It's only fitting Yanni Gourde scored the opening goal during the 3-0 victory over San Jose at Climate Pledge Arena on Night 41 of this inaugural season, He has been a high-octane, energy-starter for Seattle from his first game - he played in the final game of a

season-opening five-game road trip, about six to eight weeks earlier than his projected return from summer shoulder surgery.

Gourde's goal here Friday before the signature raucous Seattle crowd was set up by linemate Karson Kuhlman patiently holding a pass from recent American Hockey League call-up and defenseman Dennis Cholowski before dropping it back to Gourde for a quick-

release rip past San Jose goalie Kaapo Kahkonen.

Driedger’s 5th Career Shutout

Chris Driedger made 24 saves against the Sharks to capture his 1st shutout of the season and his 5th in his NHL career

Driedgs shuts the door!  Check out tonight's @WaFdbank Signature Save of the Game!

Gourde's night was capped by winning the team's first Guyle Fielder Award, voted by players and coaches to name the player who best exemplifies perseverance, hustle and dedication associated with a Seattle hockey legend. Fielder played 15 of his 22 pro seasons

in Seattle, winning Pacific Hockey League championships with the Totems. He is No. 4 in scoring among all pro hockey players, trailing only Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Gordie Howe.

No surprise to anyone who has witnessed numerous games here: Gourde was double winner, nabbing the Fan Favorite award on vote by Kraken supporters. All that relentless energy - on the power play, penalty kill, 5-and-5, standing up to players bigger than him

and lots of chirping - pays off by winning the fans' hearts. Fun note: Gourde registered the most points (12 goals and 14 assists) among all Kraken players during home games this season.

"Anybody who watched our team this year would have no doubt," coach Dave Hakstol said. "Night in and night out, he lays it on the line. You want a guy who sets the tone in terms of effort and energy, plus the competitive side, dragging guys into the fight. That's

what 'Gourdo' does."

Rask Adds Onto Lead

Victor Rask grabs Ryan Sheahan's feed in the neutral zone and launches it into the empty net to make it 3-0

EMPTY NETTER FOR RASKY!!! THIS PLACE IS ROCKING!!!

McCann, Grubauer Award Winners

While Gourde won the Guyle Fielder and Fan Favorite votes, forward Jared McCann took home the Pete Muldoon Award as the Kraken's MVP for the 2021-22 season. McCann led the squad with a career-high 27 goals and 49 points, plus brought his own brand of

enthusiasm and grit to the ice, bench and locker room. To wit: When winger Brandon Tanev went down early in the hockey year with a season-ending knee injury, McCann took over as the teammate who stood at the tunnel entrance to the ice, exhorting and hyping his teammates.

For the curious, Muldoon coached the 1917 Seattle Metropolitans, the first U.S.-based team to win the Stanley Cup. Two years later, Muldoon famously refused to accept a forfeit of the Stanley Cup Final from the storied Montreal Canadiens, whose roster was

decimated by the 1919 Spanish Flu. He coached eight seasons with Seattle and, in 1928, led a group of investors to build Mercer Arena that served skates and hockey players for many decades.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer won the Three Stars of the Year Award, calculated by which Kraken player earned the most Three Stars honors after each home game. Players were awarded three points for First Star, two points for Second Star and one point for Third Star.

Grubauer also has to be the unofficial winner of most chants with the frequent and resonant "Gruuuuuuuuuu" calls after big saves.

The happy and loud 17,151 filling Climate Pledge Arena one last time this season didn't exit after the final horn. They stayed for the traditional player stick salute to the fans - and Seattle's supporters rival any in the league even in Year 1 (per Kraken players, Jordan

Eberle said as much last week, plus many numbers of opposing players and coaches who have marveled at the fan noise and faithfulness). And they stayed for Kraken player awards, "jerseys off our backs" and t-shirts tossed in the stands.

"Look at the atmosphere out there before the game, throughout the game and even after the game," Hakstol said. "I don't know anybody left [even as the team retreated to the locker room briefly]. They stayed for the presentations, awards and the jerseys.

"It's pretty special. It's awesome to finish with a win with a great crowd like that tonight. They've been with us through thick and thin."

 we love giving y'all stuff! one last period at home to make y'all proud.

Gourde Strikes First

Karson Kuhlman passes the puck behind him to Yanni Gourde, who lasers it past Kaapo Kähkönen from the top of the circle to open the scoring

HEEEEEEEERE'S YANNI!!!! 1-0, KRAKEN!

Matty and Marathon Man

The Kraken's second goal of the game, scored late first period, set up a tightly played second period that finished 2-0.

On that second goal, rookie Matty Beniers entered the offensive zone to the right, working the puck long enough to attract three Sharks players to pinch his way, creating time and space for his teammates. Beniers moved the puck to D-man Jamie Oleksiak, who

quickly sent a cross-ice pass to an awaiting Adam Larsson. The steadiest of Kraken defensemen scored his eighth goal of the season, adding to his career-high total.

When Larsson steps on the ice in Winnipeg (at 11 a.m. Pacific on Sunday), he will become the only Kraken player to appear in all 82 games of this inaugural season. Quite the feat given the hundreds and hundreds of player games lost to COVID-19 protocol.

On the other hand, Larsson's stamina is proven, right along with being one of the league-leading defensemen for not making mistakes in the defensive zone. He played all 56 games of the shortened 2020-21 season (per the pandemic) and logged 82 games with

Edmonton during the 2018-19 season when he scored three goals and added 17 assists. To date, Larsson has accumulated 17 assists but has scored a career-high seven goals.

The alternate captain has been a role model for every Kraken defenseman, no more evident than the string of games since Mark Giordano was moved to Toronto at the trade deadline. He's played extensive minutes with young D-man Vince Dunn and no doubt has

been someone assistant coach Jay Leach (in charge of defensive play) can point to all season long.

Larsson Doubles Lead

Jamie Oleksiak dishes the cross-ice feed to Adam Larsson, who launches it into the net from inside the circle to make it 2-0

WE LOVE BIG CAT ENERGY  2-0, KRAKEN! Adam Larsson

 

big cat on the prowl tonight  Adam Larsson

Feel-Good Night for Driedger

It's be an uneven season for Driedger. He appeared in relief of Grubauer on the fourth game of the team's five-game road trip to begin the season. He tweaked his knee on a save and didn't play the next night as planned, missing that start and more with his first

injury of the season. He suffered a second injury during the season and was sidelined by COVID-19 protocol, too.

Friday was likely his final start, his first Kraken shutout and fifth of his NHL career, upping his win total to nine against 13 regulation losses and one overtime loss. The shutout was the franchise's first at Climate Pledge Arena.

"It was pretty special, especially at home," Driedger said. "I will always remember it."

"I was so happy for him," Gourde said. "He made some tremendous saves in net, especially killing that 5-on-3 power play."

Fast starts have been more habit than exception for the Kraken recently. The trend continued Wednesday back home in front of 17,151 fans fueling Seattle-worthy decibels all night at Climate Pledge Arena. Jared McCann scored his team-leading 27th goal of the

inaugural season and Ryan Donato notched the career-high 16th of his season to build a two-goal margin five minutes into the middle period.

But the postseason qualifier Los Angeles didn't coast. Twenty-two-year-old center Gabriel Vilardi scored his fourth goal of the year (and second against the Kraken) followed by veteran two-way center Phillip Danault ringing up his 27th goal of the season (a career

high). Just about 14 minutes into the second period, the score was leveled.

Tonight's @WaFdBank Signature Save of the Game is brought to you by GRUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!

"We couldn't get sustained pressure [with the two-goal lead]," said alternate captain Jordan Eberle, talking to the media with his ballcap pulled low but his mind highly engaged in answering questions. "We had one good shift, bad shift, one good shift, bad shift.

"We were sloppy in the defensive zone. You give a team like that five feet, three feet, they're able to make plays."

Eberle said it's up to the team, players and coaches, to establish ways to put together the full 60-minute game night after night that playoff teams put together for the seven-month grind of an NHL season. He cited the example of Minnesota notching a five-goal

second period last Saturday as a trend that needs amending.

"We're going at teams, not shying away," said Eberle, who scored his 21st goal of the season before a roaringly appreciative crowd. "We're bringing plays to them and we're in their face.

"As soon as we get leads, we sit back a bit. All of a sudden you give space to [opponents] to make plays. "That's when they keep coming at you ... you are playing on your heels. We have to find a way in our locker room to figure out ways to go after teams when we

have a lead."

Eberle-Beniers-Donato Line Responds

After Los Angeles knotted the game at 2-2, Eberle put his Kraken teammates back in charge just 48 seconds later, beating goalie Jonathan Quick high glove-side for his line's second goal of the night. The play started with Donato exiting the defensive zone, sending

the puck to Matty Beniers in the neutral zone. The high-octane rookie skated the puck hard into the LAK zone, leaving a pass for Eberle, who slanted cross-ice before setting up to shoot and score the response goal.

It is Beniers' fourth assist to go with three goals in a sensational eight-game start. He has a point in seven of those eight games - and has generated several handfuls of scoring chances since trading in his University of Michigan attire to wear the Kraken blues.

Eberle Captures Lead

Matty Beniers drop passes the puck to Jordan Eberle, who dangles his way down the slot before snapping it in 48 seconds after the Kings tied it

Ebs with a *Quick* finish 

Decibels and Dares

The third period didn't go as prosperously. LA scored early on a goal by lower-six center Lias Andersson - his first of the season - and appeared to take a two-goal lead less than a minute later. But Philipp Grubauer and Kraken video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady

Morgan collaborated to reverse the goal call. It's the second victorious goalie interference challenge in the last three games.

Wednesday night, wild night here at Climate Pledge Arena. When two Kings were whistled off (one a four-minute double minor high stick and the other creating nearly two minutes of 5-on-3 play), the Kraken offense clicked into high gear.

In the penultimate home game, the 2022-23 core was evident on the offensive end with rushes and scoring chances from the likes of McCann, Beniers, Donato, Eberle and Yanni Gourde. Tempers flared in a rivalry sure to develop between these two West Coast

squads. But LA scored a late empty-net goal to finish the fun.

Seattle finished the night zero-for-five on power-play tries, including a couple minutes of 5-on-3. It comes after going one-for-eight in man-advantage situations Tuesday night at Vancouver.

"We didn't spend enough time in the offensive zone, especially with [puck] retrievals," Dave Hakstol said. "We had opportunities that were clear. We just didn't execute. You don't need more than one power-play goal most nights [to turn losses into victories]."

The Journey Continues

We've only just begun. 2022 NHL Entry Draft July 7-8

Highlight Reelin'

Donato added to his career-high goals total with his 16th on the season - and contributed to the Seattle goals-of-the-year highlight reel while at it. Donato scored the Kraken's second goal of the game in the opening minutes of the middle period.

Eberle started the play with a feed to Donato outside the blue line. Donato took matters onto his own stick and skated from there, wheeling around the 2020 No. 2 overall pick, LA forward Quinton Byfield, and then took advantage of defenseman Cale Fleury moving

up in the play to disrupt the efforts of Kings D-man Sean Durzi from stopping Donato.

The only Kings player left was Quick. Donato finished off his highlight-reel play with a deke, dangle and goal.

Donato Doubles Lead

Ryan Donato cuts through the Kings defense and glides around the crease to pop the puck over Jonathan Quick's outstretched glove, making it 2-0

To the Quick

Quick, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, was sharp throughout the first period for the Kings, making 11 saves before surrendering a late McCann goal a minute before first intermission. He stopped three Grade-A chances during a period in which the Kraken outshot

Los Angeles 12 to 2 in what was the 36-year-old goaltender's seventh straight start down the stretch run to the postseason.

McCann took a faceoff in the LA zone to the right of Quick, winning the puck, which Gourde picked and skated with to the corner. Gourde dropped a pass back to McCann, who timed a hard one-timer to beat Quick on the final shot of the period for Seattle.

West Side (of Bracket) Story

With the Dallas Stars earning a standings point in an overtime loss to Arizona Wednesday, Vegas was officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Three Pacific Division teams qualified for the 2022 eight-team Western Conference bracket: Calgary, Edmonton

and Wednesday's opponent, Los Angeles.

Edmonton and Los Angeles will square off in a first-round, best-of-seven series while Calgary awaits the results of remaining games for Dallas and fellow Central Division qualifier, Nashville. The Stars are two standings points ahead of the Predators, but Nashville has

two games left on the schedule. Whichever of the two franchises finishes 7th overall in the West will face Calgary while the No. 8 seed gets a first-round meetup with top-seed Colorado.

The fourth series in the Western Conference opening round will pit St. Louis and Minnesota. To be decided by Friday: Which team gets the home-ice advantage.

Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol speaks with the press after a loss to the Kings.

Seattle Kraken Forward and alternate captain Jordan Eberle speaks with the media after a loss to the Kings.

“We have to find a way in the locker room to figure out how to continue going at teams when we have the lead.” - Jordan Eberle

Seattle Kraken Forward Ryan Donato speaks with the media after a loss to Los Angeles.

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- For the second straight night against a playoff-bound team, the Kraken drove early play to a multiple-goal lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. Daniel Sprong scored his fifth goal in 13 games with Seattle and Yanni Gourde worked a pretty

sequence with linemate Karson Kuhlman to up the lead to 2-0 in the opening 10 minutes. The Kraken wheeled into the first intermission leading 2-1 with an inarguably promising start.

But this game took more than one wrong turn with a five-goal Minnesota outburst in the middle 20 minutes. Including the first-period score, the Wild scored the half-dozen goals in less than 19 minutes of play. The Wild went into second intermission up 6-2.

"They're going to get some life, they're a good team, they found a lot of life in the second period," coach Dave Hakstol said after the game. "But we fed that. We don't need that, we can't do it.

"Played really good hockey last stretch here [coming into St. Paul with a three-game winning streak). Second period they were a team playing for a playoff position and exceeding and they played for real and we played 20 minutes of shinny hockey."

Hakstol cited turnovers as the main cause of the defensive breakdown, as did Kuhlman. Rookie Matty Beniers also talked about not sticking with "playing simple."

"There was a stretch there in the second period where we got away from our game," Kuhlman said. "That's on us... we know where that 10 minutes was."

Beniers said, "we kinda gave it to them and when you play a team like that they're going to bury it and make you pay for it."

Beniers Bright Spot

Five minutes into the third period, the future looked a little sunnier even with the game out of reach. On a power play, Vince Dunn and Beniers worked a passing exchange that looked more polished than teammates who have practiced together less than a handful of

times. Then, Dunn ripped a shot on goal. Marc-Andre Fleury made the save but couldn't control the rebound.

Beniers, positioned at the top of the right faceoff circle, seized the caroming puck and expertly aimed for a small opening between Fleury's right leg pad and the far post. It marked Beniers' third NHL goal and extended his point streak to five games to start his

career with the Kraken.

[Dunn] is a smart player," Beniers said about a teammate now with a team-leading 29 assists. "He makes plays and some have ended up bouncing to me and I have been in the right spot. There's kind of a bit of luck there."

Matty Beniers extends his point streak to 5 games to start his NHL career, as Vince Dunn's shot is blocked right to Beniers who snaps it home

Second Period Scorecard: Read It if You Must...

The Wild stats in the second period were gaudy and no fun for Seattle fans. Tracking from center Joel Eriksson Ek's power-play goal at the 16-minute mark to the Wild's sixth goal at 14:29 of the second period, Minnesota scored a half-dozen goals in less than 19

minutes of play. Eriksson Ek scored again to tie the game, then Kirill Kaprizov scored his 45th goal of the year on the power play to put the Wild ahead for the night.

Kaprizov's linemates both scored next. Ryan Hartman got his 33rd of the year and Mats Zuccarello notched his 24th for the Wild's third power-play score of the game. Fourth-liner Nicolas Deslauriers finished out a period to forget for Kraken faithful with an assist by

Kevin Fiala, a left wing who now has 50 assists on the year to go with 32 goals. Kaprizov, btw, added three assists to reach 100 points and become the first player in Wild history to reach 100 points.

Fiala assisted on four of the second-period goals and the first-period score to make it five on the evening, setting a franchise-record for most assists in one game. For context, Seattle is not the only to team to feel the heat of Fiala playing for a new contract (long

story but Minnesota is going to have a hard time fitting his demands under the salary cap for next season).

Fiala extended his point streak to nine straight games. He has nine goals and added 12 assists for 21 points during the streak. He was named the league's second star for the week of April 12-17 and is likely a repeat star, maybe first this time?

Anatomy of a Hustle Play

Joonas Donskoi didn't get the goal - that came off the stick of Sprong - but the scrappy veteran forward nonetheless willed the score. All season long, Donskoi has been hunting pucks deep into the opponent's defensive zone, forechecking with speed and a purpose.

It doesn't always end in intercepting the puck, like he did Friday when Fleury misplayed clearing the puck from behind his net.

There are times when Donskoi's forechecks hurry a defender, other instances where he disrupts a set breakout play. It's a small detail of his game - more noticeable is his similar doggedness on penalty kills - but he does generate his share of scoring chances

(usually for teammates).

In this case, Donskoi stole the puck and fed it fluidly net-front to Sprong for an easy score (once Donskoi did the dirty work). But credit Sprong for crashing the net. Right place, right time is always welcome on the ice.

Sprong Taps It Into Open Net

Daniel Sprong opens the scoring in front on a pass from Joonas Donskoi after Marc-Andre Fleury is caught behind the net trying to stop the puck

Going with Gourde

Talking to KJR-950 Kraken radio partners Everett Fitzhugh and Dave Tomlinson before the game, they were commending the work of the Gourde line during the recent victorious homestand. Tomlinson, in particular, has been telling listeners all season that being a

linemate with Gourde requires all-out effort, speed and high hockey IQ just to keep up with the two-time Stanley Cup winner and now Kraken alternate captain.

On Gourde's first-period goal, his 18th of the season, linemate Kuhlman once again stayed with the high-motor center, making a skillful pass for Gourde to finish off the play and double the Kraken early lead.

Gourde One-Times Home Slot Pass

The night started fast for the Kraken, who scored two goals in six minutes, added one to go three-up before Western Conference leader Colorado sawed the deficit to 3-1 before first intermission. Goal lights didn't illuminate again until the Avalanche punched in a

second score from just outside Philipp Grubauer's goal crease with just over three minutes remaining.

When Jared McCann attempted to nail an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left on the clock, the shot went wide and resulted in icing. Danger loomed in the Kraken end, but Climate Pledge Arena fans got a chance to exhale and inhale regularly when Colorado called a

timeout to set up in the offensive zone with six attackers.

"he's a pinball wizard, there has got to be a twist a pinball wizard's, got such a supple wrist"

But the crowd went clench-mode 12 seconds later after Grubauer saved and froze an open-look shot from Colorado wing Valeri Nichushkin. The final nine seconds were double-clench, hold-your-breath and successful. The game ended on the back wall with Kraken

players scraping and scrapping for the puck, throttling the potent Colorado attackers. Grubauer, named First Star, beats his former team for the first time this season.

"'Grubi' did a really good job tonight," coach Dave Hakstol said. "They only had power plays twice but they know what they are doing on the power play. It starts there, Grubi has to be our best penalty killer. It was a solid performance. He did his part, and it was

nice to see him get the win against his former team."

Grubi's getting to work in tonight's @WaFdBank Signature Save

" y’all know the drill: always give your goalie love."

 hugs and kisses for the german gentleman goodnight, kraken twitter

Crowd Pleasers

Goal scorers Kole Lind and Jordan Eberle were effusive about winning Wednesday before the Seattle noise-worthy crowd. Same for Hakstol who began and ended his media comments talking about how the fans have "stuck with us for six to seven months."

"The guys are playing pretty hard for one another," Hakstol said. "And they're playing really hard for the people in the stands who have been there for us."

Eberle went straight to praising the fans in his post-game meetup with the media.

"It's nice to finish off this homestand three in a row, give fans something to cheer about," Eberle said. "They have been with us all season. It's kind of a tribute to them.

"The fans are first class, honestly the best I've had in my career in the aspect of how the team is doing and they've been with us every night."

Positively Productive

There are optimists among us, present company included, but chances are even the staunchest Kraken supporters didn't dream up a two-goal Seattle lead less than six minutes into Wednesday's game. Best guess, young defenseman Will Borgen didn't figure it likely

his rink-long dump pass would take a lively bounce off the Colorado south end boards, pinballing right to the stick blade of a charging Lind.

Fighting off Colorado veteran forward J.T. Compher, Lind deked on his forehand and then went backhand and back of the net for a 1-0 Seattle lead. It is Lind's second goal since being called up for good in March. He was leading scorer for the American Hockey

League affiliate Charlotte Checkers (stocked with Kraken and Florida Panthers) when he departed.

"We wanted to use the building's energy, how loud it is here," Lind said when asked by ROOT SPORTS Northwest's Piper Shaw about the quick start during a first-intermission interview. "It's a huge advantage for us."

Four minutes later, the Kraken extended the goal margin to two on a laser-accurate shot by Eberle, notching his 19th goal of this inaugural season. Eberle went high short-side corner, ricocheting the puck off the near goalpost and far crossbar corner before dropping

past the goal line. Linemates Ryan Donato and Matty Beniers scrummed the puck to Eberle, beating two Avs defenders.

"like.... just watch this (also... Matty B with the four game point streak?! let's gooooo!)"

Kole Lind sees the puck bounce off the end boards, grabs it and scores a nifty goal, giving the Kraken a 1-0 lead over the Avalanche in the 1st

Second Chances - and Saves

After an active first period for the goal judges, the second period was remarkably long on solid defense, including seven saves from former Colorado goaltender Grubauer, his best on Avs forward Andre Burakovsky net front to maintain the two-goal margin going into

second intermission.

"They have almost five forwards out there [with defensemen such as Cale Makar and Bowen Byram]," said Grubauer, who should know, facing those D-men and others in Colorado practices over the last few seasons.

The Avalanche backup goalie, Pavel Francouz matched with 12 saves of his own, faring favorably to the Kraken's three-goal first period.

Noteworthy through the first 40 minutes: According to NaturalHatTrick.com, the Kraken logged seven Grade-A scoring chances to three for Colorado.

Believing in Beniers

Beniers, recruiting more believers every game, earned the primary assist on Eberle's goal. He is the first rookie in the league this season to register four points in his first four NHL games. Plus, Beniers now stands as the first player in Kraken franchise history to

notch a point (two goals, two assists) in each of his first four games wearing the "S."

He's also the first rookie since the 1979-80 season when Bernie Johnston did so for the first-year Hartford Whalers. OK, just sayin' ... the record number of games in which an expansion-draft rookie scored at least a point at the start of his career is six. The record

holder? Wayne Gretzky, who did it earlier that same season.

The points are hard to ignore - and certainly have been noticed by fans around town, if for real-life examples count, including conversations with season-ticket holders outside a Queen Anne coffee shop, a downtown parking attendant showing off his cell-phone video

of the Kraken's pre-game show to pretty much every customer (saw it twice this week already) and a former college football player and Olympic sprinter hopeful who raved about Beniers' ability to step right into the lineup.

But what might not have been discussed, even in the deep catalog of prospect scouting reports, is Beniers' creativity with the puck. Passing backward between his legs looks natural, not showy. He appears to cycle back into play at the offensive end in varying circle

sizes depending on how soon he can touch the puck or be a decoy for a pass. There's more, and the feeling here is it will be a joy to watch for those details in games and seasons ahead.

Jordan Eberle skates into the circle from the end boards and rips a shot into the corner of the net, giving the Kraken a 2-0 lead in the 1st

Three-Goal Stance

Seattle upped the lead to three when McCann lived up to the credo, "put the puck on net, especially from closer range, and good things happen." He sent a hard shot-pass net front from his off-wing, resulting in the puck deflecting off 20-year-old Colorado

defenseman Bowen Byram's skate, then redirecting once more off Yanni Gourde's boot. Gourde was credited with his 18th goal of the season.

The Kraken couldn't solve a rookie goalie for five-and-a-half periods over the last two games. The goaltender is one in the same American Hockey League call-up Logan Thompson in net for Vegas, who made 26 saves for his seventh win in his first 11 NHL starts.

Kraken center Alex Wennberg broke the scoreless string mid-third period with assists from Jared McCann and Will Borgen. McCann, who brawled in the second period, is now tied with Yanni Gourde for the team lead in scoring (goals and assists).

"Frustration," said McCann, when asked what led him to fight, admitting it is not the strongest part of his game. "I'm obviously not very good at it."

His teammates appreciated McCann's performance on all levels, clear from the banging of sticks against the boards at the Kraken bench.

"To see a guy like 'Canner' do that, he has such a great heart," said rookie forward Kole Lind, who scored his first NHL goal late in the third period. "I can watch and learn from him.

"Guys competed hard throughout the hockey game," coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought it was important to get that push in the third."

Hakstol said Vegas' second and third goals were results of Kraken mistakes, including defenseman Jamie Oleksiak falling while clearing the puck near Seattle's net. If you take out those mistakes, he said, the game looks more competitive than the final score.

Hakstol added he thought his squad cut down significantly on turnovers from Wednesday's loss.

"It's cliché," McCann said post-game. "We just have to stay positive. It's been a tough year, we have to grind it out and play for each other."

Seattle efforts to get the margin down to a one-goal deficit were hampered by an inadvertent delay-of-game penalty on alternate captain Adam Larsson with less than six minutes remaining, though fellow D-man Carson Soucy did fire off a wicked wrist shot on a

shorthanded attempt that challenged the rookie Thompson.

Vegas 27-goal scorer Jonathan Marchessault tallied his second empty-net goal in the two-game set to make it 4-1 at the 17:44 mark of the third period.

Not a squad to quit, playing to the end, Seattle answered back with the rookie Lind scoring his first NHL goal at 18:22 of the third period to make it 4-2. Skating and wheeling to the slot with time and space, Lind ripped a quick-release snap shot that he has been

flashing since his recent call-up from AHL Charlotte.

Vegas forward William Karlsson scored a second empty-net goal with 31 seconds remaining to make it a 5-2 final.

Wennberg Nets Slick Pass

Alexander Wennberg gets a nifty feed from Jared McCann in the slot and fires it home, getting the Kraken on the board and within 2 goals

 

 Wenny lights up the lamp for the ninth time this season! 

 

Jared Mccann Appreciation Tweet

 

Playoff Pointers

Vegas entered the night one standings point out of the second wild-card game in the Western Conference, trailing the Dallas Stars. The victory over the Kraken puts Vegas into the coveted second wild-card spot.

But Dallas has two games in hand, playing at San Jose Saturday night and here in Seattle Sunday. Vegas travels to Vancouver for a Sunday matchup.

Lind Snaps One in From The Circle

Kole Lind skates to the circle and rips a shot past the goaltender and into twine, getting the Kraken within 2 goals of the Golden Knights lead

A puck that @klind13

will keep forever. Let's show him some #SeattleLove after scoring his first @NHL Goal!

 

Kole Lind’s third-period goal was the first of his @NHL career. Congrats, Kole!

 

Eichel Scores Two, ex-Thunderbird Star Extends to 3-0

Philipp Grubauer, back in net after two straight starts for Chris Driedger, was strong early. He made a net-front save on Vegas forward Evgenii Dadonov a minute-and-a-half into the game, avoiding any letdown by the team or crowd. Instead, a resounding

"Gruuuuuuu" chant enveloped Climate Pledge Arena.

But mid-period, Jack Eichel, headliner of the NHL's most talked about trade this season, scored his eighth goal for Vegas in 21 games to open the scoring. He benefited from stellar playmaking by defenseman Zach Whitecloud and Chandler Stephenson (former top-

line center now on wing with Eichel).

Stephenson started with the puck away from the Kraken net and slipped a pass to Whitecloud. Stephenson exited the offensive zone, to loop back toward the goal with speed. Whitecloud fed Stephenson, who found veteran defenseman Alec Martinez joining the play

near the right side of Grubauer's crease.

Martinez, just recently back in the VGK lineup, shot/passed a puck net-front that Grubauer couldn't handle cleanly and Eichel was there to blade the first goal of the game. Grubauer saved seven of eight shots in the first 20 minutes, including four Grade-A chances.

Trouble is, Thompson was even better during the opening 20 minutes. He posted his fourth straight scoreless period against the Kraken. He would reach five-and-a-half periods of zeroes before Wennberg ended the spell.

The night started fast for the Kraken, who scored two goals in six minutes, added one to go three-up before Western Conference leader Colorado sawed the deficit to 3-1 before first intermission. Goal lights didn't illuminate again until the Avalanche punched in a

second score from just outside Philipp Grubauer's goal crease with just over three minutes remaining.

When Jared McCann attempted to nail an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left on the clock, the shot went wide and resulted in icing. Danger loomed in the Kraken end, but Climate Pledge Arena fans got a chance to exhale and inhale regularly when Colorado called a

timeout to set up in the offensive zone with six attackers.

"he's a pinball wizard, there has got to be a twist a pinball wizard's, got such a supple wrist"

But the crowd went clench-mode 12 seconds later after Grubauer saved and froze an open-look shot from Colorado wing Valeri Nichushkin. The final nine seconds were double-clench, hold-your-breath and successful. The game ended on the back wall with Kraken

players scraping and scrapping for the puck, throttling the potent Colorado attackers. Grubauer, named First Star, beats his former team for the first time this season.

"'Grubi' did a really good job tonight," coach Dave Hakstol said. "They only had power plays twice but they know what they are doing on the power play. It starts there, Grubi has to be our best penalty killer. It was a solid performance. He did his part, and it was

nice to see him get the win against his former team."

Grubi's getting to work in tonight's @WaFdBank Signature Save

" y’all know the drill: always give your goalie love."

 hugs and kisses for the german gentleman goodnight, kraken twitter

 

Crowd Pleasers

Goal scorers Kole Lind and Jordan Eberle were effusive about winning Wednesday before the Seattle noise-worthy crowd. Same for Hakstol who began and ended his media comments talking about how the fans have "stuck with us for six to seven months."

"The guys are playing pretty hard for one another," Hakstol said. "And they're playing really hard for the people in the stands who have been there for us."

Eberle went straight to praising the fans in his post-game meetup with the media.

"It's nice to finish off this homestand three in a row, give fans something to cheer about," Eberle said. "They have been with us all season. It's kind of a tribute to them.

"The fans are first class, honestly the best I've had in my career in the aspect of how the team is doing and they've been with us every night."

Positively Productive

There are optimists among us, present company included, but chances are even the staunchest Kraken supporters didn't dream up a two-goal Seattle lead less than six minutes into Wednesday's game. Best guess, young defenseman Will Borgen didn't figure it likely

his rink-long dump pass would take a lively bounce off the Colorado south end boards, pinballing right to the stick blade of a charging Lind.

Fighting off Colorado veteran forward J.T. Compher, Lind deked on his forehand and then went backhand and back of the net for a 1-0 Seattle lead. It is Lind's second goal since being called up for good in March. He was leading scorer for the American Hockey

League affiliate Charlotte Checkers (stocked with Kraken and Florida Panthers) when he departed.

"We wanted to use the building's energy, how loud it is here," Lind said when asked by ROOT SPORTS Northwest's Piper Shaw about the quick start during a first-intermission interview. "It's a huge advantage for us."

Four minutes later, the Kraken extended the goal margin to two on a laser-accurate shot by Eberle, notching his 19th goal of this inaugural season. Eberle went high short-side corner, ricocheting the puck off the near goalpost and far crossbar corner before dropping

past the goal line. Linemates Ryan Donato and Matty Beniers scrummed the puck to Eberle, beating two Avs defenders.

"like.... just watch this (also... Matty B with the four game point streak?! let's gooooo!)"

Kole Lind sees the puck bounce off the end boards, grabs it and scores a nifty goal, giving the Kraken a 1-0 lead over the Avalanche in the 1st

Second Chances - and Saves

After an active first period for the goal judges, the second period was remarkably long on solid defense, including seven saves from former Colorado goaltender Grubauer, his best on Avs forward Andre Burakovsky net front to maintain the two-goal margin going into

second intermission.

"They have almost five forwards out there [with defensemen such as Cale Makar and Bowen Byram]," said Grubauer, who should know, facing those D-men and others in Colorado practices over the last few seasons.

The Avalanche backup goalie, Pavel Francouz matched with 12 saves of his own, faring favorably to the Kraken's three-goal first period.

Noteworthy through the first 40 minutes: According to NaturalHatTrick.com, the Kraken logged seven Grade-A scoring chances to three for Colorado.

Believing in Beniers

Beniers, recruiting more believers every game, earned the primary assist on Eberle's goal. He is the first rookie in the league this season to register four points in his first four NHL games. Plus, Beniers now stands as the first player in Kraken franchise history to

notch a point (two goals, two assists) in each of his first four games wearing the "S."

He's also the first rookie since the 1979-80 season when Bernie Johnston did so for the first-year Hartford Whalers. OK, just sayin' ... the record number of games in which an expansion-draft rookie scored at least a point at the start of his career is six. The record

holder? Wayne Gretzky, who did it earlier that same season.

The points are hard to ignore - and certainly have been noticed by fans around town, if for real-life examples count, including conversations with season-ticket holders outside a Queen Anne coffee shop, a downtown parking attendant showing off his cell-phone video

of the Kraken's pre-game show to pretty much every customer (saw it twice this week already) and a former college football player and Olympic sprinter hopeful who raved about Beniers' ability to step right into the lineup.

But what might not have been discussed, even in the deep catalog of prospect scouting reports, is Beniers' creativity with the puck. Passing backward between his legs looks natural, not showy. He appears to cycle back into play at the offensive end in varying circle

sizes depending on how soon he can touch the puck or be a decoy for a pass. There's more, and the feeling here is it will be a joy to watch for those details in games and seasons ahead.

Jordan Eberle skates into the circle from the end boards and rips a shot into the corner of the net, giving the Kraken a 2-0 lead in the 1st

Three-Goal Stance

Seattle upped the lead to three when McCann lived up to the credo, "put the puck on net, especially from closer range, and good things happen." He sent a hard shot-pass net front from his off-wing, resulting in the puck deflecting off 20-year-old Colorado

defenseman Bowen Byram's skate, then redirecting once more off Yanni Gourde's boot. Gourde was credited with his 18th goal of the season.

For a third straight game, the Kraken scored twice before a playoff-bound foe could answer with a goal of its own. Followers know one of those two-goal leads stood up this week against Western Division leader Colorado and the other withered against a five-goal

outburst from the offensively torrid Minnesota Wild.

With its postseason on the line Saturday, Dallas roared back from two goals down to tie the game with two Roope Hintz goals (36th and 37th), the latter on a power play. The Stars crowd roared, too.

After witnessing Friday night's middle-period meltdown in Minnesota, coach Dave Hakstol used his one timeout to settle down his squad. It was a good idea, though Dallas scored a third goal to take the lead and revived playoff hopes into the second intermission.

The go-ahead goal came off a Ryan Donato redirection pass that Denis Gurianov intercepted and centered in the slot for teammate Vladislav Namestnikov.

"Throughout the game we didn't handle the pressure under our goal line," Hakstol said. "That was an example of it, the turnover by 'Donny.' But we also had a couple tired players on the ice that extended theirs shifts [with the long change distance, making it harder

to come off the ice without the potential of exposing the defense]. Those things get you in the second period."

A lively third period resulted in no goals but was not without Kraken scoring chances, stellar Chris Driedger saves and lots of handwringing by Dallas fans fretting near-misses by Seattle.

The final period also featured two high-stick actions by Dallas players, one on defenseman Vince Dunn and the other on Will Borgen. There was no penalty on either play.

Hakstol said he didn't think on either of those two plays "that there was a follow-through, they don't touch the puck" and "both were hard high-sticks to the face."

"We deserved a better fate in the third period for sure," Hakstol said after the game. "I thought we earned a couple power plays in there."

Sheahan Kicks Off Scoring

Adam Larsson's one-timer bounces off Jake Oettinger and to the side of the net, where Riley Sheahan taps it in for his 3rd of the season

 

Driedger's Night

Lost in the flurry of goals - three Stars scores in 4 minutes 41 seconds of play - was Driedger keeping his composure and keeping the Kraken within a goal. He made 23 saves by the end of 40 minutes, including five Grade-A chances in the first period and several

stops later second period.

During an early third-period power play that could have effectively sealed a win, Driedger made the saves when needed. He finished with 28 saves.

"Trying to do my best to make saves and give us a chance to win," Driedger said. "It's an unfortunate result tonight. We just have to dial in our second periods. Our group is working toward good things."

"'Driedgs' made good saves at the right time to keep it 3-2, which is real important," said Hakstol, adding the Kraken might want "the third one back, the way he played it."

"He made some big saves in the third period," Hakstol continued. "We had better energy in the third period. We were able to get some motion, which creates opportunities for us."

Starting Strong

This must-win game for Dallas was all Stars for the first five minutes. The home squad fired seven shots on Driedger, who saved them all.

Three-plus minutes into play, an apparent Dallas goal livened up a crowd clearly concerned about its team sputtering at just the wrong time of the season. Lots of noise and probably widespread relief and speculation the Stars were about to roll over Seattle, gaining

two vital standings points before welcoming top threat Vegas to take Dallas' wild-card spot for a Tuesday showdown here in Big D.

Not so fast, Texas. First, Driedger protested Hintz interfered with his ability to make a save on the shot-basically running him over. Seattle video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan quickly watched the replay, especially to determine if Jamie Oleksiak might have

pushed Hintz into Driedger (not), urging Hakstol to challenge.

The goal was overturned (many boos) and Seattle opened the scoring instead. Morgan Geekie, back in uniform after sitting two games as a healthy scratch, won the offensive-zone faceoff and sent the puck back to ex-Star Oleksiak at the point. Oleksiak passed

to Adam Larsson, who fired a shot that Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger saved but the rebound caromed to Riley Sheahan, who outmuscled a defender to score.

Geekie, btw, was active and no doubt looking to prove his place in the lineup. He later put a big hit on Namestnikov and almost scored net-side himself late in the first period.

"That was a great faceoff win for Morgan," said Sheahan, the veteran center who regularly works faceoff drills with Geekie. "'Lars' had a great shot. I was just trying to get there and win a battle."

Gourde Scores His 100th Goal

Yanni Gourde’s first-period goal is the 100th of his @NHL career. Congrats, Yanni!

Any Kraken fan who has watched open practice at Kraken Community Iceplex this season has likely noticed center Yanni Gourde staying after practice to improve his craft. Sometimes it is practicing one-timer shots and almost always it includes tipping shots coming

from the point.

It's fitting that Gourde scored his 100th goal Saturday by tipping defenseman Derrick Pouliot's shot from the left point. Gourde started the whole sequence by winning the puck back in the Dallas zone, then scrapped his way to get position in front of the crease

before deflecting the milestone goal. It's his 20th goal of this inaugural season and put Seattle on top 2-0 after the first 20 minutes.

Gourde Doubles Lead

Derrick Pouliot launches the puck through traffic, where Yanni Gourde redirects it in with his stick for his 20th of the year, making it 2-0

Yanni Gourde with his 100th career goal!  drop some 's in the chat below.

 

Playoffs Predicament

The Stars did not help their postseason push by losing all three games of last week's road trip, most recently losses in Calgary and Edmonton in which they were significantly outshot and outchanced.

Dallas entered the Kraken matchup with 91 standings points in 78 games, which for now puts the Stars in the second wild-card spot for the eight-team Western Conference playoffs. Vegas, with 89 points in 78 games, is the closest contender to knock out Dallas.

Vegas plays San Jose at home Sunday, then finishes the season with a three-game road trip that starts in Dallas Tuesday. Dallas' four remaining games are all at home here at the American Airlines Center, which opened in 2001. The Dallas win over the Kraken gives

a bit of breathing room to the Stars.

LOS ANGELES - Facing a team hungry for points in the Western Conference playoff race, the visiting Kraken fell 4-2 in the first of two games here in three nights. Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer turned in stellar work to keep the game close and newly

acquired Daniel Sprong scored his second goal in as many games for the Kraken, but Los Angeles was ultimately too much for the visitors.

"It was a pretty competitive game tonight," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought we gave up too much off the rush tonight and we didn't create enough on the rush."

Hakstol in part credited a Los Angeles teams that is jelling during a strong season with a mix of long-time NHLers blending with young pros coming into their own on a similar timeline. The Kings entered Saturday night ranked as the seventh best defensive team in the NHL.

"They are a big, heavy team, hard to play against," Hakstol said. "They make you work for possession [of the puck]. But I think we worked our butts off all night."

For Openers

After their last two games - both wins - started with double-digit first-period shots on goal for the Kraken, Los Angeles reversed the trend by putting 10 shots on Grubauer's net in the first period, plus clanking another attempt off the goal posts. Seattle managed

just five shots on goal, the best scoring chance off a point-blank, in-close shot from Karson Kuhlman.

Kuhlman and linemates Yanni Gourde and newcomer Victor Rask were active on the offensive end. All three are not afraid to the shoot the puck and clicked on passes during the first 20 minutes.

Nonetheless, the Kuhlman scoring chance was the only Grade-A scoring chance of the period compared to eight by the Kings, per NaturalStatTrick.com. The overall scoring chances totaled 14 for LAK and only four for SEA. Grubauer's hold-steady positioning and

some well-timed poke-checks with his stick kept matters close.

"They are strong in the neutral zone," said Morgan Geekie, explaining the Kings don't afford much room to skate with the puck in the middle ice and, if successful, you have to keep working for your chances in the offensive zone. "We struggled with it right away. We

couldn't sustain a lot in the first period."

Geekie Cuts Deficit In Half

Will Borgan's shot bounces off Cal Petersen, and Morgan Geekie elevates it over the goalie and into the net with 4 seconds left to make it 4-2

There's no quit in Geekie!

When Los Angeles went up 2-0 on an Anze Kopitar goal, the five Kraken players on the ice to take the ensuing faceoff huddled before breaking to resume play. No doubt the discussion was something like, "we're down two, but not out, let's have a good shift."

Players like Jared McCann, one of the five on the ice, talk frequently about setting up the next line for a good shift themselves.

Los Angeles is one of the best defensive teams in the NHL. Falling two goals behind is hard enough. Trailing by three? Not a good idea and apparently Carson Soucy and Sprong concurred.

On the next shift, Soucy cleared the puck and new guy Sprong took said puck to skate cross-ice with speed in the neutral zone to enter the offensive zone. He fired a quick-release shot from the right wing to beat LA goalie Cal Petersen on the near-side blocker

glove. That's two goals in two games for Sprong, who was part of the Marcus Johansson deadline trade with the Washington Capitals.

Sprong is making the most of his opportunity with a new team. Both goals are a direct result of his shooting skills, using his speed to create time and space, then shoot quickly and accurately before that time and space closes up.

The Kraken generated eight scoring chances in the second period, double their first period total. Four were Grade-A chances. But a late Kings goal turned the third period into a more desperate stanza for Seattle. The two teams traded goals, with the Kings sealing

the win with an early third period man-advantage goal and Geekie scoring his sixth goal of the season with four seconds remaining in the game.

Sprong puts Kraken on board

That's now two goals for @sprong97 in his first two Kraken games!

Daniel Sprong brings the puck into the zone before launching it in from the face-off circle for his 10th goal of the season, making it 2-1

'Sprong' to the Net

 

All the Kings Scorers

Charting the Los Angeles goal scorers is a study in how Kings GM Rob Blake (who played for LA and has his jersey hanging in the rafters) is building a playoff contender this season after not qualifying for the postseason in five of the seven seasons since Los Angeles

won the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years in 2014.

The opening goal was off the stick of young forward Gabriel Vilardi, who had moved the puck to veteran defenseman Olli Maatta, acquired in a trade from Chicago a couple seasons ago. Maatta quickly put the puck on net, basically sending the puck as either a shot

or pass depending on how you view it. Vilardi had raced to the net himself and tipped the puck past Grubauer, who had little chance to stop it.

Kopitar scored the second LAK goal and once again leads the Kings in scoring. He has led Los Angeles 14 of the 16 seasons he has played here. The third goal, a backbreaker for the Kraken, was fashioned by young defenseman Jordan Spence, a 2019 fourth-round

draft choice playing in his ninth NHL game. The shot from the blue line snaked past skaters of both uniforms and slipped by Grubauer.

"They got inside on us [especially Vilardi's score]," Hakstol said. "They were good on the rush all night."

Forward Quinton Byfield was drafted in the first round (No. 2 overall) in that same 2019 NHL Draft. He and Vilardi, picked 20th overall in 2017, are linemates, joined by another first-rounder, center Rasmus Kupari, the 11th selection overall in 2018.

The fourth Kings goal was notched by rookie defenseman Sean Druzi on the power play. He now has two goals and 20 assists in 47 games. He was acquired by Blake from Toronto with Carl Grundstrom and Toronto's 2019 1st-round pick for Jake Muzzin in January

2019.

 spronger put on the jets 

Donskoi beat future Hall of Fame goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on the Kraken's third shootout attempt, clinching a 3-2 Seattle victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks. It's officially not Donskoi's first goal of the season, but no doubt he doesn't quite care about that

technicality.

The score by Donskoi, plus similar shootout success by No. 1 star Ryan Donato, provided the winning margin because Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer turned away two more surefire Hall of Famers, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, on Chicago's first two

shootout tries.

Hockey HUGS

Cave's Widow Gives Tie To Donato

Ryan Donato scored in the shootout after wearing a tie given to him by Emily Cave to keep him safe, as JT Brown shared on the Kraken broadcast

The noise every fan who has entered Climate Pledge Arena would expect to hear when the Kraken posted their first home shootout victory was Seattle-decibel worthy and then some. It was a matinee game filled with enough drama for day and night.

"We earned it today, we played a full 60 minutes," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "We had the poise to make plays. Grubi made big saves and we made those plays in the shootout.

"We answered on a couple goals to [twice] tie the game. Grubi looked as calm and confident as he has all year, especially what he did in the shootout against a couple of pretty experienced shooters."

Hakstol, of course, was asked about breaking the nine-game losing streak during the post-game media Zoom scrum.

"We've had some tough mornings, where we needed a little bit of time to regroup," Hakstol said. "It's not fun, you go through those tough stretches ... It was a helluva lot of fun [today] and it was great to do it in front of our own fans, who were unbelievable."

Joonas Donskoi skates in and puts the puck past Marc-Andre Fleury to win the shootout, helping the Kraken earn a 3-2 win

Donato Wears Special Tie, Shoots, Scores

After Fleury stopped Kraken All-Star Jordan Eberle on the first shootout attempt, Donato took the puck for his team's second try. He skated patiently from center ice toward Fleury, starting to wind one way, then another.

When he reached Fleury's vicinity, Donato kept the dangle going in an effort to force Fleury to make the first move. It worked. Fleury flopped downward to block all low opportunities, but Donato calmly lifted the puck high over Fleury.

A post-game reporter queried Donato about his strategy to get his shot past Fleury.

"I just say a prayer and hope for the best," Donato said.

Donskoi apparently scouted his teammate's shootout goal. His winning shot was also high, beating Fleury on the glove side. Any fan watching Monday's thriller knows Fleury used that glove several times to make spectacular saves that even Chicago teammates

thought were headed to the back of the net.

As first reported by Kraken colleague and ROOTS SPORTS Northwest TV analyst JT Brown, Donato arrived at Climate Pledge Arena Monday wearing a game-worn tie of Colby Cave, his former Boston Bruins teammate who died at 25 from a sudden brain bleed in April

2020. Cave's wife, Emily, attended Monday's game and had given the tie to Donato.

Donato smiled when asked about the tie: "It was special. I was wearing Colb's tie. He was a close friend of mine. Emily was here today. I think he was here with me, too."

Emily Cave

 

@emilyljcave

I gifted Ryan one of Colb’s game worn ties. Today, he is wearing it. Not only did he get a goal but he was first star. The tears were flowing. I love you, Ry. Colb would be so proud. @NHL

 

RYAN DONATO!!!! GOOOOOOOAL!!!

 

Fleury's 'Grade-A' First Period

Fleury stayed on the ice up until the end of warmups before Monday's matinee, standing in his crease facing breakaway attempts from the Blackhawks' most dangerous scorers.

He got turned around on one of the breakaways but instead of fuming he did a full spin inside his net, looking like a kid leaning into a curve at the water park. The 37-year-old, fresh off a third shutout of the season Saturday, is clearly still having boyish fun in his

18th NHL season.

That is not the norm for starting NHL goalies. Most conserve their energy for the game, taking a modicum of pre-game shots, then stretching and resting.

Turns out Fleury had plenty of zip left for Kraken shooters.

The first period ended scoreless thanks to eight saves by Fleury, half of which were Grade-A saves as per NaturalStatTrick.com. Alexander True, Calle Jarnkrok, Donato and Eberle fired that quartet of shots with Fleury mixing veteran positioning and still-formidable

athletic moves to stop them all.

The best chance of the first period for Seattle was Eberle's multiple dekes to get around Chicago defenders and wrist a point-blank inside shot on Fleury.

Not only do they score *sick* shootout goals, but they’re also pun masters. Episode two of Kraken Jokes with Donny & Donny drops tomorrow!

 What a Night

 

Dunn Ties It, Fleury Can't Eye It

The Kraken finally solved Fleury 15 minutes into the second period. Defenseman Adam Larsson (eighth assist of the season) and Riley Sheahan (4th assist) cycled the puck in the Chicago zone. Sheahan passed to Kraken D-man Vince Dunn, who unleashed a shot

from inside the blue line in the center lane.

The shot zipped past one Chicago defender but deflected off Blackhawks defenseman Riley Stillman who was jousting net-front with Donato. It was just even annoyance and shifting to hit Stillman high and redirect the puck past Fleury, clang the crossbar and drop in

for the tying score.

Fleury was head-bobbing in an effort to track the puck. But no chance of that until the goal light was already on. When Dunn was asked by ROOT SPORTS Northwest's Jen Mueller during the first intermission how to beat Fleury, he suggested "take away his eyes a

little bit more."

Vince Dunn gets the puck at the point and lets a wrist shot fly that finds the back of the net, evening the score at 1-1 in the 2nd period

Donato Double-Duty

After helping distract and screen Fleury on the Dunn goal, Donato scored his ninth goal of the year on a rink-long rush of speed that he finished with a shot on the Chicago goaltender. Fleury was holding his ground but worried about Kraken forward Mason Appleton,

who had joined Donato for a 2-on-1 attempt.

Fleury made another terrific save on the first shot. As Fleury and his defenseman collided, Donato followed with a shot and an unassisted goal.

Ryan Donato fires a shot on net that is saved, but grabs his own rebound and slips it in, evening the score at 2-2 in the 3rd period

Grubauer's Afternoon

Fist Bumps for GRUUUUU!!

Grubauer matched the goose eggs for the first 32 minutes of this contest at Climate Pledge Arena. He stayed with it after Chicago went up 1-0 and 2-1, making big saves and keeping Seattle in the game.

During the second period, Chicago and its band of talented scorers peppered Grubauer with 16 shots. Highlight saves included stops on Kane and Eric Gustafsson.

The Kraken bent things a bit with a second-period goal to cut the deficit to 2-1. But Los Angeles and winning goaltender Cal Petersen never broke. The third period was more grind than great playmaking, all to the liking of the Kings and coach Todd McLellan, who

relocated in Southern California after many years heading up the San Jose Sharks.

The Kraken received one more power-play opportunity late in the game when Drew Doughty high-sticked Mason Appleton in front of the L.A. goal. But the Kraken power play didn't set up much against Los Angeles' lockdown mode.

A late empty-net goal by L.A. two-way forward Phillip Danault sealed the deal with a 3-1 final. The Kraken have lost nine consecutive games and clearly there are no morale victories in keeping games close.

"We're working hard but we've got to get a little extra and find ways to win," said Marcus Johansson, who scored the lone Seattle goal.

"We battled hard throughout," Hakstol said. "This was the kind of hockey game we knew it would be. They got to the inside at our net a little bit more than we did at their net.

"We needed to be a little bit more consistent in our lineup, more heaviness on some of those pucks to come up with extra possession along the way."

Welcome to The Deep.

After a missed shot from Mark Giordano, Marcus Johansson alone in front of the net tips one in over Cal Peterson's glove on the power-play

Oh how swede it is to see jojo light the lamp!!  

Driedger Turns in Solid Game

While Chris Driedger owned up to not liking his part of the first L.A. goal, his coach was positive about the goalie's second solid game in three nights.

"His game translated from the previous night," said Hakstol, who noted the "first six to seven minutes of the second period" and "late in the second period" as times of the game that Driedger didn't allow a dagger of a third goal. "He did his job, competed well and is

looking more confident."

"My job is get wins and give up less goals than the other guy, that's my job," Driedger said. "I wasn't happy with the first one [opening goal]. Wasn't happy with the first one.

"It's disappointing to go out and lose this many in row. We're competitive guys. Before the game we were excited to play. It's not lack of effort ... it's completely unacceptable to drop nine in a row."

Danault scored the second goal and added an empty-netter for a two-goal night. He was impressed with Seattle.

"It was a great game," said Danault, a star for Montreal in last season's playoffs. "To be honest, it caught us off-guard a little, the way they play very hard. They play the right way."

Kraken's New Intro

The Seattle Kraken unveiled their new introduction presentation at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings.

Kings Strike First

Chris Driedger made an early period save on an Alex Iafallo shot from the left faceoff circle, but couldn't control the rebound. Adrian Kempe, named this week to his first NHL All-Star Game, seized the puck and moved it past Driedger four minutes into the first period.

Kempe made a skilled move to "catch" the puck with a turned skate, effectively passing to himself to quickly blade the puck into the net. L.A. captain and 16-season veteran Anze Kopitar notched his 23rd assist of the year to pair with 12 goals.

It is the 23rd time in 37 games the Kraken have surrendered the first goal of a matchup.

The Kraken responded with multiple solid shifts after the yet-again opponents' first goal. Nine minutes into the period they only had one shot on goal to show for but played the necessary responsible defense to keep the game close. The opening period ended with

five shots on goal apiece for Los Angeles and Seattle.

Good to have you back , #seakraken fans

 

 Kings Strike Again

The second period had another fifth-minute score for Los Angeles when offseason acquisition Danault converted a Mikey Anderson shot and ensuing rebound for a 2-0 lead for the visitors.

Anderson, a 22-year-old defenseman, played first-pair minutes with veteran Doughty (who has been eating up monster time-on-ice for a decade). Saturday was his 97th NHL game at a young age, especially for a defenseman. Hockey minds generally consider

defenders to need an extra season or two of development before making the big club.

L.A.'s rebuild is ahead of schedule and certainly helped by the free-agent signing of Danault and trading for depth-scoring forward Viktor Arvidsson. That said, Los Angeles GM Rob Blake, who just signed for several more years, and his scouting staff must be

commended for Anderson and other young players holding down lineup spots for a squad that as of Saturday would qualify for the playoffs.

Along with Anderson, other prospects-turned-NHLers include third-pair defensemen Arthur Kaliyev (age 20) and partner Sean Durzi (23), plus forward Alex Turcotte (20), who played in his sixth NHL game here.

DRIEEGGSSSSS!! Check out tonight’s @WAFDbank Signature Save of the Game!

Opportunity Knocks for Kraken - Twice and Thrice

A double minor called on Kings defenseman Matt Roy, two minutes for the infraction and two minutes more for drawing blood on Yanni Gourde, worked out for the Kraken. After not doing much in the first two minutes of the power play, veteran D-man Mark

Giordano made the simple play, putting a puck on net from his usual left point location.

Both Calle Jarnkrok and Johansson were net-front and in the line of Giordano's shot. Jarnkrok tipped it knee-to-chest, redirecting for a highly difficult shot for Peterson, who handled it but couldn't corral or clear the rebound. Johansson muscled in the rebound to

make it a one-goal game. It was Johansson's fourth goal of the year and his third power-play score.

Second power play and third set of two minutes of man-advantage soon followed. The highlight of that power play was setting up Kraken leading goal scorer Jared McCann for a pair of one-timers that wowed the capacity crowd of 17,151 but didn't get past Petersen.

No Goal, But Keeping It Close

With just under three minutes left in the second period, an apparent goal was determined to be a no-goal. Ryan Donato's shot went off Peterson's shoulder, hitting the post, next off Peterson's skate and ultimately dribbling out to the right side of the net. Play was

stopped, the no-goal verified, and the fleeting tie game was not to be.

Yet Seattle finished 40 minutes only a goal behind despite a second period in which Los Angeles racked up 13 shots on goal (four "Grade-A" chances per NaturalStatTrick.com) compared to six for Seattle.

Driedger turned in another solid period, especially holding up to late pressure from the Kings after the Donato no-goal. He made three saves in five seconds on Roy, Turcotte and 37-year-old Dustin Brown before Driedger sprawled full-forward to freeze the puck and

tourniquet matters.

In all, the period was a frame that will be embraced by the coaching staff: Cutting the lead in half, not allowing that deadly third goal (with the preseason anticipated contribution from the Seattle goalie of the night) and working the puck enough in the offensive

zone to not expend all energy on defending.

The Kraken arrived at their hotel after 2 a.m. local time to face a rugged, structured and rested Blues squad. Yet they put up one of their best first periods of the season, puck battle by puck battle.

Kraken forwards forechecked with ambition and accuracy. Seattle defensemen consistently and annoyingly got sticks on puck to keep the St. Louis powerhouse offense in low-energy mode.

Chris Driedger made 20 saves in the first 40 minutes, looking like a goaltender vying for more net time whether he is tabbed the No. 1 goalie or not. Driedger appeared in position for every Blues quick-release shot and unperturbed by the usual chaos that St. Louis

generates net-front.

SEA @ STL

Extended highlights of the Seattle Kraken at the St. Louis Blues

 

Third Period Goes Awry

Then the third period happened. A minute-and-a-half into the final 20 minutes, Robert Thomas unleashed a shot from the left faceoff circle that beat Driedger. A minute later, Thomas zipped another shot from pretty much the same spot, but the Kraken goalie stoned

Thomas on that attempt.

Seattle forward Max McCormick was whistled for holding five-plus minutes into the period. The Blues set up their lethal power play and scored in 12 seconds. Jordan Kyrou, named to his first NHL All-Star Game Thursday, started the play with a super-hard shot on a

bad angle that caromed off Driedger and out to St. Louis forward Ivan Barbashev.

The Russia-born Barbashev showed full skills gathering the puck, stickhandling in tight, then dishing to linemate and fellow Russian Pavel Buchnevich for the Blues' second score, the game-winner in a 2-1 victory. Buchnevich, acquired in a trade with the New York

Rangers last summer, has 13 goals and 21 assists with his new team.

Driedger didn't wilt, laying out for a big save on a mini-breakaway backhand move by STL center Ryan O'Reilly, who starred for the Blues during their 2019 Cup run.

"It's disappointing [to give up the two quick goals]," Driedger said. "But you just to have to move to the next save. I wanted to give the guys a chance to get us back in it."

"We play a game we love. We have to find ways to win. It seems like in key moments, games get away from us."

The Kraken generated some offensive-zone pressure in the game's final half-period, but the structure and discipline of St. Louis was evident. The minutes drained and a late power play for Seattle ended with a 6-on-4 formation swatting at the puck with time horned

out. It's the 13th time this season St. Louis has come from behind to win.

"We've got to look in the mirror," said center Alex Wennberg, Seattle's only goal scorer on the night. "With a lead, we have to find a way to win."

Chris Driedger makes a save on Ryan O'Reilly in the 3rd period

Save by Driedgs

 

CHRIS DRIEGDER

 

First-Period Blueprint

The first 20 minutes here in St. Louis featured the simple and effective type of hockey the Kraken are built to play. Kraken skaters won the majority of aforementioned puck battles and the tweaked defensive pairs (Mark Giordano- Jeremy Lauzon, Vince Dunn-Adam

Larsson, Carson Soucy-Jamie Oleksiak) were playing responsibly in the Kraken zone and helping to get pucks up ice.

One highlight: As strategized, Seattle skaters were keeping shots mostly to the outside. Coach Dave Hakstol said before the game that St. Louis is skilled at getting inside, particularly in the high-probability, center-lane slot and near the goal crease.

Driedger did his job with eight saves, controlling most rebounds with help from his defensemen. The Kraken goalie looked calm in net but showed athleticism, too, most notably on a challenging shot from O'Reilly.

The first period ended with 14 Kraken shots on goal. A number of stellar saves from rookie goalie Ville Husso, making his ninth start of the season (.931 save percentage coming in), kept it close.

Ryan Donato was pivotal to solving the rookie Husso exactly 15 minutes into the game. Taking a pass winding around the boards from Carson Soucy at the right point inside the blue line, Donato gathered and stayed aggressive below the goal line, suddenly firing a

backhanded wraparound shot that Husso stopped. But the rebound went to Wennberg, who quick-released his shot to make it 1-0.

Alexander Wennberg gets a loose puck in the slot and whips it into the back of the net, giving the Kraken a 1-0 lead in the 1st period

 Alexander Wennberg GOAL!!

 

 

Notable Night on the 'PK'

Captain Giordano was whistled for two penalties, one each in the first and second periods. Ex-Blues defenseman Dunn was called for high-sticking in the second period and served a tripping penalty perpetrated by Driedger.

With tight, smart play, the Kraken killed all four penalties and even created a quality scoring chance of their own. Special mention to Calle Jarnkrok, Yanni Gourde and Larsson on the PK.

When McCormick was called for a holding penalty on the Blues' O'Reilly behind the St. Louis net, the home squad quickly converted on a fifth man-advantage situation.

"Our specialty teams on the PK side did a real good job," Hakstol said. "The fifth minor penalty was a turning point in the hockey game. We weren't able to get that kill that one.

"I'm not gonna put the whole game just on that play. But 200 feet away from our net [that sort of penalty} can't happen. It turned the game in their direction."

"We did get in some penalty trouble," Driedger said. "We know we have to stay out of the box. You give a team like that so many chances, they're gonna get one."

Driedger 'Gave Us Chance to Win'

When Hakstol was asked about Driedger's overall performance, the Kraken coach was quick to credit the goaltender.

"Chris did his job well," Hakstol said. "He gave us a chance to win... he did a good job to put us in the lead. He made a couple big saves along the way, especially first couple periods. There was a high tip-in first period that he was seeing, he was on it. His reaction

time was really good. He was sound in his role tonight."

Seattle's gift from the hockey gods, play-by-play announcer John Forslund, no doubt filled in fans on ROOT SPORTS Northwest on the Stars' strategy. The plan was to hold off a torrent of goals, Hakstol told media members before the game.

But that didn't stop Dallas forward Roope Hintz, who rose to hockey prominence during the Stars' run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, scored his 14th goal of the season just 50 seconds into Wednesday's game. Phenom Jason Robertson, 22, notched the primary assist

and still-highly-productive-37-year-old pro's pro Joe Pavelski got the scoring sequence started.

In the end, the final result didn't goes as planned either. Dallas defeated the Kraken, 5-2. Pavelski finished with two goals and three assists to have a hand in every Stars score.

The only dallas we like is @Seahawks running back & day one #SeaKraken fan @DallasDeejay!

 

of Corse DJ Dallas in Dallas!!

 

Getting Fired Up

Hakstol did add Wednesday morning "it doesn't always mean scoring the first goal" but does demand the Kraken's opponent has to be defending, too.

To that end, things were trending up seven minutes later when Hintz was whistled for a cross-checking two-minute minor penalty. Hintz' cross-check sent Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn sprawling awkwardly into the corner left of Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer.

Kraken forward Calle Jarnkrok took exception to the hit and promptly went jaw-to-jaw with Hintz, adding a shove or two for emphasis. This sort of stand-up move not only supports a teammate but typically fires up the team's bench.

In this case, Jarnkrok fired himself up. On the power play, Jared McCann started a passing sequence with a fast, accurate pass net-side to veteran Marcus Johansson, who pinballed the puck immediately to a nearby and also net-front Jarnkrok.

Jarnkrok didn't score his first goal for Seattle until his 13th game. He now has five, including three in the last four games.

Marcus Johansson takes Jared McCann's pass and feeds Calle Jarnkrok, where he one-times the puck home for a power-play goal

WE GOT A GOAL!

Dallas Pushes Back

Pavelski scored the go-ahead goal at exactly the 11-minute mark or two minutes and 35 seconds after the Kraken's tying goal. He scores a lot of big goals for the Stars, a major reason why Dallas signed him to a three-year, $21 million contract on the first day of

NHL Free Agency in 2019.

The score was not technically a response goal - and same goes for a Robertson score two minutes and one second after Pavelski's goal to make it 3-1. But to any Kraken fan, both tallies seemed like replies.

There's a major reason why the Stars were 13-3-1 at home this season going into Wednesday. Dallas is top-six in the NHL for converting power-play opportunities (26 percent). When Adam Larsson (delay of game) and Vince Dunn (hooking) were called for penalties

12 minutes into the opening 20 minutes, it created a 5-on-3 advantage for Dallas. Robertson converted for his 13th goal to go with 19 assists in 26 games.

"We know they come hard in the first period," Hakstol said after the game. "They beat us in the first period... Three to one is tough to come back from."

Hakstol said he had "no issue" with the effort of his team in the second and third periods.

"No one was happy about that first period," Jarnkrok said. "No one had to say much [in the locker room]. We came out [after first intermission] as a new team."

"With a game tomorrow night [Thursday in St. Louis], there has to be a short memory," Hakstol said. "We have to clear the deck and get back to it."

Strong Second Period - Almost

A resilient Kraken squad closed out the first period without further damage and contained the Dallas chances well into the second period. In the fashion of the best-defense-is-playing-offense, Dunn won a puck battle with Hintz to keep the puck in the Dallas zone

five-plus minutes into the middle frame.

Dunn, with obvious stick skill and agile skating, won possession of a bouncing puck and wired a pass from inside the blue line to an open Jordan Eberle behind the net. Eberle choked up on his stick like a baseball hitter with two strikes and ladled the puck across

Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger's crease to an awaiting McCann, who wristed it past Oettinger.

The Kraken were still very much in the game with only eight total shots on goal. A late power play for the Kraken provided hope to swing the momentum all the way back to even. But the two man-advantage units deployed by Hakstol were quiet.

Nine seconds later, Pavelski drifted his way behind Dunn to park at Grubauer's left post. Stars defenseman Esa Lindell noticed and threaded a pass to Pavelski for a tap-in and his second score of the night. A possible tying-goal scenario turned back into a two-goal margin.

IT'S CANNER TIME

Jared McCann scores against the Dallas Stars to make it 3-2

YES, HE MCCANN!!!

Canner → Jojo → Jarny →    

Sizing Up Scoring Chances

According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Stars dominated in scoring chances in the first period, and the teams were even in the second period. In all, Dallas owned 14 scoring chances to Seattle's seven.

If you accept the concept of high-danger scoring chances (basically a hard definition based on location area of the shot), the Stars notched eight high-danger chances compared to two for the Kraken.

By the eye test, both Jarnkrok (on a hustle play, jumping off the bench when a racing Max McCormick worked hard to make the shift happen) and McCann (odd-man rush) both came close to equalizers before Pavelski's late-period fourth score for Dallas. McCann's

near-goal fell just a stride short of a spin-o-rama that would have instantly qualified for Kraken goal-of-the-year consideration.

It should be noted Grubauer made any number of solid saves later first period and deep into the second 20 minutes, keeping the game close. He made a huge save on a close-in, wide-open backhand shot from Dallas' Jacob Peterson.

Tale of Two Power Plays

The Kraken's opening-period power play was a success story, featuring precise and swift passes by McCann and Eberle with Jarnkrok finishing. Just like Hakstol and assistant coach Paul McFarland drew it up.

The late second-period power play was not as silent as it might first seem, Hakstol said.

"On the first power play, we got set up, we were ready and prepared," Hakstol said. "Their PK [penalty kill unit], number 1 is difficult to get in and get set up ... we got set up [on the second man-advantage situation], we just didn't get any clean looks."

Line of Praise

When asked about another strong offensive night for McCann, Hakstol went straight to appreciating the work of McCann and veteran linemates Johansson and Eberle.

"Two nights ago [in Colorado]," Hakstol said, "they drew that line, a tough matchup [featuring Nathan MacKinnon, who went scoreless]. That's a heavy load to carry night after night."

Hakstol was pleased the Johansson-McCann-Eberle line "won the majority of their matchups" in the second and third periods, leading to some higher-probability scoring chances.

Johansson, for his part, continues to deliver in his role replacing the injured Jaden Schwartz (out at least another month recovering from hand surgery). Along with the power-play assist - another example of how Johansson battles for net-front position and then

stays there - Johansson is willing to block shots and forecheck to win back possession.

 A first-period shift featured a monster shot block that felled him but only momentarily because five to seven seconds later he was disrupting a Dallas neutral-zone pass that nearly turned into a Kraken steal and breakaway attempt.

Final Push Not Enough

As expected, once Dallas took a two-goal lead into the third period, they played textbook containment hockey, especially during 5-on-5 play. The Kraken's two best opportunities to get back within one goal both came off slap shots by McCann, virtually from the same

location at the top of the right faceoff circle, during a power play. McCann missed a third attempt that went wide.

The Kraken kept pushing in the Dallas defensive zone, but the 23-year-old Oettinger showed why he is the heir apparent No. 1 Stars goalie who appears to be arriving on schedule despite three NHL-tested goalies also on the Dallas roster at season start.

After finishing two periods with just 10 shots on goal, the Kraken peppered Oettinger with 14 shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. It wasn't enough. The night ended with a 5-2 final on an empty-net goal by defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, his first score of the season.

That outlook proved resoundingly true in what proved to be a staunch effort but disappointing result in the 4-3 loss to a team that now has a 13-game winning streak at home. After the Kraken outshot the Avalanche in the first period, the vaunted Colorado shooters

and playmakers gained the upper hand per shots on goal. It eventually wore down goalie Philipp Grubauer and his Kraken teammates.

"I thought we got the game to where we wanted," said Marcus Johansson, one of the Kraken goal scorers. "It was a tough end to it... it was a solid road game against a tough team."

"We're proud of the effort we put out," coach Dave Hakstol said post-game. "But we didn't come here to play a good hockey game. We came to win."

By mid-third period with the slim one-goal margin, the Avs were pushing 30 shots on goal and Grubauer was parrying with leg stretches and saves that resembled the tribute video Colorado played to thank Grubauer for all the saves during his Colorado years.

With 8:13 remaining, Colorado broke the Grubauer spell and tied the game on a skate-deflected goal by defenseman Devon Toews, who jumped up into the play (he scored the overtime game-winner in a 5-4 win over Toronto Saturday). The goal was reviewed by the

Toronto hockey operations "Situation Room" to verify that Toews did not actively kick the puck into the net.

"I don't know what the definition of kick-in is," Grubauer said after the game. "You'll have to tell me."

Hakstol had nothing but praise for Grubauer's effort on the night: "Grubi was really good tonight. On the second goal, on a rebound, they were stronger on the stick than we were. He had no chance on the third goal [the skate deflection] and that puck should have

been fronted in front of him [not ever entering the crease]."

 things you love to SEA: this

 ready for another 20

Furious Final Seven Minutes

the redirect + celly combo tho!

With Seattle's previous two-goal lead dissolved, the Kraken were left with no choice but to battle back with their own scoring chances and offensive-zone puck possession time during the final seven minutes. They even clanged a goal post that would have tied matters.

Colorado had other ideas: Nazem Kadri finished an Avalanche rush from their blue line to a deep Kraken zone setup for Kadri to send the puck past Grubauer on the Avalanche's 31st shot of the game.

Colorado boosted to 35 shots in the final minutes while Seattle stalled at 24 for several minutes. Grubauer left his net with two minutes remaining for a last-ditch but unsuccessful attempt. There was one last offensive-zone faceoff for the Kraken with 27 seconds left

but an experienced Colorado club figured out how to hold off any tying goal.

The night was there for the taking for Grubauer. He made handfuls of big stops in all three periods against his former team after not even getting to face them at Climate Pledge Arena earlier in the season.

The cheers of "Gruuuuuu" sprinkled early and grew louder as the night and Grubauer's strong effort continued. Kraken fans know how to travel and represent. You could hear a few Ball Arena fans trying to offset the Gruuuuu's with half-hearted boos.

"I wasn't sure if those were Gruuuu's or boos," said Grubauer, joking but appreciative of the love and support from Colorado fans, plus a good many Kraken fans in house Monday. "I don't know what to say."

Grubauer started his post-game comments to say "there were a lot of positives out of this game even though we didn't get the win."

He finished on an upbeat note: "They are a really fast team. I thought we did a good job keeping them to the outside."

"It's tough to win in this building," Hakstol said. "They are a helluva of a team."

To Hakstol's comment: Colorado entered the night with 12 straight wins at home and a 13-home-game point streak. They are 18-3 in their last 21 games, home and away.

A look at the box score after three periods showed no goals for stars like Nathan MacKinnon (12 shots against Toronto Saturday, leads all NHL players in points per game average) and Cale Makar (15 goals as a defenseman and on pace for 40-plus goals).

Philipp Grubauer makes a save on Valeri Nichushkin in the 3rd period

we're convinced that canner can score from anywhere on the ice!

 

GRUUUUUUU

 

Hitting the Reset Button

Monday morning, Hakstol said the tall task of facing a red-hot Colorado Avalanche squad was going to present momentum swings and pushes. He preached his players to "be in the flow, taking care of each and every shift."

Mission accomplished in the first period. Each of four Kraken lines provided strong, high-energy efforts on their first shifts. The Calle Jarnkrok-Yanni Gourde-Colin Blackwell line gets high marks for disrupting Colorado's flow - not an easy thing to do.

Grubauer did his job in goal, making an early point-blank save on Mikko Rantanen (16 goals already this season) and stopping eight of nine in the opening 20 minutes. His only divot-mark of the first period was a Nicolas Aube-Kubel score from the center-front slot

amid too much chaos in Grubauer's crease.

The Avalanche goal was about six minutes into the period. Seattle answered with a power play three-and-a-half minutes later. The tying goal started with a quick-release bullet pass from Jared McCann cross-ice to Jordan Eberle, who just as rapidly put a shot on net

for Johansson to deflect the puck past Colorado goalie Pavel Francouz. It marked Johansson's third goal of the season, all gritty and momentum boosters.

The one weak point in Colorado's overall success (17-3 in last 20 games and 9-1 in last 10 before Monday) has been a penalty kill ranked in the bottom five of the NHL.

Marcus Johansson puts his stick in the shooting lane and gets enough of the puck to deflect in a power play goal

McCann Mentality

McCann has a shoot-first mentality when the play presents it. That's how the Kraken jumped to a 2-1 second-period lead here in Denver. McCann found the puck on his stick at a sharp angle but with time and space to direct a shot on goal through traffic, including

Johansson net-side.

McCann's proclivity to unleash his formidable and elite shot (coaches and goalies say so) resulted in a go-ahead goal. Then Seattle shut down any response-goal worries among Kraken fans.

That's all after McCann's rocket-pass in the first period tied the game off a deflection by Johansson. Team player personified.

Jared McCann looks up then fires a hard shot on goal that just beats Pavel Francouz and gives the Kraken the lead

Knew It was Coming...

Before the just-ended eight-day layoff, the Kraken displeased themselves and especially Hakstol with a low-energy off-night in a 5-2 loss to Vancouver. One exception was a clicking line of Gourde between Jarnkrok and Blackwell.

That trio picked up where they left off Monday. From their first shift, the line was disrupting Colorado's high-powered offense and creating scoring chances of their own. Blackwell provided a proof-case goal to put the Kraken ahead 3-1 at 14:20 of the middle period.

The Kraken's pick from the New York Rangers, clearly finding his stride, fought for position net-front and deflected defenseman Jamie Oleksiak's lob on net from the blue line. Oleksiak, who earlier was called for tripping after his own miscue trying to keep the puck in

the offensive zone led him to trip his opponent rather than allow a breakaway, was one player who needed a period-and-a-half to reconstitute his offensive game after the long break.

Aube-Kubel scored his second goal of the night to make it a one-goal game after 40 minutes.

A blast from the point into traffic is deflected onto the ice and bounces into goal thanks to the efforts of Colin Blackwell

Wennberg Update: Back in Lineup ... on Left Wing

Alex Wennberg exited the league's COVID-19 protocol Monday and was available to suit up. The coaching staff made a game-time decision to play the Kraken top 5 scorer (three goals, 14 assists - the latter ties him with the injured Jaden Schwartz and Joonas

Donskoi for the team lead).

Rather than handle his usual centerman role, one that requires more effort and coverage in all zones, Hakstol and his assistant coaches penciled Wennberg into left wing on a line with Riley Sheahan in the middle and Donskoi on the right wing.

The first game night of the new calendar year didn't start on schedule for Kraken scorers. Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, then Seattle synced up for a better and productive second period to cut the lead to 2-1.

Goalie Philipp Grubauer made a solid handful-plus of big saves in the second frame, a period that ended with Vancouver leading in scoring chances, 14-6, and for those who value the data, six to zero in the so-called high-danger chances.

When Vancouver parried with an early third period goal to make it 3-1, it wouldn't be hard to consider the Tyler Motte goal to be the dagger to Saturday night's Kraken comeback attempt.

But Will Borgen scored his first career NHL goal in his 21st appearance between Buffalo and Seattle. Teammates were elbowing him to try to make him smile on the bench after the score.

Borgen is the eighth Kraken defenseman to score a goal this season. The mood of celebration was all too familiarly short-lived.

Keeping up a trend all Kraken players, coaches and fans would dearly love to see erased from the white board, Seattle surrendered a "response goal" just 43 seconds later from the hands of Canucks forward Conor Garland, who scored the winning goal in the

Kraken's 4-3 loss to Vancouver in the Oct. 23 inaugural home opener at Climate Pledge Arena.

Donny can't find his water bottle!

 

 

Things are already getting a little feisty in Seattle. 

 

'Worst Enemy'

"We were our own worst enemy," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said after the game when asked about the response goal, which he evaluated as "low down on the list of our issues defensively."

Those issues? "We put two pucks directly on their [stick blade] tape in scoring areas" on the first and and third Vancouver goals, Hakstol said.

"Those can't happen," Hakstol said. "They are really tough plays to put on your goaltender."

Both miscues were at the expense of young defenseman Borgen. The first goal developed when Borgen sent the puck into the center lane of the offensive zone, effectively becoming an unassisted successful shot on goal by Vancouver's Vasily Podkolzin. The play

clearly and logically surprised Grubauer.

The third goal unfolded after a lost puck battle behind the net, sending the puck to Canucks forward Matthew Highmore, who quickly put it net-front to an awaiting Motte.  

The two-goal margin didn't deter a late power play full of near-misses for the Kraken. But the Garland goal emerged as the dagger. An empty-net goal made it a 5-2 ending.

Borgen nets 1st of NHL career

Will Borgen unloads a hard slap shot that travels through the screen of Ryan Donato and into the back of the net to cut the deficit to 1

Will Borgen’s third-period goal was the first of his @NHL career. Congrats, Will!

 

 

 

3rd period action of #VANvsSEA is next.

 

Kraken Welcome Slap Shot Organist 

Rod Masters from the movie Slap Shot performs the U.S. and Canadian national anthems prior to puck drop between the Kraken and the Canucks

Response Goals in Double Digits

With Vancouver's fourth goal of the game, the Kraken have now given up 10 response goals (tallied two minutes or less after Seattle scores). That ranks the Kraken fourth in the NHL and, as per Kraken colleague and ROOT SPORTS Northwest analyst Alison Lukan, is not good thing. Agreed.

It is the third straight game in which the Kraken gave up a response goal. Calle Jarnkrok, who scored his second goal in two games, called the response-goal tendency "not acceptable."

"Trust me, we're trying not to get scored on," Adam Larsson said during a post-game scrum that left one feeling heartbreak and admiration for a veteran defenseman all of us can imagine as a leader for better days and seasons ahead. "It's a hard league. It's

something we really need to figure out.

"It's been an issue for us. We have talked about it. We expect a push. I don't know. It's frustrating."

"We want to win games, especially at home in front of our amazing fans," Jarnkrok said. "We've got to get this turned around pretty quick."

 In honor of tonight's @WaFdBank Signature Save of the Game, please drop a "GRRUUUUUUU" 

Rivalry Revs Up

In his morning skate media comments, new Vancouver head coach Bruce Boudreau referred to the Kraken and Canucks as "two teams trying to create a rivalry for each other." Mission accomplished.

After a first period effectively controlled by the visitors, the Kraken delivered a much crisper second 20 minutes, with some key-moment saves by Grubauer and significant get-up-and-go from the Yanni Gourde line with Jarnkrok and Colin Blackwell on the wings.

Just a few shifts after a point-blank Grubauer save on VAN center Juho Lammikko, Gourde won a faceoff in the offensive zone with defenseman Carson Soucy collecting the puck and sliding it to Jarnkrok. The Swedish winger threaded a long shot from near the blue

line that crossed the goal line just inside the near post of Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko.

Gourde earned the secondary assist, but his primary move to help Jarnkrok score his second goal in two games was standing annoyingly net-front to block Demko's view of a clotheslining puck. Another in a season-long series of being hard to play against, Yanni

Gourde edition.

Along with the slim one-goal margin entering the third period, there was plenty of hitting and jawing between the two Pacific Northwest squads. Vancouver led 16-12 in hits after 40 minutes, but the number of hard bang-on checks was basically even.

For good rivalry measure, Soucy and Vancouver forward Tanner Pearson jumped into an early game scrap applauded by the Climate Pledge Arena crowd and stick-tapped by both benches. The two were whistled off five minutes each for fighting.

Calle Jarnkrok one-times it from the near boards through Yanni Gourde's screen and past Thatcher Demko's stick side

First-Period Fade

Vancouver jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the New Year's Day contest, the second on a Canucks power play. After several energetic Kraken shifts in the opening minutes, Seattle struggled to create much flow or time in the offensive zone for the last

10 to 12 minutes. The first period ended with Vancouver ahead in shots on goal, 14-6, and scoring chances, 7-3 per NaturalStatTrick.com data.

Hockey Town, Indeed

The Kraken line centered by Morgan Geekie with Jordan Eberle and Jared McCann turned out several strong shifts during the first period. The trio created a number of potential scoring chances and Eberle in particular was playing with a shoot-first approach.

After one of those shifts, the Kraken faithful cheered the three forwards as they skated to the bench during an in-play change of lines. That's a knowledgeable hockey crowd.

Hakstol: 'Grubi's Our No. 1'

When asked Saturday morning about how he approaches goaltender workload during stretches such as three games in the past four nights, Hakstol provided his answer. Then he stepped up the reply to deliver a distinct vote of confidence for Grubauer.

"Grubi's our No. 1," Hakstol said. "He's alluded to it that he hasn't been at the level he'd like to be at this point of the season. He's a real good NHL goaltender... he's our guy."

borgy lights the lamp for the first time! 

Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol speaks with the media after a loss to Vancouver.

Seattle Kraken Defenseman and alternate captain Adam Larsson talks to the press following a loss to the Canucks.

VAN@SEA

Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov, who played 27 minutes on the night, scored the game-winner with 2:46 remaining in OT on a breakaway.

"Tonight we gave up a breakaway, there's nothing hidden there," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said via Zoom after the game. "It would be a great time for a timely save on that one.

PHI @ SEA

Extended highlights of the Philadelphia Flyers at the Seattle Kraken

Kraken Controlled Possession

The final stat on offensive zone possession time was lopsided in Seattle's favor: 5:47 for Kraken compared to 1:39 for the Flyers in all situations.

"I thought we created [scoring] opportunities and defended well," Hakstol said after the game. "There's not much different I would want to do after an 11-day layoff."

The Kraken outshot the team Hakstol used to coach, 36-22: "We didn't get inside enough in the first half of the game," Hakstol said. "That's an area we need to improve."

Hakstol said during the final 30 minutes his squad made "the saves more difficult" for Flyers goalie Martin Jones.

 

Jubilant and Jarring

At 14:32, Jeremy Lauzon whipped a shot past Jones, just minutes after Lauzon thought he had his first goal as a Kraken defenseman. His defensive partner, Adam Larsson, made the goal possible with a slick move by gliding to the high slot, faking a shot and

slipping the puck to a wide-open and charging Lauzon.

The 24-year-old, Quebec born defenseman hammered a shot past Jones to put the Kraken ahead 2-1 with 5:47 left. He was highly appreciative of Larsson's moves on the primary assists.

"He's obviously done it before with [Vince] Dunn earlier in the season," Lauzon said. "The goalie wasn't set."

Jubilation ensued at Climate Pledge Arena for a hearty crowd that showed up despite Seattle snow and freezing temperatures - the joy lasted 15 seconds.

That's when veteran forward James van Riemsdyk notched his second goal of the evening, beating Philipp Grubauer, who was caught leaning. Philly defenseman Travis Sanheim set up the tying and deflating goal with a crisp pass from the left point to the waiting van

Riemsdyk a stride or two from Grubauer's crease.

"It's hard to be happy [about scoring his first goal] when you lose a game," Lauzon said.

Jeremy Lauzon scores against the Philadelphia Flyers to make it 2-1

 PUCK DON'T LIE!!!!! LAUZY FINDS THE BACK OF THE NET (FOR REAL THIS TIME)!!!!!

 

Go-Ahead Goal Reversed

Six minutes into the third period, it appeared defenseman Jeremy Lauzon scored his first goal for the Kraken on a laser shot from his usual left-point location. But Philly coach Mike Yeo challenged the goal based on potential goaltender interference.

The on-ice officials and the NHL hockey operations situation room in Toronto determined that Jaden Schwartz did indeed interfere with Flyers goalie Martin Jones' attempt to make a save. Schwartz entered the goal crease and bumped into Jones. Philly D-man Travis

Sanheim was entangled with Schwartz.

The Climate Pledge Arena crowd clearly did not agree with the call.

 And we're back for the second period! 

 

Would-Be Hero to Goat?

Less than two minutes later, Lauzon was called for roughing-putting the game outcome in peril in a matchup in which the Kraken were tilting the ice big-time with a 28-13 margin in shots at that point.

The Kraken killed the subsequent two minutes of shorthanded play without allowing a shot. 

Tale of Two Power Plays

Philadelphia and the Kraken traded power-play goals in the first 20 minutes. The Flyers took advantage of Jordan Eberle called for cross-checking four-and-a-half minutes into the first period.

van Riemsdyk received a pinpoint pass from still-going-strong veteran center Claude Giroux, firing a quick-release shot past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer. It was the Flyers' second shot of the game. Grubauer faced six shots total in the opening 20 minutes.

Giroux's assist placed him second all-time on the storied Philadelphia career-points list with his primary assist on the power-play goal by van Riemsdyk. The play produced the Philly captain's 600th assist to go with 284 goals. Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is way ahead

in the No. 1 spot with 358 goals and 852 assists for 1,210 total points.

The Kraken responded late in the first period with a power-play score of their own. Seattle defenseman Carson Soucy, filling in for Vince Dunn (COVID protocol) on the second power-play unit, exhibited patience with the puck after accepting a pass from Morgan

Geekie.

Soucy found Yanni Gourde (great to see him back on the ice), who fired a rocket of a one-timer past Martin Jones, who played a stellar first two periods, turning away 22 of 23 shots on goal.

After the first 40 minutes, the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 when both teams fell short on second-period power plays. From one reporter's perspective, seconded by John Forslund on the ROOT SPORTS Northwest broadcast, the Kraken's second power-play unit

looked more lively on the first two man-advantage situations.

Morgan Geekie's assist on the first SEA goal represented his seventh assist of the season to accompany three goals. The 10 points is a new career-high for the 23-year-old forward with 60-plus percent of the season remaining.

On the night, each team was 1-for-3 on power plays.

So great having our besties back at @ClimateArena

 

 

Gourde hammers home a PPG

Yanni Gourde gets a pass in the circle and unloads a one-timer that finds twine for a power-play goal, evening the score at 1-1 in the 1st

COVID-19 Quarantine Changes

Earlier Wednesday, the league sent a memo to the 32 NHL teams announcing a modified COVID protocol that reduces isolation of certain players from 10 days to five days after a positive test.

Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson was the first Seattle player to benefit from the change, arriving at the arena in time for morning skate. Larsson notched 22:38 of time on ice, the most of all Kraken players.

The new guidelines require five days of isolation in any positive test case. If the player has a fever, he has to isolate until fever subsides.

If the player is asymptomatic or the symptoms are resolving after five days, he can leave isolation and return to practices and games, provided the following conditions are met:

A negative lab-based PCR test, or a lab-based PCR test that has a CT value greater than 30, or two negative molecular point-of-care tests collected more than two hours apart.

And medical clearance from the team physician.

And such exit from COVID protocol is permitted by local health authorities.

And the player continues to always wear a mask around others for five additional days, other than for practices and games.

The NHL and NHLPA medical experts will re-evaluate the measures on or before Jan. 12.

Seattle Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol speaks with the press following a loss to the Flyers.

After scoring his first goal as a #SeaKraken, defenseman Jeremy Lauzon shares how the team will look to move forward & prepare to take on the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at @climatearena

Seattle Kraken defenseman Jeremy Lauzon speaks with the media after a loss to the Flyers.

When Seattle's Yanni Gourde (and he is most definitely our kind of player) was whistled for high sticking late in the third period, Calgary converted with a power-play goal and rebound shot by Flames forward Andrew Mangiapane at 16:51. It was Mangiapane's 18th

goal of the season. The score made it 4-3.

Thirty seconds later, former Flames captain and now same for the Kraken, Mark Giordano, snaked a shot from the left point inside the blue line. Jared McCann got a piece of the shot, deflecting it downward and bouncing past Jacob Markstrom. It was a 4-4 game -

for 13 seconds.

 

Jarny coming in hot! 

The scoring frenzy went off-kilter after those 13 seconds when Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk found a spot between Chris Driedger's leg pads to make it 5-4. Three scores in 43 seconds.

Noah Hanifin tallied an empty-netter to cinch it with 20 seconds remaining. Driedger finished with 34 saves but there was clearly at least one, the last shot he faced, that he would like back.

"I should have been better on the last two goals," said Driedger, head up during the post-game media Zoom conference but dejected, too. "It's my job to keep pucks out of the net."

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, poised and reflective as per usual answering post-game questions, said the disappointment of Calgary's scoring a fifth and decisive goal was two-fold.

"We failed to make a play to get out of the zone and the puck goes through our goaltender," Hakstol said. "We got four [goals tonight] and it should be enough to come away with points.