Seattle SPORTs Now

In a year that saw its share of downers for the Seattle Kraken, the home team finished 2024 on top with a 5-2 victory over the Utah Hockey Club last night at Climate Pledge Arena. Jaden Schwartz, who recorded his 499 th and 500 th points with two third period goals against Vancouver, was the number-one star as he recorded the game winner in the third after two first period assists. After ending a six-game losing streak against the Canucks, the Kraken came out hitting and shooting, two aspects of their game that were frustratingly missing during the losing streak. In post-game interviews, Schwartz intimated that Seattle had a shoot-first mentality. ``You could see at times tonight, there were a lot of rebounds,’’ said Schwartz. `` It just creates offensive zone time a lot. Even if you don’t score, you still get them running around a little bit. We’ve been getting bodies around there and getting some second chances…that’s how you score.” ``Starting the game, you saw that mindse...

The Seattle Kraken acquired Kaapo Kakko today from the New York Rangers today in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and a third round and sixth round pick in the upcoming NHL amateur draft. As often happens, Seattle fans were sorry to see Borgen go. An original Kraken, one of the more physical players on the team, a fan favorite, and Matty Beniers roommate. To say that New York fans feel the same way about Kakko would be an understatement. Ranger Nation has universally panned the deal of social media and coupled with the trading of captain Jacob Trouba last week, fans are calling for the scalp of Ranger GM Chris Drury. However, the most interesting aspect of this trade is that Kakko was a particular favorite of longtime New York sports fan and star of TV’s  Curb Your Enthusiasm,  Larry David. The iconoclastic comedian appeared on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show a couple of years ago berating then Rangers’ coach David Quinn for benching Kakko. (on a personal note, this writer co...

A funny thing happened to the Seattle Kraken on their way to a sixth consecutive loss to the Vancouver Canucks yesterday afternoon at Rogers Arena. Trailing 4-1 with six minutes remaining in the contest, the Kraken tied the game with 50 seconds remaining and won the five-minute overtime session on Vince Dunn’s breakaway goal. Dunn and Jaden Schwartz led the biggest comeback in the Kraken’s 3 ½ year history, scoring the final four goals- two apiece. The Kraken avoided a team-tying sixth consecutive loss (the team had two six-game losing streaks in its maiden season, 2021-22) and overcame a three-goal deficit to win a game for the first time in team history. Only two other teams in NHL history – the San Jose Sharks (Oct. 28, 2024) and the Montreal Canadians (March 25, 2014) have won a game trailing by three with five minutes left. In their initial season, the Kraken overcame a three-goal deficit to the Columbus Blue Jackets but lost in overtime, ``We’ve dug a few holes for oursel...

  If any team could use a holiday break, it’s the Seattle Kraken. Last night, the Kraken dropped a 5-2 decision to the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena, the team’s fifth consecutive loss. On Saturday, Seattle was on the short end of a 6-2 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken (15-19-2) now have a week to regroup and hopefully recharge as the NHL takes a week off. Seattle even gets a few extra days off as their next contest will be Dec. 28. Several teams have games on the 23 rd and 27 th . Seattle did show more energy and played a more physical game against the Avalanche (the team the Kraken knocked out of the playoffs in 2023) but the   Kraken were still only able to generate 23 shots on Colorado netminder Mackenzie Blackwood. Another bright spot for the Kraken was the play of Kaapo Kakko, acquired earlier in the week in a trade with the New York Rangers. Kakko’s first goal was a highlight reel score. Matty Beniers won the faceoff and Kakko shot the drop pass...

The big news going into last night’s game between the Seattle Kraken and the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center was the Kraken’s acquisition of Kaapo Kakko, a former second overall selection in the NHL draft. The Kraken hoped that Kakko, acquired from the New York Rangers for defenseman Will Borgen and two draft choices, would help jump start the Seattle offense. But for one night at least, a new acquisition didn’t provide a spark as the Kraken were defeated by the suddenly resurgent Blackhawks, 3-1. Chicago has now won three consecutive games (12-19-2), while the Kraken are headed into the opposite direction, losing three straight (15-17-2 overall). Seattle was almost shutout for the second consecutive game, but defenseman Ryker Evans drove to the net and scored off a pass from forward Oliver Bjorkstrand with nine minutes left in the game. That cut the Chicago lead to 2-1, but rookie Nolan Allan’s first NHL goal at 15:11 of the third period wrapped things up for the Hawks. ...

The Seattle Kraken acquired Kaapo Kakko today from the New York Rangers today in exchange for defenseman Will Borgen and a third round and sixth round pick in the upcoming NHL amateur draft. As often happens, Seattle fans were sorry to see Borgen go. An original Kraken, one of the more physical players on the team, a fan favorite, and Matty Beniers roommate. To say that New York fans feel the same way about Kakko would be an understatement. Ranger Nation has universally panned the deal of social media and coupled with the trading of captain Jacob Trouba last week, fans are calling for the scalp of Ranger GM Chris Drury. However, the most interesting aspect of this trade is that Kakko was a particular favorite of longtime New York sports fan and star of TV’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David. The iconoclastic comedian appeared on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show a couple of years ago berating then Rangers’ coach David Quinn for benching Kakko. (on a personal note, this writer cover...

  Playing their last home game before Christmas, Seattle Kraken fans were in the holiday spirit. The twin scoreboards even featured a video of Kraken players attempting to sing holiday songs. However, Ebenezer Scrooge showed up at Climate Pledge Arena last night in the form of Ottawa Senator goalkeeper Linus Ulmark. The Swedish netminder turned aside 30 shots as the Senators posted a 3-0 victory. On Nov. 2, the Senators other goalkeeper Anton Forsborg blanked the Kraken 2-0. Bah, humbug. ``I think we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror,” said Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour said. ``I don’t know how many times we’ve been shutout(five times in fact), but we’ve played less than 35 games, and with the skill that we’ve got on this team.” “Obviously, you’re going to have some times when things don’t go your way, but it’s too easy for these goalies,” said Montour. ``Again, we had some looks. But the shots don’t matter if the goalie sees them all the time.” To be fair, Ulma...

            Kraken coach Dan Bylsma, perplexed by Seattle 5-1 loss to Tampa. The Seattle Kraken opened last night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a similar fashion to their `jump start’ against the Boston Bruins, Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken dominated the early minutes- at one point they outshot the Lightning by a 7-0 margin- and like Thursday night they scored an early power play goal. This time it was defenseman Brandon Montour, who rifled a shot from the point past Lightning netminder Jake Johansson. However, the Lightning took charge after that and went on to post a 5-1 victory. The visitors held a narrow 2-1 lead after two periods, but tallied three goals in the final frame to coast to victory. Jake Guentzel, the Lightning’s big offseason acquisition- and last night’s number-one star- made it 3-1 with a power play goal at 4:02 of the third period. Nikita Kucherov fired from the right circle and Guentzel batted it p...

  The Seattle Kraken may have played their worst game of the season against the Boston Bruins last month a 2-0 loss that came the end of a long East Coast road trip. That game was one of Joey Daccord’s best performances of the season as he got little help from the rest of his squad. Last night at Climate Pledge Arena, Philipp Grubauer earned the start and was the game’s number-one star as the Kraken posted a 5-1 victory over the Bruins. The Kraken’s `German Gentleman’ stopped 30 shots, with Bruins’ captain Brad Marchand scoring the only Boston goal on a penalty shot. The victory moves the Kraken over the .500 mark (15-14-2). While the Kraken were winless in their last three home games, Seattle boasts a 4-1-1 mark in their last six games. They also lead the all-time series against the Bruins (a perennial Stanley Cup contender) 4-3-1. ``That was kind of nice when we score right away and get the power play,” said Grubauer, who had a .971 save percentage, his best of the season, ...

After a successful road trip that saw the Seattle Kraken win three of four games, the Kraken returned home last night to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The Kraken didn’t post a victory, but the home team garnered a hard-earned point in a 2-1 shootout loss. Seattle’s record goes to 14-14-2 on the season. Last year at this point, the Kraken had six overtime losses, 8-13-6 overall. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart both scored in the shootout while Florida goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky stopped shots from Eeli Tolvanen and Oliver Bjorkstrand. After missing Sunday’s game in New York with a stomach virus, Joey Daccord was Seattle’s star-of-the-game, stopping 32 shots, particularly against Aaron Ekblad on a shot late in the second period. ``We came home playing a good team, the Stanley Cup champs,” said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma, post-game. “That's gonna be a hard game. We battled it out tooth and nail. There are things we can know and need to do better in ...

  On a day when Michael Matyas became a part of Seattle sports trivia, the Seattle Kraken overcame the obstacles to defeat the New York Rangers yesterday afternoon for the team’s first ever win at Madison Square Garden. The Kraken fell behind 3-1 in the second period, scored five consecutive goals and then held on for a 7-5 victory. Seattle concludes a four-game East Coast road trip winning three out of four, including victories over the Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes, two of the league’s top teams. Shane Wright, with goals in the last three Kraken games, would score the sixth Kraken goal which proved to be the game winner. The Rangers cut the lead to 6-5 with two third period goals, but Yanni Gourde’s empty-netter wrapped things up.   Wright’s linemate, Oliver Bjorkstrand, was the game’s number-one star with two goals and two assists. However, the day started on an ominous note for Seattle. Joey Daccord, scheduled to start in goal for the Kraken, came down with a s...

  After a disastrous weekend where they lost twice to the cellar-dwelling San Jose Sharks, the Seattle Kraken have responded with a solid road trip with wins over the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the better teams in the league, and the New York Islanders. Last night, the Kraken faced another of the league’s East Coast elite, the New Jersey Devils. While the Devils outshot the visitors 36-19, en route to a 3-2 victory, the Kraken could take away some positives from the contest. Philipp Grubauer, who had a disastrous game against the Sharks last week, was solid in the nets, turning aside 32 shots. And a couple of the Jersey scores were definitely of the `fluky’ variety. The Devils tied the game, 2-2, in the second period when Jesper Bratt’s shot went off the shoulder of defenseman Adam Larsson and into the net. Timo Meier’s game-winner in the third, came when Vince Dunn failed to clear a loose puck from the crease and Meier tapped it past the net. When you add that Brandon Mon...

  After two disappointing losses to the lowly San Jose Sharks, the Seattle Kraken moved back into the victory column with a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. For one game at least, the line juggling by Kraken coach Dan Bylsma paid off. The victory improves the Kraken’s record to 11-13-1 on the season and ends a three-game losing streak. The Canes, 16-8-1, suffered their third consecutive loss after a fast start to the season. Yanni Gourde, normally a center, played right wing on a line with center Matty Beniers and left wing Jaden Schwartz, and that line accounted for six points. Gourde, the game’s number-one star, netted the game winner on a drive to the net, pouncing on a pass from Beniers (two assists). More impressively, the Kraken held the usually potent Carolina offense to 19 shots, a team that’s known for getting a lot of shots on net. Seattle would block a season-high 25 shots. Brandon Tanev, Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak would each have three block...

When followers of the Seattle Kraken looked at the NHL schedule a week ago, the Kraken appeared to be heading into a stretch where they could pick up standings points and move up the ladder in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kraken had four straight games against the bottom two teams in the Division – the Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks. Things started off well, when Seattle toppled the Ducks, 3-2, on Monday night. But then disaster struck as the Ducks and the Sharks once again proved the old cliché about games being played on the ice and not on paper. The Ducks beat the Kraken on Wednesday and post-Thanksgiving, last place San Jose swept the home-and-home series, culminating in last night’s 4-2 victory at Climate Pledge Arena. Instead of the six, seven or eight points that Kraken fans had visions of, Seattle could only muster two and after loss number two to San Jose, the Kraken drop to 11-13-1 overall and a tie for seventh place with the Sharks. ``Wh...