We bring you another round of Monday Musings, where we share a random collection of thoughts and observations about the last week from the hockey world with an emphasis on the Kraken and other Puget Sound teams. Enjoy.
Kraken thoughts
This week was a stark reminder that this Kraken team is a different unit from the one they iced last season. It was more than winning two out of the three home games, it was how they did it that convinced me this season is different.
On Tuesday, the Kraken dominated the hot Buffalo Sabres in a 5-1 win at Climate Pledge Arena. They were unrelenting all game with contributions from the fourth line as Daniel Sprong and Morgan Geekie scored their first respective goals of the season. The Kraken allowed Buffalo just 16 shots all game while blocking a season high 17 shots. It was a convincing win the team needed after squandering a game they should have won in Chicago just two days earlier.
Thursday had all the makings of one of those “trap games” and, well, it was. The Kraken had the dubious honor of handing their division rival Vancouver Canucks their first win of the season and remained winless in five games against the neighbor to the north. Even in the loss, the Kraken dominated the shot count, outshooting the Canucks 36-19. Two of Vancouver’s goals took auspicious bounces for the Canucks, but we’re not going to blame the bounces for every loss, so give Vancouver credit. The Canucks were a hungry team and found a way to win, even if they were not the better team on the ice.
On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins came in hungry after losing three games in a row on their Western Canada road trip, but the Kraken were ready. It was a tightly contested, scoreless game throughout the first thirty minutes until it appeared the Kraken broke the ice with a Ryan Donato tap in off a good Jordan Eberle rush. After a Penguins challenge, the play was deemed offside and the goal waived off. Shortly after that the Penguins got on the board. Jake Guentzel made an excellent read of a cross-ice pass from Jamie Oleksiak in the Kraken offensive zone that Guentzel took the length of the ice to beat Martin Jones five hole. The Kraken battled back and appeared to tie the game just mintues later on an Andre Burakovsky shot, but again the Penguins successfully challenged a missed stoppage for a high stick and the game stayed 1-0 Penguins.
Tension was on the rise in the crowd at this point. You could feel it. Goals were so hard to come by last season. It would have been unthinkable to overcome adversity like two disallowed goals. But this team has a different gear on offense. This Kraken team responded on the very next shift with a goal from new dad Jordan Eberle (more on that below), and added another later in the frame to skate into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. The Kraken then killed penalties and weathered a barrage of shots in the third period to secure the win.
Saturday night’s win was the first time the Kraken have won when the opposing team scored the first goal of the game this season. They are now 1-3-2 when the opposing team scores first and 3-1-0 when scoring first. It also gave them 10 points in the standings over the first 10 games. Last year they did not get their 10th point until game 18.
He does not have a point in the last five games, but Oliver Bjorkstrand has impressed me multiple times this week. He is so good on 50-50 pucks against the boards. He creates turnovers or forces teams into uncomfortable positions. The points will come, but he is still being productive without landing on the score sheet.
Listening to some of the post-game media availability for the last week, there was a theme coming out of the players’ and Hakstol’s comments that with so many “every other day” games, it limited the ability to practice and work on things. It made sense: How can you work on things with limited time on ice between games, especially when you have a game the very next day? So I looked it up. In the Pacific division, the Kraken had the least rest between games in October.
Big stick taps to the newest members of the Kraken family. Alex and Martin Jones welcomed their first child, Rory, to the world on Friday. Meanwhile Jordan and Lauren Eberle added their first son, Deacon, to the family on Friday.
Jordan Eberle’s goal on Saturday was his first of the season, and he was the 17th Kraken player to score a goal this season. The Kraken still lead the league in unique goal scorers.
Seeing Jamie Oleksiak goals is like seeing a ghost. Last year he had one goal, and it was an empty-net goal from behind his own goal line. It is fitting that during Halloween week we saw him score two, once against Buffalo and another against Vancouver.
Jaden Schwartz has five goals in 10 games. That is a 41-goal pace over an 82-game schedule. His career high is 28 goals.
Alright, I am going to put it out there. The Seattle Kraken are a playoff team.
Firebirds/AHL thoughts
The Coachella Valley Firebirds completed their home-away-from-home series of games over the weekend with games at Angel of the Winds Arena and Kraken Community Iceplex. People that attended the games must have felt entertained. Both games were high-scoring affairs where no lead was safe. Friday night’s game in Everett saw the Calgary Wranglers jump out to a 5-0 lead halfway through the second period. The Firebirds would eventually make it a game, getting it to 6-4 with 10 minutes left. That would be the final score, but based on the crowd reaction, the fans were thoroughly entertained.
Friday’s game also marked the return of former Everett Silvertip and current Calgary Wrangler netminder, Dustin Wolf to Angel of the Winds Arena. Wolf had 106 career regular season wins in the WHL and never had a save percentage less than .928 in his four years with the team.
Saturday’s game at KCI saw the Firebirds leading 4-1 late in the third period, before the Wranglers netted two goals with less than five minutes remaining to narrow the lead to just one. The Firebirds hung on, though, and ultimately added an empty netter for a 5-3 win.
The Firebirds will be wrapping up their tenure in the Pacific Northwest this week. It was fun to have them in town and great for me to see a couple of the games. I, for one, would welcome at least one game at Climate Pledge Arena going forward to continue to build the connection with that team.
Player performance
Morgan Geekie – Geekie has been in and out of the lineup this year for the Kraken with limited ice time when he does draw in. Even so, Geekie had his first and second goal of the season with goals in each of the Kraken wins this week. In fact, both goals proved to be the game winners. All of that came while he averaged fewer than eight minutes a game.
Jesper Bratt – The New Jersey Devils winger has registered a point in all nine games this season. He has four goals and 11 assists. The Devils are currently tops in the Metropolitan Division.
Linus Ullmark – The Boston Bruins netminder stopped 60 of 61 shots over two starts this week. I have always been an Ullmark fan. The Swedish goaltender played six seasons with the Sabres organization during a tough time for that franchise. As a side note, it was always weird that Buffalo protected Ullmark in the Expansion Draft but allowed him to enter free agency a week later.
Calgary Flames – Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, Alberta
The Flames are expected to be one of the top teams in the Pacific Division and maybe the league. They have played just seven games but have wins against Edmonton, Vegas, and Colorado just to name a few. This will be a big test for the Kraken. Grabbing a point on Tuesday would be considered a major win, but like the Colorado game, I want to see how they play against one of the better teams in the league. Will they get chased out of the building or will they compete?
Flames current record: 5-2-0
Players to watch:
Blake Coleman – The winger from Texas only has two assists this season, but he plays physical. He is a treat to watch even when he is not landing on the score sheet.
Elias Lindholm – The top-line center somehow flies under the radar in Calgary. He has been playing in the shadows of Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau the last few seasons. This season Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau are drawing a lot of the attention for the Flames, but Lindholm is a strong two-way center that will be critical for the Flames’ success this season.
Minnesota Wild – Thursday, Nov. 3, at Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota
Minnesota started cold but has heated up a bit and will be a challenge for the Kraken. Marc-Andre Fleury has settled in after a challenging start to the season. He has three wins in his last four starts with a save percentage of .927 over those games. On the surface, this game might not seem any more significant than any other, but the Wild might be the team the Kraken are fighting with for a wild card playoff spot come March. The Kraken need three points on this road trip, and the Wild might be the easiest matchup to grab two.
Wild current record: 4-4-1
Players to watch:
Matt Boldy – The former first-round draft pick for the Wild picked up where he left off last season with eight points over nine games. Boldy is 21 years old and is entering his first full season with the club after logging 47 games last season. He is currently ranked second in power play minutes behind Kirill Kaprizov.
Jared Spurgeon – The current captain of the Wild spent five seasons with the Spokane Chiefs. He might not be the flashiest of players in the league, but he is a highly underrated defenseman.
At times last Saturday, the Penguins looked like the better team on the ice, and they will be looking for revenge. The Penguins will not be playing the Kraken on the second night of a back-to-back so it is probable that Seattle could be facing starter Tristan Jarry.
Penguins current record: 3-7-0
Players to watch:
Bryan Rust – Rust was a forward I was keeping my eye on heading into the offseason for the Kraken to sign. A really balanced player that can score goals, Rust would sign an extension with the Penguins in May and never make it to free agency. He is still a fun player to watch, but I am more than happy Seattle landed Burakovsky.
Evgeni Malkin – When I usually call out the players to watch, I generally try to pick guys that are a little less known. After seeing the Penguins play in Seattle on Saturday night, I need to call out Malkin. He had zero points and was a minus two, but there were so many times he wowed me, including the cross-ice pass that set up Sidney Crosby with a golden opportunity before Sid got robbed by Martin Jones.
The Seattle Kraken earned an important 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. It got them back to .500 at 4-4-2 and allowed them to finish their homestand 2-1-0 before heading out on a tough three-game road trip that will span all across the continent.
A couple new dads were the heroes for Seattle, as Martin Jones and Jordan Eberle—each one day removed from the respective births of their sons—played key roles in the win.
Here are our Three Takeaways from Saturday’s Kraken win over the Penguins.
Takeaway #1: Dad strength
We knew both Jones’s and Eberle’s wives—Alex and Lauren—were very close to giving birth, and we wondered how the timing would work out. Not only were both players able to be present for the births of their new babies, but both were back in the lineup Saturday and played huge roles in the victory.
After Seattle fell behind 1-0 at the midway point of the game, Eberle got the Kraken on the board with a goal that actually counted (more on that in Takeaway #2). He got the play started with a good, hard play on the forecheck to pitchfork the puck around to Jaden Schwartz behind the net. Schwartz moved it out front to Matty Beniers, who made an elite pass across the goalmouth to set Eberle up for an easy tap-in goal.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) October 30, 2022
Eberle joked after the game that Schwartz was going to be his new son’s godfather, but with that pass from Beniers, he may have to reconsider. It was Eberle’s first goal of the season, and in the game narrative, it was pivotal.
Jones, meanwhile, was outstanding all game. After giving up four goals on 18 shots Thursday in a 5-4 loss to the Canucks, the Seattle netminder turned away 32 of 33 Penguins offerings Saturday.
“Very special day [Friday], obviously,” Jones said. “And to come out and get a great win today was— yeah, very special.”
His best save of the night came early in the third period with the Kraken on the penalty kill and grasping a tenuous 2-1 lead. Evgeni Malkin found his long-time mate, Sidney Crosby, at the backdoor for what looked like a sure goal. Jones read the play and got across with his left pad to rob one of the best players ever.
“I can’t really control what comes at me there,” Jones said. “I just got to be ready for what does. I was able to come up with a big save early [in the third], and the boys did a great job the rest of the way.”
“He was unbelievable,” Eberle said of Jones. “That was for sure his best game of the year. He made some unbelievable saves, especially late when they were pushing.”
We do not think it was a coincidence that Jones appeared to have a hard time tracking the puck Thursday, a day before the birth of his first child, and was razor sharp Saturday, a day after.
“It’s been a lot, to be honest,” Jones said. “It’s been a roller coaster. Just tried to wrap my head around playing hockey today, and sometimes when you’re not thinking too much, you know— things work out for you, so that might have been the case today.”
This is the second child for Eberle and his wife. His first was born in the throes of the pandemic, when the NHL was on pause. So, he said it was extra special to be able to score a goal the day after his son came into the world.
“When you have kids it puts things into perspective,” Eberle said. “A lot of times you’re known as a hockey player and your highs and lows go by what happens in the rink, but as soon as you have kids, it changes… You’re able to come home to a smile no matter how good or bad the game went.”
The post-game smiles were extra big on Saturday.
Takeaway #2: Kraken overcome two negated goals
After the Kraken had put the puck in the Penguins net three times, they still only had one goal on the board. It looked like Seattle had taken a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the second period, when Eberle—on a two-on-one with Ryan Donato—made a great play to slide the puck behind Casey DeSmith and onto Donato’s stick at the doorstep.
Donato, returning to the lineup after a couple games as a healthy scratch, appeared to score an easy goal. But Penguins coach Mike Sullivan challenged for offside and won, bringing the game back to scoreless.
Jake Guentzel scored Pittsburgh’s lone goal of the night soon after the negated Donato goal. Seattle responded quickly with an Andre Burakovsky goal, but that one was also negated, thanks to another successful challenge by Sullivan. This one was waived off because replay showed that Alex Wennberg had used a high stick to intercept a Pittsburgh clearing attempt just before the goal.
To Seattle’s credit, it didn’t let the negated goals derail its hopes. Instead, it took all of 10 seconds for the Kraken to finally get one that would count, as Eberle tied the game at 11:20 of the second.
“Getting that third one that finally stuck got the crowd going a lot,” Jones said. “We definitely got some momentum off that one for sure.”
“We just went and played the next shift every— whatever the situation,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s gonna be momentum swings, and tonight, some crazy things happening, you know back and forth in the hockey game, especially with the disallowed goals. But that’s part of the game.”
Takeaway #3 – Fourth line comes through again
Seattle’s fourth line of Morgan Geekie, Brandon Tanev, and Daniel Sprong starred in Seattle’s 5-1 win over Buffalo on Tuesday. With a slightly different look to the bottom trio Saturday, Donato, Geekie, and Sprong played together and again contributed in a big way.
After Vince Dunn (who, by the way, also had his best game of the season) picked off a pass at Seattle’s blue line, he sent Sprong and Geekie the other way on a two-on-one rush. DeSmith stopped Sprong’s shot with his toe, but Geekie drove hard to the net to put away the eventual game-winning goal.
The role played by the fourth line would have been even bigger had Donato’s goal counted.
Having four forward lines that can contribute offensively is a huge boost and will be key to Seattle’s success if it is to remain competitive throughout the season.
It’s a new Sound Of Hockey Podcast Episode! This one has *lots* of Seattle Kraken coverage, as the team has had a few highs and lows over the past week, with highs being the wins against Colorado and Buffalo, and the low being a painful loss in Chicago.
The guys also discuss the new Reverse Retro jerseys from across the NHL and give their favorites and least favorites. They also share their reactions to the Kraken Reverse Retro jersey.
Next, the show talks about the recent Coachella Valley Firebirds games that were played in Seattle and Andy gives a WHL Update.
A wise admiral once said, “It’s a trap!” That’s exactly what Thursday’s home Kraken game was against the previously winless Canucks. Vancouver came in determined to do everything in its power to finally put something in the ‘W’ column in the standings. Not only that, Seattle went 0-4-0 against that team in its inaugural season, so we knew coming in that a loss—even against a seemingly hapless opponent—was a real possibility.
A good example of Vancouver being willing to do whatever it took to get a win Thursday, JT Miller laid down in front of an Andre Burakovsky shot with two seconds left on the clock in the third period. The shot hit Miller in the ankle, and he couldn’t put any weight on it as the horn sounded. His teammates mobbed Miller to congratulate him for the unselfish play before realizing he was injured and giving him space. That’s who the Kraken were up against.
To Seattle’s credit, it was the better team for most of the night but was done in by two bad bounces and a tough game on special teams.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a disappointing 5-4 Kraken loss to the Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Two bad bounces…
Aside from multiple fights—which we’ll get to shortly—the opening period was eventful in general. Vancouver got its first of two fortunate bounces after a nothing shot from the corner hit the blocker of Martin Jones, then Justin Schultz, and landed right on the stick of Ilya Mikheyev. Mikheyev made it 1-0 at 4:38.
Broken play ends up in Seattle’s net. The puck hit Jones’ blocker, then Schultz, and sat there for Mikheyev.
In the third period, Luke Schenn sent a soft shot toward the net, which Carson Soucy knocked out of the air with his stick. But the puck bounced off the ice, came right up for Elias Pettersson, and Pettersson batted it past Jones to give the Canucks the lead for good.
Strange play. Soucy batted down a puck, and as it bounced, Pettersson knocked it in.
“Five on five— you know, you’re not going to be able to carry momentum all night, but we carried momentum for a lot of the night,” coach Dave Hakstol said.
He was right. Seattle outshot Vancouver 36-19 and had 58 percent of the expected goals for (xGF), so it certainly stings for Kraken fans to see their team leave without any points. It stings more knowing Seattle had bad puck luck, and the loss came against a close geographical rival that was reeling and winless.
Takeaway #2: …And a tough night for special teams
Jamie Oleksiak and Jared McCann scored in quick succession at the end of the first period to give Seattle a 2-1 lead heading into the dressing room.
But two power-play goals against in the second period helped the Canucks get through 40 minutes with a 3-3 tie and gave them a chance to steal two points.
“We were the better team for most of the night,” Hakstol said. “But they beat us on specialty teams by one, and that was ultimately the difference in the hockey game.”
Seattle had gotten through the first minute of each of the two respective kills that cost it the game. In both cases, Karson Kuhlman had chances to clear, but he couldn’t get the puck out of harm’s way.
On the first one, Kuhlman broke up a pass but lost the puck in his skates. Sheldon Dries dug it out and found Mikheyev, who slipped it through Jones for his second of the game.
Mikheyev with his second of the game, this one on the power play.
On the second power-play goal against, Kuhlman fired a clearing attempt up the wall, but Pettersson cut it off. The Kraken couldn’t recover before Miller connected with Andrei Kuzmenko for an easy tap in.
Canucks are 2/2 on the power play. Kuhlman had a chance to clear, but didn’t get it out.
“It was a matter of finishing,” Hakstol said of the PK. “We did everything right, except we didn’t get the clears, and maybe on that second one, either a clear or a save, and that makes all the difference.” Seattle’s PK has become a problem and is now 31st in the league with just a 64.5 percent success rate.
Speaking of “a save,” it wasn’t the best night for Jones, either, who stopped just 14 of 18 shots. The goalie has to be your best penalty killer, and he wasn’t able to bail out his teammates enough times. We thought in the first period that although Jones had only given up one goal, he didn’t seem to be tracking the puck especially well. He was getting away with it at first thanks to good positioning and limited chances, but Vancouver managed to sneak a few shots past him during the course of the game.
There are nights when goalies just don’t see and track the puck as well as they do on other nights for whatever reason, and we think Thursday was one of those for Seattle’s netminder.
Jaden Schwartz did register a power-play goal to draw the Kraken back within one after Conor Garland had scored an empty netter, but that was too little too late. The Kraken are now on pace for 92 power-play goals this season after registering just 32 last season.
Takeaway #3: The boys came out swinging
When you’re playing a desperate team that had your number the previous season, and that team happens to play its home games just 140 miles north of your arena, it’s easy for things to get a little feisty. On Thursday, both teams literally came out swinging.
“It’s hockey,” Hakstol said. “There was good intensity out there, and our guys were ready to go.”
Before four minutes had elapsed, two fights had already broken out; one between Adam Larsson and Tanner Pearson after a heavy hit by Larsson, then another between Carson Soucy and Miller.
Early fisticuffs! 🥊
Larsson lays a big hit and gets challenged for it by Pearson.
“They came out and I think wanted to send a message and fought two of our guys,” Matty Beniers said. “I thought we had a good start, but it was a physical game, and you could see it right from the get-go.”
Morgan Geekie also ended up in a rare scrap with Kyle Burroughs after the Kraken forward threw a heavy hit behind Vancouver’s net.
—
Jordan Eberle scored his 600th and 601st career points on Thursday.
Oleksiak scored for the second game in a row, Beniers scored for the third game in a row, and McCann scored for the fourth game in a row.
Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau recorded his 600th career victory. He very comically had to pause his post-game press conference to let out a big sneeze.
The Kraken will play again at home on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It’s a new Sound Of Hockey Podcast Episode! This one has *lots* of Seattle Kraken coverage, as the team has had a few highs and lows over the past week, with highs being the wins against Colorado and Buffalo, and the low being a painful loss in Chicago.
The guys also discuss the new Reverse Retro jerseys from across the NHL and give their favorites and least favorites. They also share their reactions to the Kraken Reverse Retro jersey.
Next, the show talks about the recent Coachella Valley Firebirds games that were played in Seattle and Andy gives a WHL Update.
Tuesday was a fun night at Climate Pledge Arena for a variety of reasons. The Kraken looked good from top to bottom, but the fourth line of Daniel Sprong, Morgan Geekie, and Brandon Tanev was especially impressive. The power play also clicked twice, and Martin Jones was solid in net, turning away 15 of 16 shots to help lead Seattle to a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Also in this game, we had Sprong ripping Casey Fitzgerald’s stick out of his hands and throwing it across the Buffalo zone, Rasmus Dahlin catching the puck in his glove and throwing it halfway down the ice, and Kraken video coach Tim Ohashi successfully initiating an offside challenge. Like we said, it was a fun night.
Here are our Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Have the Kraken found a fourth line?
The “Shane Wright needs more ice time” crowd won’t love this take, but that’s the best a fourth line has looked for the Kraken… maybe ever. The combination of Tanev, Geekie, and Sprong was dangerous practically every time it was on the ice and was involved in three of Seattle’s five goals.
Sprong set up Jamie Oleksiak’s first goal of the season to get Seattle on the board early. A few minutes later, Tanev spotted Geekie streaking into the offensive zone and lofted a perfect high pass up and over Owen Power. The lob landed right on Geekie’s tape, and he raced in and extended Seattle’s lead to 2-0 with a beauty of a goal just 5:39 into the game.
INCREDIBLE feed by Tanev over the top, drops it right on Geekie’s tape.
“I called for it,” Geekie said. “[Tanev] yells at me all the time, so I figured I could yell at him back, and he heard me tonight.”
The line struck again in the second period when Tanev deflected a Vinnie Hinostroza clearing attempt, and the puck caromed right onto the stick of Sprong. With the Sabres expecting to get out of their zone, Sprong found himself in behind their defense with nobody around to even challenge him. He had all night to dangle and deke Eric Comrie out of his pads, and the Dutch forward made no mistake.
DING DONG! IT’S DANIEL SPRONG!
Tanev gets his second assist of the game, deflecting a pass and forcing a turnover. Sprong does the rest.
“Just a good bounce, hit Turbo’s skate, came right to me,” Sprong said. “And then, alone on the goalie, you make a fake, he slides, and you have a wide-open net. You’ll take those any day.”
Geekie and Sprong joined Oleksiak in scoring their first respective goals of the season. Geekie also set up a goal in the game against Chicago Sunday and nearly added a second goal late in the game Tuesday off a nifty pass from Sprong. Meanwhile, Sprong finished with a goal and two assists and first-star honors, and Tanev had two assists and was named the second star of the game.
Throughout the night, there was great chemistry from the fourth line. “We played in Edmonton that last pre-season game together, and we had some good looks,” Sprong said. “We can all skate, we’re big boys, and I thought our line really complemented each other tonight.”
“In that role, you’ve got to do a good job in a 200-foot sense, but for that group, they were able to contribute tonight offensively,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “That’s important for our group to have that depth in scoring.”
Hakstol doesn’t typically shuffle the lineup much after a good win, so we would not be surprised to see a similar look with this fourth line intact Thursday. “Our team needs to have depth,” he said. “That needs to be a strength of ours, and tonight that was a real positive for us.”
Takeaway #2: The power play is different this season
Though Seattle’s power play came up empty against Chicago on Saturday, it connected two more times against the Sabres to rise back up to a 29 percent conversion rate, good for seventh in the NHL.
“The power play’s been good all year,” Hakstol said. “We went out, and we generated and did a pretty good job.”
Hakstol pointed to the timeliness of Jared McCann’s goal at 16:07 of the second period. The goal gave Seattle back its three-goal lead after Dylan Cozens had gotten Buffalo back within two. The McCann marker all but sealed the game, even before the third period started.
The arrivals of Andre Burakovsky, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Matty Beniers (for the full season) have been hugely helpful to the team’s chances with the man advantage. As a group, they look way more creative and way more dynamic than they ever did in their inaugural season. Last year, you almost never saw Kraken players connecting on passes through the seam, instead typically sticking mostly to the perimeter.
McCann’s goal came off a perfect seam pass from Burakovsky. With time to tee it up, McCann showed off his outstanding shot again, rifling it past Comrie for his fourth of the season.
WHAT A PASS, WHAT A SHOT! 🚨
Burakovsky with a sick seam pass to McCann who ssssssssnipes!
Burakovsky has been especially noticeable in helping to move the needle on the power play. “Burky in that spot [on the right half wall] has been really good,” Hakstol said. “He’s got a couple different elements. He’s good on entry, which is a huge part of a successful power play. But he’s becoming a bit of a dual threat over there because he can shoot it from that spot on that flank, and he’s also showing that he can find seams and make plays through the box.”
The power play got on the board again in the third period after some quick movement around the left side. Sprong passed to Justin Schultz, who then went down low to Beniers on the right. Beniers got a good bounce off Lawrence Pilut for Seattle’s second power-play tally of the night and Matty’s third goal of the season.
BENIERS! 🚨
Awesome movement on the power play, and Matty gets a good bounce off Pilut.
Takeaway #3: Are these the Kraken we’re looking for?
Tuesday’s resounding win, in an odd way, is another example of why this team has been so perplexing in the early stages of this season. One could argue the Kraken have been the better team in all but two games, yet they have still only won three times.
In Tuesday’s victory against the Sabres, Seattle seemed to have learned from the mistakes it made against the Blackhawks on Sunday. “I think it’s just about falling into a lull,” Geekie said about why it has been tough for the Kraken to hold onto leads. “You start cheating a little bit, get away from your game. I think tonight, maybe a couple shifts we had that, but it was maybe one shift here and one shift there, and then we got back on track.”
It feels like the Kraken are on the cusp of going on a nice run. They’re now 2-1-1 in their last four, and they absolutely should have won against Chicago but frittered that one away with costly mistakes.
When they’ve avoided allowing mistakes to compound on one another, they have won. Can they continue to limit those mistakes for the remainder of this homestand? Or will costly turnovers and defensive lapses return in the next couple games? Which team is the real Seattle Kraken?
Bonus Takeaway: More talk about Shane Wright’s usage
Hakstol was asked again about Wright’s usage, as the 18-year-old rookie played under six minutes Sunday and was a healthy scratch Tuesday.
Here’s what Hakstol said: “[Wright] played a good game in Colorado. We got him a few more minutes there, he did a good job. The game in Chicago didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but that’s not indicative of one individual player, and certainly not just Shane. We had a real good work day with Shane [Tuesday]; we’ve got a good plan moving forward.”
We did see Wright doing extra skills work with Kraken staff long after morning skate ended Tuesday, so that checks out.
“You know, it’s all about making small progress,” Hakstol added. “There’s no big, huge leaps and bounds that we’re looking for. We’re looking for great work and slow progress and continued progress, and that’s the biggest thing for us.”
If the fourth line of Geekie, Sprong, and Tanev keeps playing together and keeps performing the way it did Tuesday, it may be a couple games before we see Wright back in.
If you drive 90 minutes east of Edmonton, you’ll come to the Village of Irma, Alberta. Irma is a town of 477 people. It has snow in its forecast for this week, and it’s hard to imagine a community more different than Seattle and the Puget Sound region. Yet, Seattle and Irma are connected through the game of hockey.
The hockey connection first revealed itself at this past summer’s NHL Entry Draft when Seattle Kraken second-round pick Jagger Firkus mentioned that he knew a member of the Kraken.
“It’s Carson Soucy,” Firkus said when asked. “He’s from my hometown of Irma, Alberta, which is pretty cool because there’s like 500 people and he played there. He’s someone that I’ve skated with and worked out with, he’s someone that I look up to a lot. He’s pushed himself and he’s played in the NHL now, so he’s a guy you’ve got to look up to a lot and follow his lead.”
Soucy, 28, is a decade older than the 18-year-old Firkus and lifelong friends with his older brother. Because of that, the Kraken defenseman has known Jagger for a long time.
He was watching the NHL Draft unfold, hoping to see the younger Firkus be selected.
“I haven’t watched the draft in a couple years, but we had a group of us hoping he’s going in the first round,” Soucy said. “So, we were all watching, hoping to see him. Then kind of just flipped it on the next morning and pretty much right when I turned the TV on, I saw it was our pick, and then I saw him and I saw one of my best friends hugging their dad and it’s just great.”
Jagger Firkus grew up in the Village of Irma, Alberta. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Soucy and Firkus were able to reunite at Kraken training camp this fall, but the Seattle and Irma connection doesn’t end here.
Down in Kent, Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Scott Ratzlaff, 17, also hails from the small village in rural Alberta.
And, yes, he knows Firkus as well, and despite being a year younger, did play one year of hockey growing up with Firkus.
“He’s a great guy,” Ratzlaff said of Firkus. “We go golfing, Irma’s got a golf course, we play on the outdoor rink. We’re very close, and he’s just a great guy to be around. So, it’s fun to have him around.”
Firkus is back playing in the Western Hockey League this season for the Moose Jaw Warriors. The Thunderbirds will be in Moose Jaw on Jan. 7, and Ratzlaff is hoping he gets the start that night to take on his good friend.
Growing up in such a small community, is there a chance that the older Soucy also knows Ratzlaff?
“He’s my younger cousin,” Soucy said. “He’s my dad’s sister’s son. He’s my first cousin. He’s good, he’s a competitor.”
Seattle Thunderbirds Scott Ratzlaff, from Irma, won gold this summer for Canada. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Ratzlaff says he’s close with his cousin, and Soucy has texted him looking for Thunderbirds tickets before. Ratzlaff has been able to get to some Kraken games as well.
“You always go to grandma’s house together, we spend a lot of quality time together,” Ratzlaff said. “He’s a great role model as well. I always try to learn from him and see how he acts. He’s great. I go up there every once in a while to downtown Seattle. He’s got a nice house. I just go up there and spend some quality time.”
What’s in the Irma water?
How is it that a village in Canada has three players playing high-level hockey in the Seattle area?
“There’s just not too much to do,” Soucy said. “We grew up kind of playing street hockey and baseball. That’s kind of what we revolve around when there’s only a certain amount of kids, so we just grew up playing sports pretty much 24/7. And there’s a couple other guys that are still doing pretty well in hockey and sports, so I don’t know, it’s pretty cool.”
If you go to the Village of Irma web site, it’s obvious they take a great deal of pride in their baseball complex. The diamond is well referenced and Irma has hosted regional tournaments that have brought in teams from as far as New Zealand.
Of course, hockey is a staple, and Irma does have a public arena that has youth hockey and a senior team known as the Irma Aces.
Ratzlaff says the outdoor rink is popular and offers competitive games. Everyone who plays hockey in Irma, which is pretty much everybody, shows up. Even when the temperature drops to minus-30 Celsius (that’s minus-22 Fahrenheit).
“You go with two layers on and a toque,” he said. “You get a couple guys out there, because they’re all so committed.”
Agriculture and farming are prevalent in Irma, but there is a pride in the sports offered. Ratzlaff mentions several times how nice and kept up all the facilities in town are.
Soucy agrees.
“I don’t know how, but great job of developing and keeping our youth programs going,” Soucy said. “Whether it’s with new facilities or just great volunteers or parents willing to be coaches with youth and stuff, keeping the small kids very into hockey and baseball too. It’s definitely a sports town for sure.”
This past summer, Ratzlaff realized attention and notoriety beyond Irma and Seattle. He was the No. 1 goalie for Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky under-18 tournament played in Red Deer, Alberta. Ratzlaff played well and helped the Canadians take the gold medal.
Suddenly he was known throughout Canada, and Irma celebrated.
“I got tons of emails and messages of just everyone’s cheering me on,” Ratzlaff said. “Since Red Deer wasn’t that far away, it was about two and a half hours, lots of guys made the trek down to come support. I even saw my librarian. It was just awesome to see that support, and coming from Irma, it’s awesome.”
Ratzlaff is in his NHL Draft year and his future is unknown. Firkus is in Moose Jaw and probably a year or two away from joining the Kraken, and Soucy is in the final year of his contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
The Seattle-Irma connection may change in the next few years, but for now, a small village of 477 people is linked with Seattle at very high levels of hockey. It’s unique, special, and almost inexplicable to have three sons of Irma in Seattle.
“Seattle likes the Irma boys, I guess,” Ratzlaff said.
One thing is for sure, the three Irma boys will skate and workout together this summer.
We bring you another round of Monday Morning Musings, where we share a random collection of thoughts and observations about the last week from the hockey world with an emphasis on the Kraken and other Puget Sound teams. Enjoy.
Kraken thoughts
At the beginning of the season, if you would have told me the Kraken would have six points in their first seven games, I would have been ok with it; not happy, just ok. Before the season started, the schedule over the first two weeks looked like a murderer’s row of opponents, so salvaging six points would have been fine.
Fast forward to today, and now I am just perplexed. I cannot figure this team out. They were the better team in Anaheim and looked great in LA the next night, only to lay consecutive eggs at home against the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes.
They rebounded by earning a point against a very good St. Louis Blues team and then looked looked great against the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. Things were looking up until an ugly loss Sunday. At times the Kraken dominated the gameplay, but mistake after mistake kept the Blackhawks around until they managed to score two goals within 13 seconds to take the lead in the third period. As one great podcast said, there are just a lot of weird vibes around the team right now.
No one is really talking about it, but I am starting to worry about the Kraken penalty kill. The team has allowed nine power-play goals against and has a 64 percent penalty-kill percentage. That is third worst in the league.
After the Kraken scored the first goal of the game Sunday, I was excited to talk about the value of scoring first. Last season the Kraken were plagued by allowing the first goal and were constantly playing from behind. During the 2021-22 season, the Kraken scored first in 31 of the 82 games and had a .484 win percentage when doing so versus a .235 win percentage when allowing the first goal against. Sunday’s game was just the third time the Kraken have scored first this season, and they won the prior two times. That is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Scoring is up! The Kraken are averaging 3.0 goals per game compared to last year’s first seven games where they averaged 2.571 goals. It is still early, but that is encouraging.
Jordan Eberle has yet to score a goal this season, but it is not for a lack of trying. He has had some golden opportunities, so it should just be a matter of time. Expect him to get of the schneid this week.
Luckily for the Kraken, a lot of the teams in the Pacific Division have some bad vibes going on right now. Vancouver, Anaheim, and San Jose are a collective 3-14-3, and the Kings are 3-4-0. All three are below the Kraken right now in the standings. Hopefully that helps you sleep at night.
It will be interesting to see if goaltender Joey Daccord draws into a game this week for the Kraken. For those that might have missed it, Daccord was called up from the Coachella Valley Firebirds after Philipp Grubauer appeared to tweak something in the Friday game against Colorado. We are all big fans of Daccord, and after a stellar year in the AHL last season, we are eager to see him take that next step as an NHL goalie, even if it is in a temporary basis while we wait for Grubauer to return.
Firebirds thoughts
Speaking of Coachella Valley, I was lucky enough to attend their two ‘home’ games over the weekend. The first game was Friday at Kraken Community Iceplex, and the second one was at Climate Pledge Arena. Both games were entertaining and were not lacking in goal scoring or drama with several lead changes in each game. A total of 18 goals were scored in those two contests.
In Sunday’s game, Tye Kartye and Ryker Evans scored their first professional goals. Kartye was an undrafted free agent signing, and Evans was the second-round draft pick of the Kraken from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Sunday’s game also featured this amazing goal by Jesper Froden.
The Firebirds have one more game in the area that is available to the public. It is coming up this Friday in Everett. If you have been considering checking it out, I highly recommend trying to attend.
Around the NHL
The ageless wonder Joe Pavelski is at it again. The 38-year-old former seventh-round draft pick posted a career year last year with 81 points and has kept it rolling this season. He has seven points in five games for the Dallas Stars including a hat trick against Montreal on Saturday Night.
Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin has registered a point in each of the six games he has played this season with six goals and five assists. ‘Big Val’ signed a new contract with Colorado this offseason for $49 million over eight years.
Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin has scored a goal in each of the Sabres’ first five games this season, setting the record for longest goal streak to start the season by a defenseman. I really hope the Kraken are not playing the Sabres anytime soon… Oh, oops.
On the docket
Buffalo Sabres – Tuesday, Oct. 25, at Climate Pledge Arena
The Sabres are off to a hot start this season with four wins in their first five games. They swept through western Canada with wins against Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. This should be a great benchmark game for the Kraken.
Sabres current record: 3-1-0
Players to watch:
Alex Tuch – Tuch is a native of upstate New York and was part of the Jack Eichel trade to Vegas last year. He has six goals in five games. Tuch has a nose for the net with a little bit of a pest attitude, and I tend to hate him because he often scores goals against my teams.
JJ Peterka – Peterka, from Germany, was drafted just outside the first round in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and was part of the draft class with fellow countrymen, Tim Stützle and Lukas Reichel. Peterka is projected to be an offensive juggernaut in the NHL and is already showcasing it this season. He has two goals and two assists in the first five games.
Vancouver Canucks – Thursday, Oct. 27, at Climate Pledge Arena
I am already nervous for this game. Nobody wants to be the team that gives the Canucks their first win of the season, especially the Kraken. In four head-to-head games last season, the Kraken never beat the Canucks. If the Kraken are going to sneak into the playoffs this season, they will need to do it at the expense of the Canucks and other struggling Pacific teams. One game in October is not going to instantly propel this team into a playoff spot, but you must bank points when you can get them, and creating more distance with division rivals is highly encouraged.
Canucks current record: 0-4-2
Players to watch:
Bo Horvat – There are some flashier players to watch on the Canucks, but I love Horvat’s compete level. He plays hard on both ends of the ice, and it is the little things like causing turnovers or digging out pucks that I appreciate.
Andrei Kuzmenko – Kuzmenko was a big KHL free-agent signing in the offseason with a lot of hype. Things looked promising early when he registered a goal in his first game of the season against Edmonton, but he has cooled off since, registering no points in his last three games. Kuzmenko was second in points in the KHL last season so there is potential there, but sometimes that KHL skill does not transfer to the NHL.
Pittsburgh Penguins – Saturday, Oct. 29, at Climate Pledge Arena
The only home game I missed attending last season was against the Pittsburgh Penguins… and boy was I glad I missed that one. It was one of the few ugly losses the Kraken had at home in 2021-22. Pittsburgh is still stacked with future hall of famers, and those players continue to play at an elite level. Sidney Crosby has 10 points in five games and Evgeni Malkin is averaging a point per game. The Penguins have three games between now and Saturday, but they have yet to lose in regulation. One potential benefit to the schedule is that the Penguins will be playing Friday night in Vancouver. I will not be missing this game, so hopefully that will be the difference this season.
Penguins current record: 4-0-1
Players to watch:
Kasperi Kapanen – Obviously not one of the elite players on the team, but I still enjoy watching him fly all over the ice. He is your typical third liner that can put the puck in the net from time to time. He is averaging a point per game this season.
Ryan Poehling – Another sleeper pick from an otherwise star-studded lineup in Pittsburgh. The 2017 first-round draft pick has yet to have a breakout season in the NHL but is still a solid overall player. Because of the depth of the Penguins roster, he is pretty much relegated to a fourth-line role.
