Kraken `road warriors' show improvement
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 Montour shot wide of an open net in the game’s closing minutes it
was a rough night for the Kraken’s top defensemen.
However, as they
did against the Canes and the Islanders, the Kraken took an early lead (as
opposed to recent losses against the Sharks and Anaheim where they fell behind
and were `always chasing the game).
``We weren’t
happy with what happened those couple of games (last week) against San Jose and
Anaheim,’’ said Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen. ``But we showed up to Carolina
and then (Thursday) and again today. I think we just have to keep it simple and
work hard.”
Andre
Burakovsky opened the scoring for Seattle with a highlight reel goal.
Burakovsky, who missed two games as a healthy scratch (and he may not have
played last night except for an injury to Yanni Gourde), brought the puck out
of his own zone, motored through the Devils’ defense and wristed home a
10-footer past goalie Jacob Markstrom.
Burakovsky joins
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Shane Wright as players who’ve scored a goal in their
first game back after being a healthy scratch. Apparently, that’s the magic
elixir that coach Dan Bylsma has found to get players offense untracked. But
there wasn’t much doubt from his post-game comments that Burakovsky was not
pleased with his benching (which is fine with the Kraken. Nobody wants a player
who’s happy about being relegated to the pines).
“You don’t
really want to be in that situation when you’re playing in your 11th year
in the league,” Burakovsky said of the benching. “I mean, there have been a lot
of games that have been good and a lot of games where I haven’t felt my best.
The puck hasn’t really bounced my way, I think, this year.”
``I thought
it was a good response,” said Bylsma of Burakovsky’s return. “His scoring
ability and his playmaking ability is part of what makes us a good team. ``And
we’d like to continue to see it.”
Luke Hughes,
one of the defensemen that Burakovsky beat, tied the score before the end of
the first period.
The Kraken
regained the lead on Wright’s power play goal. For Wright, it was his fifth
goal in the last seven games and his second consecutive contest with a power
play marker.
Bratt’s goal
at 8:03 tied the game, and while the third period was the Kraken’s best of the
game the only score belonged to Meier and the Devils.
In the
Kraken victory over the Islanders, Dunn, just returning from a 17-game absence
with an upper-body injury, sparked the offense. Dunn’s first period drive from
the point was tipped in by Tye Kartye, four minutes into the contest. Later in
the period, Bjorkstrand tipped in a drive by Dunn.
The third
time was a charm for Dunn, whose third drive went directly into the net giving
the offensive-minded Kraken defenseman his second goal of the season.
The Kraken
have another tough game tomorrow when they complete their four-game road trip
with a matinee tilt against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
KRAKEN-DEVILS
Scoring Summary
First Period
S- Andre Burakovsky 2 (Vince Dunn) 10:16. NYI- Luke Hughes
(Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt) 12:27.
Second Period
S- Shane Wright 6 (Eeli Tolvanen 3, Jaden Schwartz 11) PPG,
3:41. NJ- Jesper Bratt (Jack Hughes, Brenden Dillon) 8:03.
Third Period
NJ- Timo Meier (unassisted) 0:53.
Shots on Goal- Seattle 19 (Bjorkstrand, McCann, Schwartz,
Stephens 3) New Jersey 36 (Noesan 3).
Hits- Seattle 24 (Eeli Tolvanen 7) Jersey (Nathan Legare 3).
Penalty Minutes- Seattle 4, Jersey 4.
Faceoffs- Seattle 51%. Jersey 49%
Blocked Shots- Seattle (Brandon Tanev, Adam Larsson 3). Jersey (Brett Pesci 3).
Referees- Eric Furlatt, Justin Kea. Linesmen- Steve Barton,
Matt MacPherson.
KRAKEN 5 ISLANDERS 2
Scoring Summary
First Period
S- Tye Kartye 3 (Vince Dunn 4, Adam Larsson 3) 2:48. S-
Oliver Bjorkstrand 7 (Dunn 5, Chandler Stephenson 16) PPG, 16:58.
Second Period
S- Dunn 2 (Larsson 4, Matty Beniers 10) 3:55. S- Shane
Wright 5 (Brandon Montour 11) 13:05.
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