Another OT loss for Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken had a golden opportunity to pick up two points on the St. Louis Blues yesterday afternoon in the tight Western Conference playoff race, but had to settle for only one as defenseman Ben Cheriot scored an overtime game-winner to give the Detroit Red Wings a 4-3 matinee victory over the Kraken.

The Kraken showed resiliency as they rallied three different times to tie the game. Seattle moves to 23-21-11 on the season, tied for second in the league with the Boston Bruins in overtime losses. As Seattle netminder Joey Daccord noted recently on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, if the Kraken had won half of those games, they’d be in a playoff spot.

Seattle’s three-points behind the Blues (who lost to Toronto yesterday afternoon) but also have to hopscotch over the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild who are one point ahead of the Kraken.

“The last three games have put us in the right direction,” said Jared McCann, acknowledging Kraken road wins against the New York Islanders and the Bruins. “But right now, every game is a must-win situation.”

McCann was the Kraken star of the game with two goals, the first two Seattle goals of the contest. He now has a team-leading 24 goals on the season.

A sizeable portion of Detroit fans were in attendance at the Presidents’ Day afternoon tilt (although the Kraken were celebrating the Lunar New Year and the start of the Year Of The Dragon), and they saw the Wings open the scoring on Mo Seider’s drive from the blue line at 13:30. Future Hall-of-Famer Patrick Kane picked up his 800th career assist on the goal.

The Kraken dominated the first period outshooting their guests, 15-6. Detroit goalie Alex Lyon was sharp, but he was helped by Jordan Eberle fanning on a shot in front and Andre Burakovsky hitting the post. But the teams would go to the intermission with a 1-1 tie, when McCann tapped home his own rebound on a power play.

McCann tallied his second goal midway through the second period off some pinpoint passes by defenseman Will Borgen (two assists) and Jamie Oleksiak, sandwiched around goals from Lucas Raymond and old friend Daniel Sprong. Sprong, who notched 21 goals for the Kraken a season ago, was making his first Climate Pledge appearance since signing with the Wings in the off-season.

Seattle tied the game in the third period. With a delayed penalty coming up on the Wings, Yanni Gourde drew Lyon to the left side and then crossed a pass over to Jaden Schwartz, who had an open net. The Kraken had a golden opportunity when Detroit defenseman Olli Maata picked up a two-minute minor for a crosscheck on Matty Beniers in the game’s final two minutes. But the Kraken were unable to capitalize on the power play.

“We can be disappointed with the point we lost and dwell on that,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol,“or get ready for the next game at home.”

With the All-Star break and an Eastern road trip, the Kraken were playing their first home game since Jan. 28. Yesterday’s contest marked the first of a six-game homestand. Seattle hosts the Pacific Division leading Vancouver Canucks, Thursday night.

 

Scoring Summary

First Period

D- Mo Seider (Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat) 13:30. S- Jared McCann PPG (Vince Dunn, Andre Burakovsky) 18:32.

Second Period

D- Lucas Raymond (J.T. Compher, Jeff Petry) 7 :18. S-Jared McCann (Jamie Oleksiak, Will Borgen) 10:51. D- Daniel Sprong (Christian Fischer) 15:58.

Third Period

S- Jaden Schwartz (Yanni Gourde, Borgen) 7:25.

Overtine

D- Ben Chiarot (Dylan Larkin, Raymond) 1:07.

Shots on Goal- Detroit 32, Seattle 41.

Penalty Minutes- Detroit 4, Seattle 2.

Faceoffs- Detroit 55.4% Seattle 44.6.

Referees- Steve Kozari, Brian Pochmara. Linesmen- Trent Knorr, CJ Murray.

Three Stars- 1. Ben Chiarot, D. 2. Jared McCann, S. 3. Yanni Gourde, S.


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