Three weeks ago–before an eight-game losing streak that tripped panic buttons both inside the walls of the Kraken dressing room and out–the Kraken recorded what we termed a “markedly easy win” over the outmatched San Jose Sharks 7-1. Well, “time is a flat circle,” as Sound Of Hockey colleague Darren Brown likes to say. On Thursday night the Kraken again registered an easy 7-1 win against an outgunned opponent in the Chicago Blackhawks.
These are two points the Kraken simply needed to have. The Blackhawks are, well, not good. If Seattle has any hopes of clawing its way back into the playoff mix, it needs to take care of business against inferior opposition. In one of the more frustrating efforts of the season, the Kraken failed to do just that two weeks ago in Chicago, losing 4-3 to the Blackhawks on Nov. 28. With the season teetering, the team couldn’t afford another slip up Thursday. And, to their credit, they left no doubt.
The Kraken scored first, just over three minutes in, and then held that lead for the remainder of the night. The game remained within striking distance for Chicago through the first 10 minutes of the second period, but over the back half of the game, the boys in deep sea blue broke it wide open.
Joey Daccord stopped 21 of 22 shots. Rookie defenseman Ryker Evans was stellar again, recording two points and making at least a dozen other strong plays throughout. Evans’ former Regina Pats teammate Connor Bedard had a quiet night and didn’t embarrass Daccord or anyone else with his elite offensive skills. Kraken forwards, on the other hand, were scoring goals from every conceivable angle and chased Chicago goalie Arvid Soderblom in the third period.
Here are our Three Takeaways from Thursday’s 7-1 Kraken win over the Blackhawks.
Takeaway #1: Yamamoto and the fourth line were superb
Kailer Yamamoto was up to some recently familiar tricks to start this game. Just two days prior, he got Seattle on the board first when he scored a nifty breakaway goal. On Thursday, he again earned the Kraken a 1-0 lead when he intercepted a loose clearing attempt from Blackhawk Reese Johnson, stepped across the Chicago blue line, and wasted no time firing a wrist shot low blocker past Soderblom.
YAMA-GOAL-O! 🚨
Officially unassisted, Kailer Yamamoto gets a gift in the neutral zone, then Soderblom misses it.
Yamamoto's second goal in two games, third goal in two games for the fourth line.
Not done there, Yamamoto then scored the second goal of the game with under three minutes remaining in the first period when he alertly batted a puck that bounced off Blackhawk defender Nikita Zaitsev into the goal. (While originally announced as a goal for Pierre-Eduoard Bellemare, video review later confirmed it to be Yamamoto’s goal.) This one proved to be the game-winner.
BELLY OF THE BALL! 🚨
Yamamoto and Bellemare, rinse and repeat. Two games in a row, those two fourth-liners have scored the first two goals of the game.
Some dispute on if Yamamoto should get credit, but for now, it's PEB.
And Yamamoto did more than just score. He was active all night. In one particularly impressive offensive-zone possession beginning at 7:15 in the second period, the Kraken fourth line hemmed in Chicago for over a minute. Yamamoto made several strong possession plays in this sequence including a cutback below the goal line that freed him to deliver a centering pass that just missed Jared McCann in the slot for another potential goal.
Beyond Yamamoto, the entire fourth line deserves credit for back-to-back strong efforts. The line has five goals in the last two games, with Bellemare scoring the other two. On Thursday, the fourth line outshot Chicago 6-2 and controlled 82 percent of the total shot quality while on the ice. Continued production like that would go a long way toward extending this two-game winning streak.
Takeaway #2: In a skill mismatch, the Kraken also got the bounces
While the Kraken were the better team throughout this game, it was not until the second half that they truly overwhelmed the Blackhawks. Even so, the Kraken built an insurmountable early advantage in the first half of the game on the strength of some good old-fashioned puck luck.
As mentioned above, Yamamoto’s second goal came on a broken play. Vince Dunn shot a puck from the perimeter that snuck under the arm of Zaitsev and fell to the ice right in front of Yamamoto (and Bellemare). Soderblom had no chance to react.
Chicago responded by narrowing the lead to one (more on that goal in a moment) early in the second period, but Seattle then re-established a two-goal lead just over a minute later when an Oliver Bjorkstrand centering pass ricocheted into the goal off Blackhawks defenseman Jason Dickinson.
BJORK…. JAM (sort of)! 🚨
Bjorstrand tries to make a pass, but it hits Jason Dickinson's skate and caroms in.
There’s no reason to complain about puck luck, though. When you’re outworking the opposing team in the strategic areas of the ice, you should get your share of fortunate bounces. Seattle hasn’t seen many of those go their way over the last couple weeks, so it was a welcome turn of events. A 7-1 score is what can happen when the better team gets the luck too.
Takeaway #3: Some early giveaways
It may seem odd to say about a 7-1 victory, but the Kraken made a number of defensive-zone mistakes in the first half of the game that may have been costly and swung momentum in the other direction against a better opponent.
At 12:03 in the first period, the Kraken had full possession in the defensive zone, with Eeli Tolvanen controlling the puck along the boards. He looked to center the puck for an open-ice advance, as Seattle has often done this season. Brian Dumoulin was open but perhaps too close for a clean break, and Tolvanen hesitated. With his internal alarm clock going off, Tolvanen shot the puck over toward Bjorkstrand, but the pass was too hot to handle. Chicago’s Joey Anderson took the puck and set up Nick Foligno clean in on Daccord.
Later, at 19:20 in the first period, Matty Beniers received the puck outside the Kraken defensive zone with room to advance himself. Instead of taking the ice, he too looked to center to McCann for a full flight advance. Unlike Beniers, though, McCann was under pressure, and he turned the puck over. This led to controlled possession for Chicago back into Seattle’s zone.
At 2:59 in the second period, Jamie Oleksiak had control fading back to his corner in the defensive zone. He flung a pass without any forward body momentum toward Bellemare and Yamamoto, but it was easy pickings for Chicago forward Anthony Beauvillier at the blue line. Beauvillier then attacked and set up forward Taylor Raddysh for Chicago’s only goal.
Finally, at 6:30 in the second period, Tye Kartye held possession in the defensive zone and tried to hit Brandon Tanev with an indirect stretch pass. It was a bad read (Tanev was covered) and a bad pass, which resulted in an easy turnover to Chicago in the neutral zone. This led to another controlled entry, almost 30 seconds of offensive-zone time for Chicago, and another unblocked shot attempt.
As it happened, Chicago couldn’t capitalize more than once on these Kraken mistakes, so it didn’t hurt Seattle in this one. But the Kraken need to tighten up their possession game in their own zone and avoid turning the puck over in dangerous areas if they want to keep this winning streak going.
Bonus takeaway: Big Cat t-shirts
The vibes are trending up in the dressing room, that’s for sure. On Thursday night, the room not only celebrated its second straight victory, but many indulged in some light-hearted fun honoring (at the expense of?) teammate Adam Larsson.
We didn’t get the complete story postgame, but it seems that Beniers had a hand in generating and distributing t-shirts documenting an infamous photo of Larsson with what can only be termed a “Big Cat Bowl Cut™.” The team had fun with it.
Parting thoughts
Given the weak opponent, the Kraken and their fans should be cautious against overconfidence in a perceived turnaround or breakout. Recall that Seattle’s trouncing of San Jose was followed by a home loss to a quality Pacific Division opponent in the Canucks. Seattle’s next game is a home date with the Los Angeles Kings, another team above Seattle in the Pacific Division standings. That’s a benchmark game.
But Thursday was a welcome reminder that the Kraken do have a tenacious forecheck; the team does have goal scorers; and, perhaps most importantly, bounces can sometimes go Seattle’s way. Maybe it will help the team and fanbase loosen their grip on the stick a bit and attack the game Saturday with a clearer head.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
The Kraken won a game, and all is right in the world. Check in with Curtis, John, and Darren, as they talk through what was going wrong during the eight-game skid for the Seattle Kraken, as well as what they did in their win over Florida to get back in the W column.
This episode features a robust WJC-centric Down on the Farm, plus lots of Goalie Gear Corner.
Other segments include Weekly One-Timers and Tweets of the Week.
We knew 22-year-old defense prospect, Ryker Evans, was close to being ready for the NHL when we watched him in Seattle Kraken training camp before this season. In pre-season games, he consistently drove offensive opportunities and always looked so smooth on the ice. So, we weren’t surprised to see him recalled from AHL Coachella Valley last week, but the timing was interesting.
With Seattle in the midst of what would become an eight-game skid, coach Dave Hakstol decided it was time for a jolt to the blue line. In came Evans, and suddenly there was a new rotation happening between Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz, with the veterans taking turns being supplanted from the lineup by the rookie.
It got easier for Hakstol to decide which veteran should come out when Schultz became unavailable for a couple games after getting hit in the face with a puck in the 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. But now that Schultz is back, we are curious to see how this gets managed moving forward. After all, Evans has done nothing but impress since his arrival.
“I was pretty shocked [to get called up],” Evans said. “I mean, obviously, it’s something you dream of as a kid, and to get the opportunity is pretty cool. It’s kind of just been a whirlwind the last couple of days.”
Impressive start to Evans’ NHL career
Talking to Evans, who has the most level, calm demeanor you can imagine, you would never know he just made his NHL debut a few days ago. His play on the ice mirrors the way he carries himself off the ice, as he has yet to look frazzled in a game. In fact, on his very first NHL shift, he jumped up in the play and led an offensive rush with Tye Kartye, something you wouldn’t expect from a rookie NHLer dealing with the nerves of his debut.
The call-up seems to have come at the right time and has injected more offensive flair into Seattle’s lineup, which has struggled so mightily at that end of the ice. Evans said it was odd to parachute in when the team was in the deepest valley of its season to date.
“It’s tough, obviously, even when you’re losing,” Evans said. “I just wanted to come in and bring as much energy as I could, just bring some new life into the dressing room and kind of find a spark so that we can get back on the winning path here.”
He made some defensive mistakes in that first outing against New Jersey, but we’ve really liked the way he seems to be settling into Seattle’s end of the ice, and his offensive talents have been on full display. In his first game against the Devils, he made a move behind New Jersey’s net to hit the brakes, bump the puck behind himself, and send veteran forward Ondrej Palat flying past him.
Making a play like that in his first NHL game shows the confidence he has in his abilities to actually get players to bite on his moves without too much risk of turning the puck over.
Evans’ first impact on a scoresheet also came off an outstanding play low in the offensive zone in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Florida Panthers. Soon after a face-off, he saw a lane open down the half wall. Rather than dumping or rimming the puck around, he took the ice that was being given to him and skated the puck down below the goal line. He swung the puck around and centered a perfect pass for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to score into a mostly open net and extend Seattle’s lead to 2-0.
“It was good that I was able to help a little bit,” Evans said, with his usual nonchalant tone. “It was great to get the win. We needed that one, and it’s huge for our confidence.”
His teammates are also seeing what we see, a good sign that Evans does have the ability to play consistently at the NHL level. After all, players tend to know when a guy has the “it” factor.
We first heard a player indicate they were impressed by Evans’ aptness when Joey Daccord joined the Sound Of Hockey Podcast during last season. Unprompted, Daccord gushed over how slick Evans was on the ice.
Devin Shore also had very positive commentary on the youngster after Wednesday’s optional practice.
”I’ve been playing with him in [Coachella Valley] too, and he’s been great there,” Shore said. “The name of the game right now is skating, and he obviously has that, and he plays with his head up. So if you got a guy in the back end with the skill that can skate, plays with this head up, good things are gonna happen. I’m really happy for him. He’s a great kid.”
Smooth skating is no accident
Evans was drafted as an over-ager, being passed up by all 31 other NHL teams in the draft prior to Seattle’s inaugural season. The next time around, when the Kraken selected him in the second round, No. 35 overall, we recall seeing draft pundits from far and wide criticizing the team for going “off the board” to select him. Fast forward, and the bold selection seems to be paying off.
The Calgary, Alberta, native said he wasn’t surprised he didn’t get picked in the 2020 draft, the first time he was eligible. “I don’t think I was fully at the point where I could have been drafted,” Evans said. “I just wasn’t developed enough, and I definitely didn’t have a good enough year, and I kind of knew that… Obviously, you hope you get picked. But it’s kind of earned. So I didn’t think I was I was there yet.”
One of the reasons Seattle’s scouting department liked Evans was because of his outstanding skating ability. It’s not just his speed, but his agility in being able to walk the blue line (as seen on the power play) and change directions on a dime that make his movements on the ice look effortless. This skating ability is no accident.
“My dad’s a power skating coach, so growing up, skating was always a No. 1 asset of mine,” Evans said. “Being smaller too, I had to figure out different ways to use my body and stuff like that. So, you just develop those skills growing up like that, and over time, you start to fine tune things.”
“Blade Boy”
In Daccord’s post-game media availability following the win over Florida on Tuesday, he referred to Evans as “Blade Boy” but declined to elaborate on why he calls him that.
Well, it turns out the moniker really does refer to blades, as in skate blades, because Evans is VERY particular about the steel he skates on.
He has 35 pairs of blades that he swaps out approximately every two games, and he keeps track of which pair he’s wearing at any given time. “Right now, I’m wearing set 28 out of 35,” Evans said.
He also is so specific about how he wants them sharpened, he only trusts one person in the world to sharpen his steel, his “guy” back in his hometown of Calgary. That’s not because he doesn’t like the job that gets done by any of the equipment managers on any of the teams he’s played for, he just doesn’t want to change his process.
“I send them back to Calgary to my guy,” Evans said. “It’s no shot at anyone. That’s just what I’ve always done.”
Worth noting, as Evans was telling Sound Of Hockey about the nickname, Chris Driedger walked into the dressing room and gave a big laugh, so clearly the players find Evans’ penchant for perfect steel a bit comical.
We say, if it works, keep doing it. So far for Ryker Evans, it seems to be working.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
More details about the festivities surrounding the Winter Classic came to light Thursday, as the NHL announced a free two-day fan festival that will be held Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 in the north lot at Lumen Field. The event will be open to the public and will be family friendly.
The Enterprise NHL Fan Village will be open starting at the conclusion of the Seattle Seahawks game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Dec. 31 (approximately 4:30 p.m.) and will run until 8 p.m. that day. If the Seahawks game gets flexed to a different time due to TV coverage, then the event will not be held that day and will instead be held only on Jan. 1, before and after the Winter Classic Game. On Jan. 1, the village will be open from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The festival will feature a variety of games and interactive activities put on by NHL partners like AWS, Discover, Fanatics, Upper Deck, and more. Fans can also take photos with the Stanley Cup, which will be on display.
A full list of the activities can be found below, but here are a few that sounded particularly interesting to us. First, AWS’s “immersive tabletop experience” that will let fans place hockey pucks on a digital hockey rink, and that will bring hockey plays and stats to life. This is a demo of the NHL’s Edge player tracking technology.
Another that sticks out is Ticketmaster’s “Bullseye Battle” shooting competition, along with Upper Deck offering personalized trading cards and an AI photo opportunity from Discover that will let fans place their own faces on Winter Classic collectibles.
As promised, here is the full list of activities that will be held at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village:
AWS: “AWS Interactive Ice” offers a unique immersive tabletop experience allowing fans to place electronically enabled hockey pucks on hotspots across our digital hockey rink to bring hockey plays and statistics to life. The activation highlights and explores the tech that enables deeper insights into the game utilizing NHL Edge IQ powered by AWS stats.
CAT: Hockey fans visiting the Enterprise NHL Fan Village can win Cat branded prizes, take photos with Cat equipment and learn about Cat services.
Discover: The Discover ‘Starting Lineup’ Experience will feature an immersive footprint including an AI photo opportunity allowing fans to place their face on a custom digital Discover collectible, NHL Winter Classic memorabilia for fans to explore, branded premium distribution and special guests throughout the weekend. The centerpiece of the ‘Starting Lineup’ experience is Discover’s oversized Air Hockey Table where fans can take on their friends and family.
Fanatics: Visit the Official Merchandise trailer for a great selection of 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic jerseys, apparel, headwear, and souvenirs.
Great Clips: Fans who think they have what it takes to make the leaderboard must come by Hardest Shot presented by Great Clips to test their slapshot! Great Clips, Official Hair Salon of the NHL.
Honda: Honda, the official automotive partner of the NHL in the U.S., will have the All-New Prologue – Honda’s first All-Electric SUV – on display at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village! Fans can stop by Honda to show off their hockey skills in the Goalie Power Play game and get a chance to win fun prizes.
Jersey Mike’s: Jersey Mike’s will bring an interactive gaming experience to hockey fans, featuring sub sandwich sampling, digital air hockey, augmented reality photo opportunities, sweepstakes and more. This on-site activation allows fans to interact with the brand in a meaningful way.
Navy Federal Credit Union: Fans can visit the Navy Federal Credit Union hockey activation to test their range and accuracy at the Hockey Shot Challenge and for a chance to look like the pros while taking a picture in the Hockey Player Photo Opportunity!
New Amsterdam Vodka: Fans 21-plus can head to the Enterprise NHL Fan Village bar to get the Fan Village signature cocktail “Seattle Smash”, served in a Discover NHL Winter Classic souvenir cup! New Amsterdam Vodka, Official Vodka of the NHL.
NHL Fan Access™ App: As the official event app, NHL Fan Access™ features maps, schedules, the “Ask Stanley” virtual assistant, opportunities to win prizes, and much more. Fans are encouraged to download the app today!
NHL Network: NHL Network will give fans the chance to test their shooting skills with a target inflatable. NHL Network’s NHL Tonight will air extensive pre- and post-game coverage of the 2024 NHL Winter Classic.
S. Preston: At this year’s NHL Winter Classic artist S. Preston will be showcasing his NHL-licensed artwork which includes his limited-edition commemorative sketch for this year’s game. This sketch will be available for purchase on-site at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village.
Stanley Cup Display: Fans can take a photo with the most iconic trophy in professional sports during Enterprise NHL Fan Village operating hours.
Ticketmaster: Fans can show off their wrist shot by aiming for the bullseye at Bullseye Battle!
United by Hockey Mobile Museum: Returning for a second season, the United by Hockey exhibit is a unique interactive experience that celebrates the game’s trailblazers, changemakers and business leaders spanning across multiple underrepresented and multicultural demographics. The professionally curated history museum highlights a number of new features including a VR experience, United Voices podcast wall and adaptive hockey display and aims to raise awareness of and educate fans about diverse individuals within the game of hockey emphasizing that Hockey is for Everyone!
Upper Deck: Fans can get their own personalized NHL Winter Classic trading card from Upper Deck, the exclusive trading card partner of the NHL®. Upper Deck is also giving fans an opportunity to win fun prizes by playing exciting games such as Pack Wars, Box Hockey, and more. In addition, fans can collect a FREE NHL Winter Classic trading card set at UpperDeckEpack.com, the innovative platform that allows users to buy, open, collect and trade with hockey fans from around the world. For more information, fans should visit the Upper Deck booth.
Verizon: Fans can visit Accuracy Challenge presented by Verizon to test their shooting accuracy and see if they have an NHL-caliber shot.
Washington’s Lottery: Fans can practice like the pros and test their stick skills by shooting pucks into a stacked washer and dryer unit.
We got used to losing. We really did. We were numb to it, and we didn’t even know it. This Seattle Kraken win over the Florida Panthers reminded us that leaving Climate Pledge Arena after a victory can actually make us feel invigorated, despite knowing Seattle may have already shot itself in the tentacle and sunk its season. Victory songs were played, fish were yeeted (albeit poorly in Joey Daccord’s case), and a Davy Jones hat was distributed for the first time since Nov. 22.
From outside the Kraken dressing room, we could hear the players hooting and hollering, and when we were allowed to enter, we immediately felt a very different vibe than what we’ve experienced on the rest of this homestand.
“It’s still a kids game, right?” coach Dave Hakstol said. “You play hard. You want to work hard and have success together, and then you have fun and enjoy that. And our guys were able to finally do that tonight after a real tough stretch.”
Joey Daccord got his first NHL shutout, Ryker Evans got his first NHL point, and the fourth line chipped in with two huge goals.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a freeing 4-0 Kraken win over the Panthers.
Takeaway #1 (Darren): Joey’s big night
Sound Of Hockey readers/followers/listeners will know that I am unabashedly pro-Joey and really want to see him succeed. He is just the best guy to deal with, so witnessing him earn his first NHL shutout was something that will stick with me for a while.
I could tell he was dialed in from the drop of the puck. He was tested early and often in the first period and stood tall, especially when Aaron Ekblad came barreling down on a 3-on-1 rush about five minutes into the game.
With Brandon Tanev backchecking and Evans the lone defender, Ekblad elected to take the puck to the net and try to deke around Daccord, who was aggressively challenging at the top of the crease. At the last instant, Daccord flared out his right pad and stuffed the star defenseman before smothering the puck for a whistle.
“It’s always nice to make any save, especially when they get a good chance early to kind of get the ball rolling,” Daccord said. “And, to just feel good moving forward, that’s definitely always nice.”
It wasn’t just that save, though, that made me think he was especially sharp on this night. There was a high tip play that seemed like one of those that should cause problems for a goalie, because of the way that it changed both speeds and directions. But Daccord tracked it all the way in and calmly redirected it away from the net with his stick, making it look easy.
In the end, Daccord racked up 24 saves on 24 shots.
“It means the world, honestly,” Daccord said. “I’m super grateful for the opportunity to play in the NHL every single night, and for the coaching staff and the guys to trust me out there and to get a shutout in the NHL, especially against such a high-caliber team with a lot of good players … yeah, it hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s pretty special, for sure.”
Having said all that, with Festivus right around the corner, I must air two grievances toward Daccord. First, he disappointed me by electing *not* to shoot for the empty net when he had a chance below his own goal line, even though Seattle held a comfortable 3-0 lead, and Florida had pulled Sergei Bobrovsky with more than five minutes remaining.
“[Adam Larsson] skated down and like looked at me like…” Imagine Joey doing back-and-forth shifty eyes at the end of that statement, mimicking his defenseman’s facial expression. “He was almost more surprised that I didn’t shoot. I’ll shoot if I get a good chance. That one wasn’t really a great chance. It was kind of a bouncy puck, and I was stuck behind the net, so that would have taken a really high-skill-level play to make that one.”
Alright, fine, I’ll let that one slide. But the other grievance I must air was about Daccord’s very poor fish yeeting, in which he twirled his fish around to amp up the crowd, made it look like he was about to fire the fish deep into the stands, and somehow whipped it straight down into the ice.
“I tried to throw it so far, and it just didn’t work,” Daccord said. “Yeeting a fish is harder than you think, so don’t make fun of me until you try it.”
Ugh. Alright, fine, I retract both of my grievances. Good game, Joey.
Takeaway #2 (Curtis): Kraken take advantage of scoring first
You’re right, Darren. Daccord is the no-doubt headline in this one. In particular, his save on Ekblad’s chance was vital to the Kraken taking two points tonight. It’s very easy to imagine a different outcome in this one had that puck found the back of the net, particularly given how difficult it was for the Kraken to get through the neutral zone and set up offensively in the first period.
But Daccord did keep the team in it, and this bought the offense enough time to find the smallest opening in Florida’s neutral-zone defense. At 3:02 in the second period, Kraken defenseman Will Borgen launched a stretch pass from the defensive zone that hit Kailer Yamamoto’s stick on the tape at the Florida blue line, as Yamamoto ducked in behind the Florida defense. It was a clean breakaway chance, and the Man from Spokane™ roofed it to put Seattle up 1-0.
YAMA-GOAL-O! 🚨 #SeaKraken score the first goal of the game for the first time since Nov. 22.
After Sunday’s eighth consecutive loss, Hakstol spoke about the importance of getting a lead and not always chasing the game. “We have to start better,” Hakstol said that night. “Early in the season, probably 10 of our first maybe dozen games, 10 of our first 15 games for sure, we scored first, and that’s something that’s… important.”
Playing from behind is difficult because the leading opponent can tighten up its defensive-zone coverage and turn down riskier plays to avoid the possibility of a counterstrike that catches them out of structure. When done effectively, this leaves the chasing team to fire pucks on the net from low-danger areas in desperation. The chasing team may pile up shots, but those may not be the types of shots that are likely to go in.
The Kraken saw this play out again and again over their eight-game losing streak. They actually generated the fourth-most shot attempts per 60 minutes in the NHL from Nov. 24 to Dec. 10, the dates of their losing streak. But the shot quality they produced was just 2.9 expected goals per 60 minutes, fifth-worst in the league.
Taken on a per-shot basis, the Kraken’s shot quality was dead last in the league over that stretch. A lot of this had to do with the team’s offensive schematic and personnel struggles to create quality high-danger chances, as we have talked about on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and in previous Three Takeaways. The “score effects” described above were part of the story too.
Scoring first made all the difference for the Kraken on Tuesday night. After Yamamoto’s goal went in, Florida had to start taking chances, and all of a sudden, the Panthers’ neutral-zone defense and defensive structure weren’t nearly as tight. Gaps opened for Kraken strikes all over the ice.
According to Natural Stat Trick, in the third period, the Kraken had 21 shot attempts, 11 scoring chances, and shot quality expected to create almost two goals–more than the first two periods combined. It was a breath of fresh air for the Kraken and their fans.
Takeaway #3 (Curtis): Kraken penalty kill steps up
In addition to Daccord, the Kraken penalty killers deserve plaudits for keeping Seattle in the game early until the offense could find its footing. Florida drew three penalties in the first half of the game while it was still very much in dispute, and the Panthers managed a grand total of zeroshots on goal in those six minutes five-on-four.
What makes this even more impressive is that two key penalty killers (Larsson and Brian Dumoulin) took two of the penalties, which forced Vince Dunn into rare action as a penalty killer. Even so, the Kraken special teams did not miss a beat. In particular, I thought Jamie Oleksiak made a number of impressive reads and physical closeouts to shut down low plays, and the forwards effectively created pressure and turned the puck over repeatedly.
The first penalty kill was crucial, since it came in the first period when the game was still scoreless. The Kraken effectively held Florida to the outside and blocked two shots. The only other shot attempt from distance missed the goal.
Don’t look now, but the maligned Kraken penalty kill unit has killed 10 straight penalties.
Bonus Takeaway (Curtis): Ryker Evans settling in
Evans’s transition to the NHL has not been perfect, although it seems that way sometimes. He has lost a few defensive-zone board battles, and it has been a mixed bag in front of his own net.
That said, everything else Evans has brought to the table has shown why he is unquestionably one of the six most talented (and NHL-ready) defensemen in the Kraken organization. He has a very good feel for when to push in transition or join a rush, and he has the mobility and puck skills to implement his reads.
At 5:52 of the second period, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare won an offensive-zone draw, which Yamamoto dove in to recover and tap back to Evans. While some defensemen may have stayed stapled to the point and shot the puck low around the boards, Evans saw Yamamoto (and the Panther covering Yamamoto) had vacated the wing. That left room for Evans to push down the wall with possession.
Once he got below the goal line, Bobrovsky most likely expected him to continue around the other side of the net. But the moment he cleared the goal, Evans skillfully centered the puck before anyone could react, finding an open Bellemare in the slot.
Bellemare converted the goal and deserves credit himself, but Evans made the play and earned every bit of his first NHL point.
“Obviously, this kid is going to be here a long enough time,” Bellemare said of Evans. “So, it was fun to see him [get a point], and he thanked me [for putting it] in, which was a funny thing.”
Evans has made offensive opportunities for his teammates like this each game he has played in the NHL so far. As long as he keeps doing it, he’ll stay right where he is–in the Kraken lineup.
Just when we thought it could not get any worse, it did. The Kraken are now 0-6-2 in their last eight games and have the second-longest losing streak in their brief history. They currently have 23 points on the season, which is the exact same number of points they had in their inaugural season after the same number of games (29). I can’t say it won’t get any worse, but this losing streak will end… eventually.
Since the shootout was introduced in 2005-06, nine teams had 23 points at their respective 29-game mark, and only one of those teams has made the playoffs, the 2007-08 Capitals. Barring a minor miracle, this team will not be making the playoffs, although I guess an 11 percent chance of making it is better than no chance at all.
How did we get here?
The number of goals scored against Kraken goalies last season is identical to the goals scored against Kraken goalies this season, 91 goals against after 29 games. Goaltending has not been great this season, but it is consistent with last season.
The average goals scored per game at this point last season was 3.4 compared to 2.5 this season. The .9 drop in goal scoring is the second-biggest drop in the league. Only Buffalo with their 1.1 drop is worse.
It would be easy to point to the departures of Daniel Sprong, Morgan Geekie, Ryan Donato, Karson Kuhlman, and Carson Soucy as the main contributors to the change in goal scoring this season. They had a collective 18 goals at this point last season.
However, when comparing against the players that are currently on the Kraken that were not with the club at this point (Eeli Tolvanen, Tye Kartye, Kailer Yamamoto, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and Brian Dumoulin), those players also have a collective 18 goals at the 29-game mark.
If we isolate just the players that were on the team for the first 29 games last season, the narrative changes quite a bit.
As most of you know, Andre Burakovsky has had multiple injuries this season and has yet to register a goal in the seven games for which he has suited up. Matty Beniers struggled early in the season and appears to be slumping again without a goal in his last six games. Jordan Eberle is struggling a bit, but I do feel he has looked a bit better as of late.
Where do we go from here?
I mentioned it on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast last week, that the organization should not make a trade to improve its chance to make the playoffs. The odds are long, and there is little chance the team would be able to improve enough without giving up a significant asset. Barring that miracle I discussed at the beginning of this article, they will be sellers at the trade deadline.
The easy decisions on who to move at the trade deadline will be around the players on expiring contracts. Alex Wennberg, Justin Schultz, and Jordan Eberle could all be moved. The tougher decision will be the players with term remaining on their contracts that might appeal to a playoff team looking to make a run.
Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev are the ones that jump off the roster as appealing players to playoff teams. The thought of trading Yanni makes me sick to my stomach, but if the right offer comes along, general manager Ron Francis would have to consider it. Yanni seems to mean so much to this organization and brings energy on the ice that is infectious, which might mean the price to move him might be too high for teams to consider.
Assuming the Kraken are open for business, do not expect a trade anytime soon. December is one of the slowest months of the season for transactions. There were three trades last December, and there is a good chance you don’t recognize any of the players that were involved.
Reader question: You’re the general manager of the Seattle Kraken. What would it take for you to trade Yanni Gourde?
Other musings
Over the last three games, I think Wennberg has been one of the best Kraken players on the ice. I would love him signed to an extension, but with Shane Wright waiting in the wings, I can’t see it happening. Wright will be centering the second or third line next season… if not sooner.
The Kraken had two losing streaks of seven or more games in their inaugural season; one that lasted seven games and another that lasted nine.
I like what I am seeing out of Ryker Evans so far. It seems that he is getting more and more confident with the pace of the NHL with each game played. Unless things go sideways, I imagine we will see him with the big club and in the lineup for much of the remainder of the season.
I must be a glutton for punishment because on Sunday morning I re-watched the first power play for both the Lightning and Kraken from the first period of Saturday night’s game. The Lightning had the puck in the offensive zone for 1:55 of the two-minute power play. The Kraken had the puck in the zone for 48 seconds of their first two-minute power play.
In the Kraken’s first power play in the Sunday game against the Minnesota Wild, they kept the puck in the offensive zone the entire two minutes of the power play. I don’t recall that ever happening before.
The Kraken won just two of nine (22.2%) face-offs on the power play in the game against Tampa Bay on Saturday, but on Sunday, they won nine of 11 (81.8%) of power-play face-offs.
The San Jose Sharks are now 5-2-2 since losing to the Kraken 7-1 on Nov. 22. The Kraken are 0-6-2 in the same time span.
With Philipp Grubauer out with a lower-body, not-good-looking injury, we should see Chris Driedger tend the net for a few games. Driedger’s last regular-season NHL game was May 1, 2022.
I always love watching the World Junior Championship, but this year will be something special. Up to seven different Kraken prospects could be playing in the U20 tournament at the end of the month. 13 of the 19 preliminary-round games could feature at least one Kraken prospect.
One of those prospects that has a shot at making Team Canada is Carson Rehkopf. On Friday night, he had three assists and the game-winning goal in overtime to cap a four-goal deficit comeback win for the Kitchener Rangers. He is likely a couple years away from suiting up for the Kraken, but in the meantime, he is such a fun player to track and watch.
My money is on Sweden to win this tournament.
Player performances
Jared McCann (SEA) – McCann is the only Kraken player with more than one goal over the last four games. (He has two.) McCann is having a heck of a season. He has 13 goals in 29 games and is on pace for another 30-plus-goal campaign.
Matt Boldy (MIN) – Boldy has six points in his last four games for the Wild including the game-winning goal on Sunday against the Kraken. When he is not playing the Kraken, he is fun to watch. He was drafted in the 2019 NHL Draft and had his breakout season in 2022-23. He is a subtle reminder to be patient with Kraken prospects like Beniers and Wright.
Carter Hart (PHI) – Has won his last three starts with a collective .958 save percentage. The former Everett Silvertip goaltender has nine wins on the season and is one of the reasons the Philadelphia Flyers are sitting in a playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division.
Chart of the week
The Kraken have not scored the first goal in a game since the San Jose game before Thanksgiving and up until the Tampa Bay game, had not led in any game since that San Jose game. Here is a look at the elapsed time they have been leading, trailing or tied for each game.
You want to avoid being in the red, and there is a lot of red in this chart for the most recent games.
The Kraken have three tough games to close out the homestand. The Florida Panthers come to town on Tuesday, Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, and then they take on the LA Kings on Sunday. I think the Kraken have played well over the last three games, so they are due for a win or two. In classic NHL shoulder shrug fashion, I wouldn’t be surprised if they won two out of three of those games. Other than being part of an eight-game losing streak, I’ve enjoyed going to the games lately, and I continue to look forward to rooting on this team at CPA.
With a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild Sunday night, the Kraken pushed their losing streak to eight games. This winless stretch is the second longest in team history, just one short of the record set during the team’s inaugural season from Dec. 15, 2021, though Jan. 15, 2022.
Sunday’s game followed a pattern now painfully familiar to Kraken fans over the last few weeks. The Kraken allowed the opponent to score first and started chasing the game. They looked competitive in stretches but ultimately couldn’t squeeze out enough offense to come back and win.
“We have to start better, and… once again, we came out tonight, chasing the game, even down by one,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “Early in the season, probably 10 of our first maybe dozen games, 10 of our first 15 games for sure, we scored first and that’s something that’s… important.”
Forward Oliver Bjorkstrand agreed: “I think it’s just the starts to the games. [We need to] come out hot and maybe get that first goal. Obviously, we struggle a bit in that area, so try to get the first one.”
Seattle’s 23 standings points through 29 games is 12 points behind the 29-game total of last year’s playoff team. And, perhaps even more revealing, it is the same exact total the team had through 29 games in its inaugural campaign.
Here are our Three Takeaways from another frustrating night for the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.
Takeaway #1: Kraken scoring woes continue
The Kraken were shutout at Climate Pledge Arena for the first time in more than a year. The last opponent to blank the Kraken in Seattle? The Wild.
This is not necessarily a coincidence. When the Wild are going well, which they are right now (5-2-0 in their last seven under new coach John Hynes), the team chokes off high-danger chances in the center of the ice and forces their opponents into low-danger outside looks. Minnesota’s scoring defense has been pedestrian so far this season, but shot quality metrics suggest the Wild have deserved a better fate. According to Evolving Hockey, the Wild are third best in the league in expected goals against at five-on-five (2.37 xGA/60 minutes).
The Wild defense frustrated the Kraken’s game plan, particularly through the neutral zone. And Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson played very well.
“Credit to them, they are a good box-out team,” Adam Larsson said. “They’ve got big [defensemen] and block a lot of shots, and that’s what you have to do to win.”
Good defense or not, the Kraken offense is wandering in the darkness right now and can’t seem to find its way back to the light. Seattle has scored just six goals in its last five games, including two shutouts.
On Sunday, Seattle struggled to generate any sustained pressure five-on-five. The Kraken had just 15 shots and four high-danger shot attempts all night at even strength.
The team managed to create a push on the power play against the Wild’s league-worst penalty kill unit. In particular, the Kraken repeatedly exploited soft coverage on the goal line to generate high-danger shots and cross-slot passes. But they couldn’t get one across the line, and that may have been the decisive point in the game.
“We weren’t able to capitalize on some outstanding opportunities on the power play,” Hakstol said. “Each one of the power plays, we had some great opportunities. It felt like that kind of a night [where we needed that] against a team that defends really well five-on-five. So the opportunities five-on-five are hard to come by.”
Takeaway #2: The Kraken don’t have an answer for top Wild line
The Wild top line of Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Kirill Kaprizov carved up the Kraken defense all night, generating 11 high-danger scoring chances and driving a Wild offense that generated 71.39 percent of the total shot quality when that line was on the ice.
The line’s most important contribution came at 7:14 in the first period. Boldy won a puck battle with Jared McCann in the Wild defensive zone, scanned the ice, and fed Kaprizov. Kaprizov navigated through center ice and into the Kraken zone, drew the defense to him in the middle, and fed a trailing Boldy on the left wing. Boldy walked in unchecked and beat Daccord with an elite finish.
On this night, one goal was all the Wild needed. Boldy’s highlight was the game-winner.
Takeaway #3: Mistake-riddled set breakout ices the game
Midway through the third period, Seattle was still trailing by only one goal. The Kraken needed just one bounce to go their way, and they’d find themselves in a new game.
At 12:19 in the final frame, Adam Larsson had unchallenged possession behind the Seattle net. While he paused for a moment, the Kraken orchestrated a set breakout. Unfortunately, he was not on the same page with his teammates when he launched a long pass in the direction of Yanni Gourde.
Marco Rossi pressured Larsson while Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson loomed at the Kraken blue line. Gourde and linemate Eeli Tolvanen streaked up ice and past these two Minnesota forwards, leaving the Kraken outnumbered in their own end and making a stretch pass a high-risk proposition. Perhaps they expected Larsson to use the support of his defense partner Vince Dunn to advance the puck toward the neutral zone. But Larsson was looking to pass all the way, and likely expected Gourde to stop short of the forechecking pressure.
As it turns out, Larsson’s pass was easy pickings for the Wild. The turnover allowed an easy controlled zone entry and a sequence of offensive pressure the Kraken never broke. Bjorkstrand gained possession momentarily but quickly turned it over, leading to a scramble of disputed possession at the net front. Rossi corralled the puck in the slot and sent it into an empty side of the cage behind Joey Daccord at 12:34 in the third period.
“Their second goal, we made two mistakes on the breakout,” Hakstol said. “The first one was a mistake, the second one, we were under pressure and turned it over.”
These mistakes sealed Seattle’s eighth straight loss.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
We really thought Saturday was going to end up being the night the Seattle Kraken snapped their losing streak, but instead, they got topsy-turvied in the third period and overtime and fell 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
For the first time since Seattle’s 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 22, the Kraken held a fleeting 3-2 lead in the third period. But Nick Paul tied the game 3-3 at 7:09 of the third, and the NHL’s leading scorer, Nikita Kucherov, scored his second goal of the game in overtime to extend Seattle’s skid to seven games.
“We got ourselves into a 2-0 hole,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “There’s all kinds of things that are not going our way, but through all of that, there was nothing but push from our guys [tonight].”
It was yet another bad first period for the Kraken, but to their credit, they did fight back and gave themselves every chance to win. Still, they came up short, and the bad feelings continued. Oh, and Philipp Grubauer got hurt, and it frankly didn’t look good.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 4-3 overtime Kraken loss to the Lightning.
Takeaway #1: Power play scores, still lets Kraken down
Seattle’s power play has statistically been ok this season, clicking at 21.1 percent of the time, good for 14th in the league. But for some reason, when Seattle gets manpower advantage opportunities late in games and so badly needs to find a clutch goal, it just never comes.
It was the power play that gave Seattle it’s lead just 14 seconds into the third period, when Jared McCann dropped a bomb from the top of the left circle that beat Andrei Vasilevskiy. So, that’s some success.
MCCANN CAN! 🚨
Just an absolute bomb, and the #SeaKraken have their first lead since Nov. 22. PPG.
But the Lightning went down a man at 12:24 of the third period when Tanner Jeannot high sticked Matty Beniers. Nothing doing on that opportunity. More crucially, though, Anthony Cirelli tripped Tye Kartye with just 16 seconds left in the third period, meaning the Kraken started the overtime period with 1:44 of 4-on-3 time.
In that 4-on-3 stretch, Seattle got just one point shot through to Vasilevskiy, and the Lightning defenders blocked three other shots. Tampa Bay’s defenders compressed into a tight formation in front of their netminder, and the Kraken kept the puck on the perimeter for the entirety of the power play without ever really looking dangerous.
You just have to score in that scenario. The Kraken did not do so, and 1:27 after the penalty ended, Brandon Hagel sprinted up the ice and set up Kucherov for the game-winner.
Takeaway #2: What’s up with these starts?
When a team is trying to break out of a long losing streak, a good way to do that would be to do everything it can to come out of the gates flying. Even if the players are struggling to find crisp passing (Seattle’s passing was not crisp in the opening 20 minutes), they can still fly around and play a hard-nosed physical game until they find a higher level of execution.
The Kraken spent most of the first period in their zone, and if it weren’t for Grubauer making several dandy saves, the game would have been out of reach by the first horn.
Cirelli scored with a beautifully done high-tip play halfway through the period.
Wow. Heckuva tip from the high slot by Anthony Cirelli.
Just before the end of the frame, Kucherov got his first of the night. On that one, the Kraken had control of the puck in their own zone, but Eeli Tolvanen got crossed up with Jamie Oleksiak and gave Kucherov a chance to pry it free. Then Kucherov intelligently went right to the net, and Cirelli found him for an easy tap-in.
Goodness gracious. 2-0 Lightning.
Kucherov with one of the easier goals of his career after Tolvanen and Borgen got tangled up, and then the #SeaKraken just watched the league's leading scorer glide to the post. pic.twitter.com/8rBpErH1WF
“The second goal is the one that is frustrating for you, right?” Hakstol said. “We’ve got half a line change, a couple of tired bodies still out there. We defend the play, and we kind of skate over the puck, right? And so you go from having five guys inside to it ends up in a tap-in at the backdoor.”
The Lightning really dominated that opening period with a 14-4 shots-on-goal advantage and 86 percent of the shot quality in all situations, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The start against the Devils on Thursday wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t like Seattle tilted the ice, and it again came out of that opening stanza trailing 1-0. And we’re still just one game removed from arguably the team’s worst start of the year in Montreal. Why can’t they get themselves going in the first period?
Give the guys credit, they did push back and managed to find a standings point. But when you chase the game every single night, you’re simply not going to win very often. Lo and behold, Seattle has now lost seven straight.
Takeaway #3: The injury bug bites again
With how things have been going for this team, on a night when Grubauer was playing very well, it was melancholically fitting to see him hunched over and limping to the dressing room at the end of the second period.
We had just finished saying, “Hey, Grubi’s finally over a .900 save percentage tonight!” after 10 consecutive starts in the .800’s or .700’s. But he lunged for a Cirelli shot off a 2-on-1 with under a minute remaining and then slumped over in a heap.
“I mean I hate to see it for [Grubauer], and obviously for our team,” Hakstol said. “He played very well in net tonight. He was outstanding.”
Hakstol said it would take a day or two to get more information about Grubauer’s status, but we think it’s pretty safe to rule him out for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Wild (Joey Daccord would have played that one anyway, being that it’s a back-to-back, but Chris Driedger is likely on his way to Seattle to back him up).
Justin Schultz also took a puck to the face in the second period and had to leave the game. Again, there was no update on his availability for Sunday, though we would guess that injury will be shorter-term than that of Grubauer.
The two latest injuries come on the heels of Andre Burakovsky returning from a 20-game hiatus, only to be placed right back on injured reserve after a high hit in the Devils game on Thursday. It’s also been fewer than two weeks since Jaden Schwartz exited the lineup.
When it rains, it pours.
“Obviously, we’ve had injuries and guys playing hurt,” Jordan Eberle said. “But our depth has been our key, and we need to bear down. These times are tough. We’ve got to find a way to get out of it and flip the script from a losing streak to a winning streak.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
