Kraken blow another lead to Oilers

By Raymond V. Murphy There were moments in the last two Seattle Kraken games where it appeared that the Kraken had rightened the ship and were playing the type of hockey that propelled the team to the second round of last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs. However, there were no 60 minute (or more) efforts as Seattle could only muster one standings point in the two games. The Kraken, looked to be headed for a road victory over the Edmonton Oilers last night at Rogers’ Center, boasting a 3-1 lead with seven minutes remaining in the contest. But then Edmonton’s Evander Kane, the proverbial thorn in the Kraken’s side in previous games, went to work. The veteran winger scored three consecutive goals, notching the game winner at 2:57 of the overtime frame. “This one’s gonna sting,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “We’ve got to turn the page and get ready to go (tonight).” The Kraken were actually 46 seconds away from a victory, and Kane’s game-tyer provided a modicum of controversy. Leon Draisaitl won the faceoff from Pierre Edouard Bellemare in the left circle and then fell on the Kraken forward for an instant, preventing Bellemare from getting into the play. “Yes, I got picked,” said Bellemare. “It’s just a smart play. He held me down on the ice for an extra half second, which makes me late on the come-up.”

The Oilers opened the scoring in the second period off a rush from Connor McDavid, the best offensive player in the league. But the Kraken answered with a `response’ goal two minutes later when Jared McCann’s shot trickled past Edmonton netminder Stuart Skinner. McCann notched his seventh of the season, but the first in six games. Bellemare’s second goal of the season gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead. While he didn’t get an assist, former Oiler Kailer Yamamoto started the play when he dug out the puck in a scramble behind the net. Tye Kartye then passed to Vince Dunn (a team-high 13 assists) at the point and Bellemare established perfect position in front of the net to deflect Dunn’s drive/ Alex Wennberg scored his first goal of the season to round out the second period scoring. Wennberg lost a goal in Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to Colorado. Wennberg appeared to beat Avs’ goalie Alexandar Georgiev, but the goal was taken away on a goalie interference call against Brandon Tanev (his stick hit Georgiev’s pads). As coaches are wont to do, Hakstol has tried a variety of measures to spark the Kraken in recent days. After Saturday’s home loss to Edmonton, Hakstol held a lengthy practice the following day accompanied by a tirade against the players to shoot the puck more. After Monday’s loss to Colorado, Hakstol held another lengthy practice that was closed to the media. However, after last night’s game, Hakstol was pleased with the club’s effort. “We worked pretty hard all the way through the game,” said Hakstol. “It comes down to the tying goal. Our centerman gets bulldogged, so we’re not able to pressure that half of the ice. And it puts us a little bit in the soup dowl low. It’s disappointing without question, because of how hard our players worked. It was a pretty solid road game they played.” The Kraken fall to 5-8-4 on the season while the Oilers improve to 5-9-1. TURBO Time Amidst the disappointment of a 5-1 loss to Colorado on Tuesday night, the Kraken faithful had to be heartened by the return of fan favorite Brandon “Turbo” Tanev. Tanev, who flies around the ice with the speed of a turbo jet engine, hadn’t played since opening night when he suffered a lower-body injury, falling awkwardly after a high hit from Vegas’ Brett Howden. Tanev pumped up the squad with a fiery pre-game speech, and then almost scored in the first minute of the game. His initial shot hit the post, but Tanev would light up the scoreboard a few minutes later, when he pounced on a rebound to give Seattle a 1-0 lead. Tanev then appeared to help gave Seattle a 2-0 lead when he finished a 2-on-1 break with a cross to Alex Wennberg, who would eventually send home his own rebound. However, after further review, the goal was disallowed as Tanev’s stick hit the left pads of goalie Alexandar Georgiev. The refs have a bit of leeway in that situation as it was questionable whether Tanev actually impeded the netminder. But it was no real surprise that the goal was taken off the scoreboard. Tanev admitted in an interview with the Seattle Times that he’s an `intense’ individual, which makes him a fan favorite. Monday’s tilt was a strange contest in that the Kraken weren’t able to sustain the energy that marked the first period, over the entire game. Seattle had another poor second period – the Avs scored three unanswered goals- and Kraken looked like they were ready to go home in the third period when they couldn’t muster a single shot on goal. Seattle hosts the New York Islanders tonight at Climate Pledge Arena. The Islanders also played last night, losing to the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime on a goal from Quinn Hughes. Scoring Summary First Period No scoring. Second Period E- Connor McDavid (Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard) 5:31. S- Jared McCann 7 (Jordan Eberle 4, Jamie Oleksiak 4) 7:20. S- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 2 (Tye Kartye 3, Vince Dunn 13) 9:24. S- Alex Wennberg 1 (Eeli Tolvanen 7, Oliver Bjorkstrand 7) 17:21. Third Period E- Evander Kane (Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm) 13:25. E- Kane (Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) 19:14. Overtime E- Kane (Zach Hyman, Bouchard) 2:57. Shots On Goal- Seattle 35, Edmonton 31 Hits- Seattle 26, Edmonton 20 Penalty Minutes- Seattle 8, Edmonton 12 Faceoffs- Seattle 50% Edmonton 50% Referees- Dan O’Rourke, Steve Kozari. Linesmen- Ryan Galloway, Caleb Apperson