A costly loss for the Kraken
The Seattle Kraken arguably played a better game against the Edmonton Oilers in yesterday's matinee tilt at Climate Pledge Arena than their two previous games against the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the latter a game that goalie Philipp Grubauer `stole' with a 33-save shutout.
But as someone once said - or should have said- `the bottom line is the bottom line.' In an evenly played contest, the Oilers hung on for a 2-1 victory. And while the Kraken (26-22-11 overall) have boasted some success lately, they entered yesterday's contest with a 5-1-1 mark in their last seven games, it hasn't paid off in the standings.
With St. Louis and Calgary both posting victories yesterday, the Kraken drop to 11th place in the Western Division standings and seven points out of the final playoff berth (comparable to 3 1/2 games) with 22 games left in the season.
The Kraken had opportunities to tie the game in the final minute of regulation, but Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, the game's number-one star made big saves on Eeli Tolvanen and Jordan Eberle to secure the victory.
"We did a really good job of forechecking," said Tolvanen, who had the lone Kraken goal. "Their goalie did a pretty good job. We just need to get some bodies on the net. We've got to bear down. We have some big games coming up and we need the points."
The Oilers scored the first goal of the game, just past the midway point of the second period, thanks to their two superstars. Connor McDavid, the defending Hart Trophy winner (Most Valuable Player) hit linemate Leon Draisaitl with a cross ice pass that he fired past Grubauer into the net.
Edmonton increased their lead to 2-0 in the third period. Defenseman Brett Kulak's drive from the blue line appeared to go off the skate of Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who was tangled up with Draisaitl, and into the net.
With Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the penalty box, Seattle cut the lead in half thanks to a Tolvanen shot from the right circle. The shot went off the glove of Oilers' defenseman Darnell Nurse and into the back of the net.
Kraken fans hopes grew when Draisaitl was penalized for pulling down Jared McCann with a minute remaining in the game. Eberle tried to set up Tolvanen for another shot from the right circle in the closing seconds but time ran out.
"We spent quite a bit of time in the offensive zone and we generated enough good opportunities to score some goals," said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. "A couple of bounces offensively didn't come to us. And at the end of the day it becomes a disappointing loss.
"We played the game the right way throughout the 60 minutes," Hakstol added. "At the end of the day, you come up empty-handed points-wise and at this time of year we're pushing for points every single night. But we played a pretty good hockey game."
The Kraken take to the road tomorrow night facing the Calgary Flames. Despite being `sellers' as the trade deadline approaches - the Flames have recently dealt veterans' Elias Lindholm and Christopher Tanev- Calgary has won five straight games to move past the Kraken in the Pacific Division.
First Period
No scoring
Second Period
E- Leon Draisaitl (Connor McDavid) 8:02.
Third Period
E- Brett Kulak (Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Draisaitl) 8:02. S- Eeli Tolvanen (Jared McCann, Vince Dunn) PPG, 13:23.
Shots on Goal- Edmonton 24, Seattle 25.
Penalty Minutes- Edmonton 6, Seattle 4.
Faceoffs- Edmonton 44% Seattle 56.
Referees- Jean Hebert, Conner Sandlak Linesmen- David Brisebois, Tyson Baker.
Three Stars- 1. Stuart Skinner, E. 2. Leon Draisaitl, E. 3. Philipp Grubauer, S.
“We played the game the right way throughout the 60 minutes,” he said. “At the end of the day, you come up empty-handed points-wise and at this time of year we’re pushing for points every single night. But we played a pretty good hockey game.”
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