about what played out, and they ring some alarm bells about what a game like that might mean for the Seattle Kraken.
Aside from that crazy game, the guys also break down the recent Kraken games against the Sharks, Golden Knights, and Ducks, and share the latest Seattle news, like Morgan Geekie getting hurt, Magnus Hellberg getting claimed (again), and Shane Wright having success in the AHL.
We all witnessed perhaps the craziest hockey game ever on Tuesday, and 9-8 overtime contest between the Kraken and the Kings, and the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here to talk about it. Fresh off the bizarre game, John, Andy, and Darren have lots of opinions about what played out, and they ring some alarm bells about what a game like that might mean for the Seattle Kraken.
Aside from that crazy game, the guys also break down the recent Kraken games against the Sharks, Golden Knights, and Ducks, and share the latest Seattle news, like Morgan Geekie getting hurt, Magnus Hellberg getting claimed (again), and Shane Wright having success in the AHL.
The Seattle Kraken’s treatment of Shane Wright, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and one of the franchise’s prized prospects, has been equally intriguing, confusing, or, depending on how you feel about the situation, frustrating.
But this past weekend was an encouraging one for Wright, who potted four goals in the first three games of a conditioning stint with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Seattle’s AHL affiliate.
Curiously enough, Wright didn’t tally a single assist in those three games, as one of his best skills is creating opportunities for teammates — he demonstrated that by tallying 63 assists in 62 games for the Kingston Frontenacs in the Ontario Hockey League last season. However, Wright playing meaningful minutes, and scoring, is a positive development for the rookie forward, who struggled to crack the lineup after breaking camp with the Kraken.
“We just felt it was right to give him the opportunity to get some games,” Seattle general manager Francis told the Got Yer’ Back podcast, hosted by Pierre Lebrun and Ryan Rishaug. “He’s done that, played three games, he’s had four goals, he’s displayed an elite release on his shot. I think overall his game is getting better.”
Due to the CHL-NHL agreement, Wright can’t play the entire season for the Firebirds, and this 14-day conditioning stint will conclude after Coachella Valley’s pair of contests against the Henderson Silver Knights on Dec. 2 and Dec. 3.
What happens after that? Wright will return to the Kraken and could be loaned to Canada’s World Junior Championship team, as first reported by Darren Dreger of TSN. Canada’s selection camp begins on Dec. 9, and the tournament concludes on Jan. 1.
Kraken general manager Ron Francis mentioned on the Got Yer’ Back Podcast that the World Juniors are a possibility.
“He’ll play two more this weekend in Henderson Friday and Saturday before getting recalled, and then our plan is to get him in the lineup [for Seattle], and then we’ll make a decision on the World Juniors at that point,” Francis said. “That is an opportunity that is on the table for him to go there and play for Canada, and if we do that, that pushes the decision [of what to do with Wright for the rest of the season] down the road until January.”
If Wright goes to the World Juniors, the Kraken will have a big decision on their hands once the tournament is over. Based on the aforementioned CHL-NHL agreement, Wright can play in nine NHL games before he’s either sent back to the OHL or a year on his entry-level contract is burned. The Burlington, Ontario, Canada native has played seven games for the Kraken so far.
It’s been a turbulent rookie season for Wright, whose prospect pedigree, and the hype that comes along with that, has put a lot of attention on the 18-year-old forward and how Seattle has handled him. Wright was frequently a healthy scratch for the Kraken before joining Coachella Valley.
“I know from the outside, people have a lot of opinions and speculation,” Francis said, “But internally we’ve had those discussions, and everybody understands what we’re trying to do and everyone understands we have Shane’s best interests at heart here, and obviously the more we help him, the more it helps everybody.”
Francis has found loopholes to punt this decision as far down the road as possible before having to decide on Wright’s fate this season. As for burning the first year of his entry-level contract, Francis told Got Yer’ Back he’s not too concerned with that, referring back to how Seattle was willing to do that with Matty Beniers at the end of the 2021-22 season.
“It’s there on the horizon, but it’s not the deciding factor on whether keep him or send him back at some point,” Francis said.
Jacob Melanson on torrid pace
Jacob Melanson, Seattle’s fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has been one of the Kraken’s hottest prospects as of late. The Acadie-Bathurst forward has 10 points in his last five games and 19 points in his last 10 games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Melanson has scored nearly a goal per game, with 17 in 18 contests this year.
Jagger Firkus continues long point streak
With a goal on Tuesday night, Kraken forward prospect Jagger Firkus extended his point streak to 18 games. Firkus, a second-round pick in 2022, has 13 goals and 14 assists during that stretch.
Where do we even begin? Neither team played any semblance of defense, and everybody scored goals in a 9-8 overtime victory for the Seattle Kraken over the Los Angeles Kings. Of course, we won’t complain about a Kraken win, but that was a bizarre and at times truly ugly game.
Matty Beniers, Jared McCann, and Andre Burakovsky each scored two goals for the Kraken (but wait, there’s more!), while Oliver Bjorkstrand, Daniel Sprong, and Alex Wennberg scored the other three. Martin Jones allowed eight goals on 35 shots, good for a .771 save percentage, yet hilariously got credit for another win.
22 unique players registered at least a point in Tuesday’s game, which saw 17 total goals scored by 13 different players.
“I haven’t been in a game like this since junior hockey,” said Jared McCann. “Other than [the San Jose game last Wednesday], I guess.”
McCann is onto something there. It was almost as if Tuesday’s Kraken game against the Kings saw that recent 8-5 Kraken game against the Sharks and said, “Hold my beer.”
We probably could have written about 20 Takeaways from this one, but we whittled it down to three. Here they are, our Three Takeaways from whatever that [motions wildly] was.
Takeaway #1: A game like no other
When we say that was the craziest game we’ve ever seen, we don’t just mean it was crazy in terms of Kraken hockey. We mean it was the most off-the-rails, bonkers hockey game we’ve ever seen. Full stop.
“It was kind of a messed up night,” said Burakovsky. “I think we were trading chances, a lot of sloppy plays. I don’t know. I think we played a really bad game, and so did they. I think we were lucky that they didn’t play good at home.”
“It was a crazy game,” added coach Dave Hakstol. “Obviously, not a well-played hockey game, and in a lot of respects. You look at the types of chances and the goals against and things like that. It was one of those games where last shot wins, and that’s exactly what happened.”
And it wasn’t just nuts because seemingly every shot went in the net. The number of goals scored alone was enough to make our heads spin, but there were some downright bizarre things happening during the course of play, too, especially in the third period.
A good example, Kevin Fiala blasted Oliver Bjorkstrand with a nasty hit from behind in front of the Kings bench. A big scrum ensued, and all the players on the ice stopped playing momentarily. But the referees never blew the whistle, and the puck just rattled around in the Kraken zone for a good 10 seconds before things got sorted out in the neutral zone. Then, the players just… began playing again, like nothing had happened.
While that was shaking out, the scorekeeper apparently stopped the clock thinking the whistle had gone. So, fast forward to the end of the third period, and the horn randomly sounded with about 10 seconds left on the clock. Apparently that was the result of the mix-up after the Fiala hit, but it was cause for one last round of confusion for everyone involved.
Then, the Kraken getting a power play and Burakovsky scoring the sudden-death game winner because the Kings had TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE IN THREE-ON-THREE OVERTIME was the frosting on top of a downright hideous cake.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) November 30, 2022
It was an unforgettable game. Let’s never do it again.
Takeaway #2: Bad habits creeping in?
The Kraken absolutely rolled through the month of November, with an almost shocking 10-1-1 record. They’re now 11-1-1 in their last 13 games, and this latest victory extends their current win streak to six games. It also keeps them within four points of the Golden Knights for first place in the Pacific Division with two games in hand. That’s all good stuff.
But one thing we’ve seen from teams that have gotten onto prolonged hot streaks over the years is that when things are going this well for this long, players start to feel like they can get away with taking shortcuts on the ice. They stop doing the things that made their team successful in the first place, like playing sound, structural hockey. When the dam breaks and losses start leaking in, it’s really hard to stop the leaks from turning to a massive flood.
The Kraken, who are typically so hard to play against, have now given up four or more goals in three of their last four games, including a whopping eight against the Kings. There were many times Tuesday when Martin Jones looked completely hung out to dry, and that is something you never want to see from a team that prides itself on its defensive structure.
The players and coach were notably critical of themselves after the game, despite coming away with an important victory.
“We didn’t particularly play well defensively,” McCann said. “We didn’t shut it down in front of Jonesy, and you know, that’s on us. We gotta figure it out here and get back to the way we know how to— it would be better if we win 3-2 than 9-5, 9-6, 9-7 in a game.”
The Kraken were too loose in the neutral and defensive zones, and their puck management was horrendous.
“We have a lot to clean up on the defensive side,” said Burakovsky. “On the offensive side, we’re still scoring nine goals, so I mean, that’s definitely a positive. But we need to help our D out better, and we need to help out our goalie better. We can’t have nights when we let in eight goals. That’s just reality.”
Kraken fans can take solace in the fact that this team is continuing to find different ways to win. And even when they have these bad defensive nights, they’re able to outscore opponents, something they never would have been able to do last season.
Still, they can’t play like they played Tuesday and expect to keep winning. Hakstol has done a good job this season of addressing issues, so let’s keep an eye on this over the next few games to see if he and the Kraken can nip these bad defensive games in the bud.
Takeaway #3: A tough night for the goaltenders
It was a great night for padding offensive stats but not a great night for the goaltenders, who collectively got torched. As things were going back and forth in the earlier stages of the game, Kings coach Todd McLellan opted to relieve Jonathan Quick and send out Cal Petersen. The hook came after Jared McCann scored his second goal of the game at 4:56 of the second period, making it 5-4 Kraken.
NHL Video Highlight – Jared McCann scores against the Los Angeles Kings to make it 5-4. pic.twitter.com/mrcMePV8He
The Kings then answered right back to make it 5-5, but interestingly, Hakstol left Jones in the game. That’s a tough call to make, because the score is close, and the goals to that point really hadn’t been Jones’s fault. But it’s also not good for his psyche to stay in there for eight goals against.
Hakstol said as McLellan was making his change, he never considered sending out Philipp Grubauer. “Jonesy was good to that point,” Hakstol said. “I think he probably showed a little bit of fatigue as we got into the third, with some of the opportunities that we had given up.”
We thought Jones had stopped the bleeding toward the end of the second period and into the third period, but a stinker from Mikey Anderson was what allowed the Kings to tie the game late and send it to overtime. But by then, do you send in a cold Grubauer with six minutes left? Probably not.
“The seventh goal is off of our stick, it’s a deflection, no chance there,” Hakstol said. “Probably the eighth one is the one that— if I were to sit with Jonesy and look at it, we’d probably look at it and say that’s one that he probably could have had.”
In the end, it’s yet another ‘W’ in the win column for Jones, but the Kraken have been riding him hard. It may be time to give him a couple nights in a row off to recuperate, both mentally and physically.
