Tied at 2-2 with 34 seconds left in regulation, the New York Rangers won a faceoff back to the point and onto the stick of defenseman K’Andre Miller. Seattle Kraken forward Riley Sheahan raced out to cover Miller but was hit square in the chest by New York’s Chris Kreider. There was no interference call, and Miller fired a shot that found the net to give the Rangers a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
The goal spoiled what was a dramatic comeback by Seattle.
“’I’m gonna stay away,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said after the game about the goal. “I’m not going to waste time on that play or how I feel about it. I think that would take away from the spotlight of how well I think our team played and how hard our team played today.”
After heavily outshooting the Rangers to the tune of 42-24, Yanni Gourde’s one-timer at 18:52 of the third period on a 6-on-4 power play tied the game at 2-2 and appeared to give the Kraken a shot at winning in overtime for the second straight game.
“Honestly, the game was right there,” Gourde said. “At least getting out of here with a point. Very unfortunate. We battled, you gotta be proud of the guys there because they battled for 60 and unfortunately, we weren’t able to come up with any points tonight, but we had the right mentality.”
Like on Oct. 31 at Climate Pledge Arena, Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was too much for the Kraken. In that first game between these teams, he made 31 saves to win 3-1. On Sunday, he kicked away 40 shots to win 3-2.
Jared McCann scored for the third straight game and Philipp Grubauer was sharp, making 21 saves. The Kraken were 1-for-5 on the power play.
“I thought we played a really good game throughout, and I thought we generated a lot,” Mark Giordano said. “I don’t know what the shots ended up, but we got a lot of pucks toward [Shesterkin]. You’re not gonna get more than two or three on that guy most nights, he’s a top goaltender in the league for a reason. Made a lot of big saves tonight but we executed pretty well there.”
How it played out for the Kraken
The Rangers opened the scoring at 11:46 of the first period. After quick passing on the power play they worked it to Mika Zibanejad who scored on a one-timer from the circle to the right of Grubauer.
A Zibanejad shot at 4:23 of the second period would extend the lead after the puck hit the post and was tapped in by Alexis Lafrenière to make it 2-0.
Seattle got one back from McCann at 7:17 when he finished a quick passing play with Marcus Johansson and Jordan Eberle to cut the lead to 2-1.
“It’s just a tough way to lose,” Giordano, who had an assist, said. “It was a fun game to play in. I always loved coming to this rink and playing in New York and I feel like we’ve been on the wrong end of those way too many times this year. So hopefully in the next 40 it’ll change the other way.”
The Kraken outshot New York 25-12 over the first two periods but found themselves trailing 2-1.
Injury bug bites Kraken before and during game
Calle Jarnkrok, who has been hot for Seattle, was a late scratch Sunday after taking warmups. He reportedly had an upper body injury that prevented him from playing. Morgan Geekie was inserted into the lineup without warming up and played 9:54 of the game with five shots on goal and won three of four faceoffs that he took.
In the first period, Karson Kuhlman slammed into the side boards hard, left the game, and did not return.
“This group is growing together, and I say it every day, we’ve still got a ways to go, but the signs and the results of what we’re doing are improving,” Hakstol said. “Today we played like a pretty tight hockey team, and we had some injury issues before the game, during the game, and guys just stepped forward and continue working. We’re still working towards exactly who we want to be, but again, we played a pretty good game tonight.”
Tentacle Tales
+ McCann’s goal was his 18th of the season, and he is one away from his career high, set during the 2018-2019 season playing with both Florida and Pittsburgh.
+ Seattle had 42 shots on goal Sunday which is a franchise record.
+ Miller’s go-ahead goal with 34 seconds left is the second go-ahead goal the Rangers have scored in the final minute of a game, which is the most in the NHL this season.
+ The Kraken will next be in action Tuesday when they play the Boston Bruins.
Sunday is one of those days when sports watching on the west coast proves to be far superior to other timezones. Yes, there are two championship NFL games on, but for those of us in Seattle, we get the rare pleasure of rolling out of bed and jumping right into a Seattle Kraken game, as they take on the New York Rangers at 10 a.m. Pacific.
In an already bizarre season that has had starts and stops and an ever-changing schedule, another surprise was thrown at the Kraken this weekend. Their game against the New York Islanders, which was scheduled for Saturday, got pushed back to Wednesday due to the snowstorm battering the east coast.
The latest shift in the calendar means the Kraken come into this game against the Rangers rested, as opposed to being on the second of back-to-backs, as was previously planned. It also means Philipp Grubauer will get the nod again, coming off an outstanding performance to help steal an overtime win from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
New York Rangers have rebuilt quickly
The expedited rebuild in Manhattan is apparently done. The process for the Rangers was sped up dramatically with the uncovering of a young defenseman primed to be a perennial Norris Trophy candidate in Adam Fox (he did win the prestigious award last season). Fox was traded to the Rangers by the Carolina Hurricanes when he was still in college, a small deal at the time that has paid off in spades for New York. Fortunately for the Kraken, Fox is out Sunday with an injury.
Perhaps even more impactful, the Blueshirts appear to have found their long-term replacement for the legendary Henrik Lundqvist. Igor Shesterkin, a 26-year-old Russian in his third NHL season, very well could end up the Vezina winner this year. Shesterkin has been dominant all season long, posting a 20-5-2 record with a 2.10 goals against average and .936 save percentage.
His skills were on full display when the Rangers visited the Kraken on Halloween. That night, Shesterkin stopped 31 of 32 shots and earned a 3-1 win.
Also on display that night at Climate Pledge Arena was Chris Kreider, who scored in the first four minutes of the game with a top-shelf snipe on Grubauer. That goal was one of a whopping 31 (!!!) on the season for Kreider, which ties him for the NHL goal-scoring lead with Leon Draisaitl. It would be an understatement to say that this has been a career year for the 30-year-old Kreider. His previous high in goals for an entire season is 28, so he has already eclipsed that mark just halfway through the season.
With the rebuild happening so quickly, the Rangers are back in contention this season, currently holding down the third spot in the Metropolitan Division with a 28-13-4 record. They trail Carolina for the top spot by just two points, though the Hurricanes have four games in hand.
Lundqvist’s jersey retirement was spoiled by the Minnesota Wild on Friday. New York jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, then gave up three unanswered goals. The Rangers appeared to tie the game with :01 left on the clock, but it was waived off due to Cam Talbot’s pad being pushed into the net. That was New York’s second loss in a row, so the Blueshirts will be hungry on Sunday.
Lineup
Calle Jarnkrok was a very late scratch and was replaced in the lineup by Morgan Geekie. Here’s how the lines shaped up after that change.
First period highlights
The Rangers drew first blood with a beautiful power-play goal. Alex Wennberg was in the penalty box after a very soft tripping call. Artemi Panarin made a perfect pass through the seam to Mika Zibanejad, who fired it past Grubauer for his 17th of the season.
Karson Kuhlman laid a big hit on Libor Hajek at center ice, but went hard into the boards and came up in a lot of pain. He sprinted to the bench with his left arm pinned to his side and quickly left the game.
Forward Calle Jarnkrok missed today’s game with an upper-body injury.
Karson Kuhlman will not return to today’s game due to an upper-body injury.
Seattle had the better of the possession and outshot New York 13-5 in the opening frame, but the power-play goal by Zibanejad was the lone tally.
Second period highlights
The Rangers extended their lead to 2-0 4:23 into the second period. Zibanejad blasted from the left hash and hit the post. The puck dropped right into the crease behind Grubauer and onto the stick of Alexis Lafreniere who scored one of the easiest goals of his young career.
The Kraken answered three minutes later when Jared McCann got his third goal in three games and brought Seattle back within one of the Rangers. On a pretty passing play off a three-on-two rush, Marcus Johansson dropped to McCann, who passed outside to Jordan Eberle. Eberle went right back to McCann in the slot, who buried it.
Seattle continued to dominate most possession metrics through two periods and had registered 25 shots against Shesterkin by the time the second horn sounded. But we saw in the Kraken game against the Predators recently that Seattle can outshoot a team while not really testing the opposing goalie. That was how it felt through 40 minutes, as Shesterkin didn’t seam to be under much duress.
Third period highlights
The third period escalated quickly. It went from not much happening to a LOT happening in the closing minutes. With a late Kraken power play winding down and Grubauer off for an extra skater, Mark Giordano walked across the blue line to drag some Rangers defenders with him. He dished the other way to Yanni Gourde, who fired a rocket into the top corner, tying the game at 2-2 with just 1:07 left.
Riley Sheahan was the victim of a missed interference penalty just before Miller’s shot, but with 33 seconds left in the game, we weren’t surprised it didn’t get called.
It was a hard-luck loss for the Kraken, who probably deserved better. In all, they put 42 shots on Shesterkin, but he showed why he’s been such a star this season and got the win for New York.
Philipp Grubauer stared down Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry in a classic duel that ended with the Seattle Kraken winning in overtime for the first time in franchise history, 2-1 at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena Thursday night.
Adam Larssson won it for the Kraken at 1:17 of overtime when he came off the bench, got a pass from Alex Wennberg, and beat Jarry from high in the slot.
But the hero for the Kraken was Grubauer. The goalie kept his team in the game making 23 saves and continuing his hot play of late.
“Great job by everybody” Grubauer said. “We were playing really tight, didn’t give them a lot of room to make plays like other games. As long as you keep that at 0-0 you have a chance. Once they got that goal we went right back at it. I think we had games where we didn’t come back after giving up a goal. Tonight everybody did a good job.”
The two teams battled through the first 40 minutes on Thursday with neither goaltender blinking. Jarry was just as tough as Grubauer and ended the night by stopping 27 of 29 Kraken shots.
Pittsburgh went ahead at 8:41 of the third period when Evgeni Malkin made it 1-0 with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from between the circles and past a screened Grubauer.
The Kraken pushed from there, outshooting the Penguins 18-4 in the third period, but could not solve Jarry. After two failed power play attempts Vince Dunn lifted a shot from the point at 16:04 that was tipped past Jarry by former Penguin Jared McCann to tie the game and force overtime.
“Dunner is a great defenseman, I know he’s going to make a play, just tried to get my stick on it,” McCann said. “[Marcus Johansson] made a play there, got it back to Dunner.”
It was the second straight game with a goal for McCann who is two away from his career high of 19.
“It’s a good win in this building, it’s a hard place to win,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “For us it’s an enjoyable win but one that we worked for. Our game didn’t change a whole lot from the drop of the puck to the game winner in overtime… We pushed a little bit in the third period without any risk to our game and that’s a good characteristic to our team.”
Grubauer won the game on one shift in second period
As solid as Grubauer was all night, it was one shift with about four minutes left in the second that may have swung the game.
The Penguins hemmed Seattle in its own zone for over two minutes. Johansson broke his stick early in the shift rendering him nearly useless to help get the puck out. Pittsburgh had Malkin and Sidney Crosby on the ice and turned the Seattle zone into a shooting gallery.
The Kraken could not corral the puck to clear, but Grubauer stayed steady.
“Guys were blocking shots like crazy,” Grubauer said. “Getting in shooting lanes and letting me see the puck by boxing out guys, knowing where their forwards are… I think it’s building over the last couple games at home. Last game wasn’t our best one, but I think since we’ve come out of Christmas break, we’ve been playing our game, and everybody is buying in.”
Johansson ended up on the ice for a three-minute shift and Mark Giordano for 2:26. It was an incredible stretch and logic says that the Penguins should have scored.
Grubauer wasn’t just good there. He made saves in tight all night, including a stop on Jeff Carter midway through the period.
Over his last five starts, Grubauer is 4-1-0 with a .914 save percentage.
Kraken figuring out overtime
The past two chances the Kraken have had in overtime they’ve played well. Against the Chicago Blackhawks on the recent homestand, they dominated overtime, hit a post just before it ended, and got the win in the shootout.
“Over the break we had a chance to talk about how we want to manage the overtime,” Hakstol said. “Just try to manage our shift lengths, not try to force things, and take what the game gives you until there’s a breakdown. We got that on the game-winning goal.”
The talk over the break has created results and raised the confidence level.
McCann started the overtime and nearly scored on the first shift.
“We’re going to get one,” McCann said about what he was thinking just before the face-off. “We’re due. It was a good team effort, we played well, played to our strengths and we’ve got to build on this.”
Welcome to the SOH Liveblog for Kraken at Penguins. We will update this article throughout the game day, so check back often.
The Kraken begin a tough four-game road trip on the east coast Thursday against a Pittsburgh Penguins team that took them to the woodshed the first time these teams met.
The setup for this trip is odd. Seattle plays Thursday, then has back-to-back early matinee games against the two New York teams on Saturday and Sunday and closes it out with a night game on Tuesday in Boston. These four games in six days will lead right into the All-Star break.
This first game of the trip is daunting, especially considering the very brief history between these two clubs. When the Penguins visited the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Dec. 7, Pittsburgh scored three goals in the first 5:07 of the game and sent Philipp Grubauer to the bench after just four shots. It was one of those nights where Grubauer couldn’t seem to stop anything thrown his way.
When the dust settled, Jake Guentzel had two goals, an assist, and an injury, and the Penguins had marched to an easy 6-1 win.
Morgan Geekie scratched again, Chris Driedger officially cleared
Dave Hakstol confirmed in his morning press availability on Thursday that he would deploy the same lineup as Tuesday when the Kraken lost 4-2 to the Nashville Predators. That night, Morgan Geekie was the healthy scratch from the forward group, so this will be the second consecutive time the young forward will be held out.
Chris Driedger officially exited COVID protocol after a long stint there and will back up Grubauer on Thursday. Driedger participated in morning skate before Thursday’s game but was not officially cleared yet, so Joey Daccord was still on the bench for the game against the Preds.
Can Jordan Eberle get the monkey off his back?
Jared McCann scored Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 12 with a howitzer during a five-on-three power play. His linemate, Jordan Eberle, has been in an even deeper rut and has not found the back of the net since Dec. 6, which was ironically that 6-1 loss to these very same Pittsburgh Penguins.
Eberle had some great chances on Tuesday, but seemed to be trying to make one last move before pulling the trigger against Juuse Saros.
“That’ll turn around for him,” Hakstol said of Eberle’s scoring drought on Thursday. “When you look at the number of opportunities that he’s continuing to get, he’ll find the back of the net again. We’re confident in that, but for us, it’s not about one guy, one line or two lines. It’s not a luxury to have contributions from throughout the lineup, it’s an absolute necessity.”
March of the Penguins
The Penguins have won six games in a row, so… they’re due for a loss, right?!
They are currently in second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 27-10-5 record. Tristan Jarry is expected to start in net for the Penguins against the Kraken. He is having an outstanding season and has posted a 23-7-4 record with a 2.12 goals against average and .926 save percentage.
Projected lineup
The latest
With Driedger cleared from COVID protocol, Joey Daccord has officially been assigned to the taxi squad.
First period highlights
It was a good road period for the Kraken, who didn’t give up much to an outstanding offensive team. Chances were officially pretty even, and Grubauer made a few solid stops, especially during a Karson Kuhlman penalty.
Ok, but seriously, holding the Penguins off the board for the first 20 minutes is a win for Seattle.
Second period highlights
The tight-checking feel of this game continued well into the second period. Grubauer kept it scoreless thanks to a massive sprawling save on Jeff Carter off a two-on-one just beyond the nine-minute mark.
The Kraken got penned in for what felt like an eternity, as Pittsburgh took advantage of the long change and Marcus Johansson playing without a stick. Grubauer made four or five big stops to keep the score 0-0 on what felt and looked like the Penguins were on a power play (to be clear, they were not).
In all, the Kraken were outshot 9-2 in the frame, but Grubauer kept the boys level through two periods.
Third period highlights
The Kraken got one of their best chances of the game when Eberle passed to Johansson on a two-on-one, and Johansson went hard to the net. He missed the net with his shot and ran Jarry over in the process, earning himself an unfortunate penalty.
On the power play, Evgeni Malkin showed why he’s Evgeni Malkin and finally broke the scoreless tie.
Jarry made a couple fabulous saves on Donato and Eberle before Jared McCann finally broke through against his old team, deflecting a Vince Dunn shot to tie the game 1-1.
In the final minute, Grubauer made a big save at one end, then Joonas Donskoi hit the outside of the net at the other end after finding a loose puck in the slot.
To overtime we went.
Overtime highlights
Alex Wennberg has taken plenty of heat from fans this season for passing up opportunities to shoot. In a lot of cases, the frustration has been justified, but in Thursday’s overtime period, he pulled up off a rush and dished to Adam Larsson. Larsson buried it and gave Seattle its first ever win in three-on-three overtime.
…And that, folks, is how you beat an elite team on the road. Great defensive structure, great goaltending, opportunistic goaltending. Boom. Kraken win.
The Seattle Kraken find themselves in Pittsburgh Thursday for a tough road matchup against the Penguins. Pittsburgh has been playing well with a 27-10-5 record which is good for second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point back of the New York Rangers.
Pittsburgh is especially tough at home where it has a 13-5-2 record, meaning the Kraken have their tentacles full Thursday night.
“This team feeds off of momentum in this building,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said after morning skate. “Typically, Pittsburgh starts well in this building, and they feed off of momentum that they generate, especially offensively. We’ve got to be really ready to meet that head on. This core group has won together, they’re a deep team… they start well, they compete very hard in this building.”
Philipp Grubauer will start again for the Kraken, and he’ll be up against Tristan Jarry who is in the middle of a great rebound season. Jarry struggled in the playoffs last year, earning the ire of the fans and local media; it’s hard to believe fans would blame the goalie, but there it was.
This season, Jarry has gotten his skates under him and comes into Tuesday with a 2.12 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. Oh, and his record is 23-7-4 which is not too shabby. Seattle needs to get traffic and shots on him to stand a chance.
This is the second meeting of the Penguins and Kraken
Back on Dec. 6, the Penguins came to Climate Pledge Arena and scored three times in the first period to skate away with an easy 6-1 win.
Pittsburgh played that game without Evgeni Malkin who was rehabbing an injury. He’s been been back now for eight games and, of course, has nine points. With Sidney Crosby playing like Sidney Crosby, Malkin’s return makes the Penguins that much tougher.
“I think Geno’s getting better with every game that he’s played,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday. “He missed a lot of time, that’s not an easy challenge for any player coming back into the lineup. I give Geno credit for how hard he worked… his timing, his conditioning, just the intensity of an NHL game is difficult to simulate.
“I do think he’s getting better. You can see the impact he has on our team, particularly offensively with his instincts. We really like where we’re trending and we’re a much more difficult team to play against with him in the lineup.”
Just what the Kraken want to hear.
Other Penguins to watch
Your eyes are naturally drawn to Crosby and Malkin when Pittsburgh is playing, but their attack comes from more than just the two of them.
Up front, Evan Rodrigues has had a breakout season with 15 goals and 32 points. Jake Guentzel is having another strong season and leads the team in goals (21) and points (40).
On the back end, Kris Letang is killing it this year and has 37 points. Seattle needs to be aware of him joining the rush and make sure they keep a third man high in the offensive zone to prevent odd-man chances.
Some Penguins odds and ends
Pittsburgh can score. The Penguins are averaging 3.4 goals per game and the third period has been their most productive period from a goal scoring aspect.
With all the firepower they have, surprisingly they’re not dominant on special teams. Their power play is 23rd overall, and at home it’s been 28th in the league with a 14.9 percent success rate. Of course, that doesn’t mean you want to give Crosby, Malkin, et al a ton of chances with the man advantage.
They’ve won eight in a row at home, which it seems like every team the Kraken have played on the road of late has done, making Thursday’s night game just a bit more daunting.
BONUS EPISODE WITH A BIG-TIME GUEST ALERT! John Forslund deserves his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, so John Forslund gets his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast.
Darren and Andy spoke with the TV voice of the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena prior to Kraken morning skate last week. John does not disappoint. He tells fantastic stories that range from the beginning of Desert Storm to punching mascots, and he takes you through the journey that led him to becoming the legendary broadcaster that he is today.
This conversation will make you laugh and feel inspired all at once. When it’s done, you’ll think you’ve known John personally for years.
BONUS EPISODE WITH A BIG-TIME GUEST ALERT! John Forslund deserves his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, so John Forslund gets his own episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast.
Darren and Andy spoke with the TV voice of the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena prior to Kraken morning skate last week. John does not disappoint. He tells fantastic stories that range from the beginning of Desert Storm to punching mascots, and he takes you through the journey that led him to becoming the legendary broadcaster that he is today.
This conversation will make you laugh and feel inspired all at once. When it’s done, you’ll think you’ve known John personally for years.
Kraken game ops pulled out all the stops Tuesday, but it still wasn’t enough to take down the Nashville Predators. Not only did team dog Davy Jones bring a couple of his cutest puppy friends to the game, there was also a team-sponsored wave during a TV timeout (not sure how we felt about that), and—perhaps most importantly—Brandon Tanev “released the Kraken” as part of the pre-game show.
To Seattle’s credit, the team did come out looking good in the first period and even scored the opening tally, a rarity for this group, but the Predators took advantage of more of their chances than the Kraken did.
The 4-2 defeat is a disappointing outcome, as that’s the end of what could have been a very positive six-game homestand. Instead it ends with Seattle posting a mediocre 3-3-0 record. It is also the last time the Kraken will play at Climate Pledge Arena until Feb. 9, so a victory would have been a nice way to close out this stretch.
Anyway, here are our Three Takeaways from Tuesday’s Kraken loss to the Predators.
Takeaway #1: Hakstol didn’t love Grubauer’s game
Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer entered Tuesday’s game riding high after three consecutive wins. He looked dialed in early, confidently kicking out several shots off good chances from the Predators. But things turned for him a bit with 21 seconds left in the first period when Luke Kunin beat him with a slapshot from the top of the left circle.
You never want to give up goals in the first or last minute of a period, as those just seem to have more of an impact on the team’s psyche than goals against in the middle of a frame. That particular marker was extra tough because Seattle was about to close out a good first period with a 1-0 lead.
“We had a great period,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We put ourselves in position to win the first period, and it’s a nothing play.”
Then in the second, with the Kraken back in front after an Adam Larsson goal, Filip Forsberg showed why he’s an elite scorer. After skating the puck almost the length of the ice, he let a shot go from outside. It beat Grubauer clean, though there was no traffic in front of him.
Now, there are two schools of thought here. One is that Grubauer probably should have had it, being that it’s one guy with no option to pass, there’s no screen, and the shot comes from distance and an angle. The other way to look at it is that Forsberg is an awesome player and made a perfect shot.
We’re somewhere in the middle on this one. Yes, the situation would indicate the goalie should make the save, but holy cats that’s a laser.
Hakstol was a bit harder on Grubauer in his post-game presser than we expected, being that Grubauer had just played three outstanding games in a row before this one, and even Tuesday wasn’t a *bad* game, per se. He really did make some excellent saves against Nashville, especially in the first period.
Hakstol is apparently on team “he should have had it,” though. Here’s what he said about Grubauer’s performance:
“He had some good saves early in the hockey game. There was one more in the third that was from a rebound from the slot. But the first goal, it’s a tough time and it’s a tough one— you know, he’s got to stop that. Second one as well. He’s facing a good shooter, but it’s from the outside there, so those are things that can push a team back on their heels. So, not his best. He’ll need to be better in Pittsburgh a couple nights from now.”
So, that was interesting.
Hakstol did later add, “I’m not mincing words. I mean, Phil’s played really well the last… three or four games, and tonight—like I said—he’ll do better in Pittsburgh.”
Takeaway #2: Jared McCann back to scoring, but Jordan Eberle is squeezing his stick
The Kraken got the luxury of an early five-on-three advantage when the Predators took two penalties within three seconds of each other. Seattle strung together several good looks in a row before Jared McCann one-timed a Mark Giordano pass by Juuse Saros. That shot was so hard, we could have sworn we heard the puck make contact with the net all the way up in the press bridge.
It was McCann’s first goal in seven games, despite getting oodles of chances to score over that stretch.
Meanwhile, his linemate, Jordan Eberle, has not found the back of the net since Dec. 6. Those two are the top scorers on the team, so having them both in a slump at the same time has been damaging for Seattle.
Getting the proverbial monkey off McCann’s back should hopefully open the floodgates again for him. As for Eberle, he was getting some great looks Tuesday, including a partial breakaway early where he caught a pass, stickhandled between his legs, and shot. Saros made a nice save on that one, but for the most part, it felt like Eberle was trying to make one last move, rather than quickly pulling the trigger when he had chances.
These are things that players do when they’re pressing. They try to make the perfect move to put themselves in the perfect position to score, rather than simply shooting when they have the chance.
“Hockey’s a weird game,” McCann said. “Sometimes you’re hot, sometimes you’re cold. I’ve gone through in my career just trying to figure out what works for me. I’ve had guys talk to me that have scored a lot of goals in this league and they don’t change a thing. They just keep going, and eventually they’re going to break through and go in for you.”
Takeaway #3: That was a weird game
This was a hard game to reconcile because the Kraken statistically outshot and out-chanced the Predators, but it just didn’t *feel* like Saros was under all that much duress during the course of the contest, especially beyond the first period. Perhaps that is a sign of a goalie that has things really locked down, but it was a bit surprising to see the stats from that game, based on what we had watched.
The Kraken now embark on a four-game road trip, then go right into the All-Star break.
The guys cover a LOT in this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, and in the process, they introduce you to the newest member of the Seattle Kraken, Karson Kuhlman. Kuhlman was claimed off waivers from the Boston Bruins last week, so he talks about the whirlwind it has been to get to Seattle and get acclimated to his new team and city. He also shares some thoughts on playing for the UMD Bulldogs and the Bruins and explains why Darren is wrong about Duck, Duck, Grey Duck.
Aside from the chat with Karson, the guys also dig into the last three Kraken games since the previous episode, in which Seattle won two out of three against the Sharks, Blues, and Panthers. John, Andy, and Darren are especially amped up about the outcome of the Florida game. They also talk about the Coachella Valley Firebirds jersey and Darren defends Jeremy Lauzon again.
Before getting to the Kuhlman interview, they dig into the very difficult topic of racism in hockey, hoping that the conversation can fuel even the smallest change in a few folks out there.
After the Kuhlman interview, the guys move on to their segments, which this week include Goalie Gear Corner, Weekly One-Timers, and Three Stars.
