Blues spoil Kraken's `special day'
For almost half a game, the Seattle Kraken dominated the St. Louis Blues, leading 2-0. Unfortunately, the game didn't end at that point and the Blues, thanks to Jordan Kyrou's two goals, scored three goals in less than two minutes holding on to a 3-2 victory in yesterday afternoon's season opener at Climate Pledge Arena.
Yesterday's contest - part of an ESPN triple-header- marked the first time the Kraken have opened a season at home in the four-year history of the franchise. The loss spoiled Dan Bylsma's Seattle coaching debut. The former Pittsburgh and Buffalo boss, had coached the Kraken's Coachella Valley AHL team to the league finals the previous two years
Seattle outshot the Blues, 11-5, in the first period, but the teams went to the intermission scoreless. That changed only 27 seconds into the second period. Vince Dunn scored on his rebound beating Jordan Binnington, the game's number-one star.
The play was started when Jordan Eberle, named before the game as the second captain in Kraken history, set up the play by taking out a Blues' defender and opening ice for Dunn. The Kraken defenseman, who's Seattle's all-time assist leader, scored the first-ever Kraken goal at Climate Pledge Arena back in 2021.
The Kraken made it 2-0, less than two minutes later, when Eeli Tolvanen deflected a shot by Ryker Evans past Binnington. Shane Wright, who won the faceoff back to Evans, also assisted on the play.
The momentum began to change when Jamie Oleksiak's drive from the point appeared to give Seattle a 3-0 lead. Replays showed the play was offside, but during the line change, Dunn started pushing and shoving with some St. Louis players. Both teams had about eight players on the ice and a brief line ruckus broke out. Seattle's Yanni Gourde and St. Louis' Alex Torochenko each received fighting penalties, but it wasn't much of a scrap.
But after that scrap, St. Louis came alive and scored three times in two minutes. Kyrou had two goals, sandwiching a score by Philip Broberg, a free-agent acquisition from the Edmonton Oilers.
“There was a lot of good. Just in the first period, there was a lot of good,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “I think that really continued in the second period. The way to losing the game is solvable moments in the game and periods in the game.”
Between the end of the first period and the opening minutes of the second, St. Louis went 14 minutes with only one shot on goal. In the final six minutes, Seattle couldn't muster a shot even after pulling goalie Philipp Grubauer for a sixth attacker.
The Kraken travel to Minnesota on Saturday and Dallas on Sunday.
A Special Day In Seattle
The day started with a positive vibe for the home team. There was a gray carpet (as opposed to a red carpet) where all of the natily attired Kraken stopped for pictures and autographs, No surprise- goalie Philipp Grubauer was the most colorfully dressed, looking like a modern-day Wyatt Earp (fortunately for Grubauer no one challenged him to a gun fight before he stepped into the arena).
Then Jordan Eberle was named as the second captain in Kraken history. An alternate captain for three years, Eberle's the second player to wear a `C' in team history. Mark Giordano was Kraken captain in their initial season before being traded to Toronto at the trade deadline.
``I think Jordan Eberle exemplifies (leadership) greatly for our team," said coach Dan Bylsma. ``Ebs being named captain is long overdue."
``I am honored to be a captain in this league," said Eberle, a 13-year veteran. ``It's pretty special. My family and I love this city. We love the culture here and it's a big part of why we want to be here."
However, the biggest story of the day may have been the debut of Jessica Campbell as assistant coach, the first full-time women's coach in the National Hockey League. Current Kraken's like Tye Kartye and Ryker Evans who played at CV have been lavish in their praise of Campbell.
``It's something that we're all proud to be a part of,'' said Vince Dunn in the post-game media scrum. ``It was a special moment for Jessica Campbell."
Campbell, who played for the Canadien Olympic team before beginning her coaching career, received perhaps the biggest hand in the pre-game introductions.
``I listened to see if I got a bigger hand," deadpanned Bylsma. ``I didn't."
| 2nd Period | STL | SEA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:37 |  | Jordan Kyrou (2) Assists: Alexandre Texier (1) | 3 | 2 |
| 15:17 | | Philip Broberg (1) Assists: Justin Faulk (2), Dylan Holloway (1) | 2 | 2 |
| 13:42 | | Jordan Kyrou (1) (Power Play) Assists: Robert Thomas (1), Justin Faulk (1) | 1 | 2 |
| 2:20 |  | Eeli Tolvanen (1) Assists: Ryker Evans (1), Will Borgen (1) | 0 | 2 |
| 0:27 | | Vince Dunn (1) Assists: Jordan Eberle (1) | ||
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