The state of the Kraken

There’s been a declaration made on some on-line sites that the Seattle Kraken are a boring team to watch.

The Kraken won’t ever be mistaken for the Edmonton Oilers- the Wayne Gretzky or Connor McDavid versions- in fact, just the opposite. Only one team in the NHL, the Nashville Predators (50) have scored fewer goals than Seattle (57). In fairness to the Kraken, arguably their two best pure goal scorers- Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko have missed most of the season with injuries.

Conversely, maybe more importantly? – only three teams have given up fewer goals than Seattle. The Kraken have allowed 59, trailing Pittsburgh (58), Philadelphia (56) and Colorado (50).

New head coach Lane Lambert implemented a structured system since Day One of training camp, and it’s paid dividends for a club that’s made the playoffs only once in its previous four years of existence.

The mark of a solid goaltender is a save percentage over .900, stopping at least nine out of every ten shots. The Kraken have not one, not two, but three goalies over .900 this season-Joey Daccord, who has started 14 of 22 contests this season and may have a shot at the US Olympic team, boasts a .909 mark, followed by Phillip Grubauer (.912) and Matt Murray (.922), currently on the injured list.

That’s a big reason why only four teams have more standings points than the Kraken, Colorado (16-1-5, 37 points), Dallas (13-5-4, 30), Carolina (14-6-2, 30) and Anaheim (14-7-1, 29). The Kraken are 11-5-6, placing them one point behind the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.

Seattle concluded a grueling road trip- four games in seven days- with a 1-0 shootout loss to the New York Islanders, yesterday afternoon. After losing the opener at Detroit, 4-2, the Kraken did grind out a couple of gritty, back-to-back come from behind victories.

Daccord (along with Islanders’ netminder David Rittich) earned a shutout last night after a scoreless 60 minutes and an overtime frame. Daccord had 34 saves in the Kraken net.

Freddy Gaudreau, known more his faceoff prowess and penalty killing, started the shootout for the Kraken. Gaudreau zig-zagged in front of the net so many he times he probably gave Rittich a headache before sliding a shot home.

Daccord stopped 34 shots and Mathew Barzal, the former Seattle Thunderbird who was probably the Islanders best forward last night, leaving Bo Horvat, the final hope for the Islanders.

In real time it looked like Horvat’s shot hit the top crossbar, but replays showed that he caught a piece of the back of the net for a score. Rittich then stopped Chandler Stephenson and Kyle Palmeiri notched the game winner.

In their two previous games, the Kraken were anything but boring. On Wednesday night, the Kraken fell behind the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-0, after two periods. But Seattle’s fortunes changed when defenseman Brandon Montour fired a shot from the point that hit off both Oscar Fisker-Molgaard (playing his first NHL game) and Tye Kartye, who was credited with the goal.

Ryker Evans tied the game with a shot that found its way into the net with Shane Wright screening in front. After the Blackhawks’ star forward Connor Bedard picked up an ill-advised penalty for yapping at the refs with two-plus minutes remaining, Jaden Schwartz scored the game winner. Standing to the right of the net, Schwartz tipped home the pass from Montour.

On Friday, the Kraken notched another 3-2 victory. The home town Pens outshot the visitors, 32-21, but maybe Seattle deserved a win when the refs put their whistles away in overtime. Montour was cross-checked, which led to what could have been a game winning breakaway.

Fortunately for the Kraken, Kris Letang’s shot hit the post. Grubauer playing one of his best games may have got a piece of the shot. Montour would get his revenge moments later, when he one-timed a drop pass from Gaudreau into the net.

Mason Marchment, scoring for the first time in 19 games, gave the Kraken an early lead, but goals from superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 third period lead. Matty Beniers sent the game into overtime with a wrist shot off a pass from Marchment at 12:36.

The Kraken return to Climate Pledge Arena, Wednesday night, for a pre-Thanksgiving tilt with the Dallas Stars.