Kraken back in the victory column
Seattle
hockey fans long nightmare is over.
Actually, it
was ONLY five straight losses for the Seattle Kraken. But last night’s 3-2
overtime victory against the Los Angeles Kings was a little bit sweeter because
this contest had a lot of similarities to some of the Kraken’s recent losses.
The Kraken
were playing a solid game against their Pacific Division rivals, doing
everything but putting the puck in the net. LA goaltender Anton Forsberg
stopped everything shot his way and when Kevin Fiala scored with under six
minutes remaining (with the Kraken’s Ryker Evans serving a high-sticking,
double minor), there was a collective feeling of `hear we go again’ filling
Climate Pledge Arena.
Then with 34
seconds remaining, Forsberg received a tripping penalty against Jared McCann as
the Kraken buzzed around the Kings’ net. With goaltender Joey Daccord pulled,
Seattle capitalized on the two-man advantage six seconds later. Eeli Tolvanen
shot from a bad angle, but Matty Beniers deflected the shot into the net with
26 seconds remaining.
In the
overtime frame, the Kings’ Adrian Kempe was whistled off for slashing giving the
Kraken another manpower advantage. The Kraken quickly took advantage, as passes
from Jordan Eberle and Tolvanen led to a game-winning 20-foot slapper from
Vince Dunn. Once again, the Kraken PA could play John Forslund’s signature, `that’s
Kraken hockey baby.’
“Our mindset
was the same entering the final minute because we were in the same position
we’ve been in a couple of times,” said Kraken head coach Lane Lambert. “And I
thought our guys did a great job of executing when we needed to execute, first
on the 6-on-5, and then after the penalty on the 6-on-4. We’ve had some losses
here, some tough losses at home where we played well. We were playing well here
again tonight and I’m just happy for our players that they finally got rewarded
for it.”
Last night’s
contest marked the first time this season that the Kraken scored multiple goals
on the power play. All three scores came while Seattle had a man advantage.
``Five-on-five
we had our chances,’’ said Dunn. ``But I didn’t see a lot of frustration (when
the Kraken failed to score). We trusted our process right to the end.’’
After a
lackluster first period, Dunn set up Jared McCann for the Kraken’s first goal
when he centered a pass to the Kraken forward in the slot. The Kings,
statistically have the worst power play in the league, but they notched a
short-handed goal at 8:16 of the second period.
Brandon
Montour appeared to collide with Mason Marchment at the blue line and Joel Amia
stole the puck for LA and sent Alex Laferriere away on a breakaway.
With the
victory, Seattle improves its record to 12-10-6 on the season. The Kraken
travel to Utah on Friday and host Buffalo in a 5 PM tilt on Sunday.
KRAKEN-WILD
The Seattle
Kraken again couldn’t generate enough offense and dropped a 4-1 decision to the
Minnesota Wild Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
The good
news for Seattle is that 9-4 drubbing to the Edmonton Oilers a week ago was a
one-off event as the team has returned to a tight defensive game.
Philipp
Grubauer in the Kraken net, playing his best hockey since Seattle’s only trip
to the NHL playoffs two years ago, led the way with 25 saves. The final score wasn’t
indicative of the game as the Wild picked up two empty net goals in the final
two minutes
Marcus
Johansson, a Kraken in the first half of their initial service (some years the
NHL trade deadline doesn’t seem complete if Johansson isn’t moved to another
team, he’s played for six, including Minnesota and Washington twice) scored the
winning goal, tipping in Joel Eriksson Ek’s shot.
The Kraken
thought they’d tied the game moments later, but the score was called back as Seattle’s
Tye Kartye batted the puck home with his stick above the goal crease.
The teams
swapped goals after a scoreless first period. After Eriksson (the game’s
number-one star) gave the Wild a 1-0 lead, Jordan Eberle followed with a
power-play goal at 6:48 off passes from Chandler Stephenson and Jared McCann.
Kirill
Kaprizov, who has 18 goals on the season, and Vladimir Tarasenko, added the
empty netters.
KRAKEN-KINGS
Scoring
Summary
First Period
No scoring.
Second
Period
S- Jared McCann 4 (Vince Dunn 11, Chandler Stephenson 10) PPG, 3:21.
LA- Alex Laferriere (Joel Amia) SH 8:16.
Third Period
LA- Kevin Fiala (Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe) PPG 14:40.
S- Matty Beniers 14 (Eeli Tolvanen 10, Dunn 12) PPG 19:34.
Overtime
S- Dunn 5 (Tolvanen 11, Jordan Eberle 8) PPG 1:21.
Saves- LA: Anton Forsberg 30 of 33. S: Joey Daccord 22 of 24.
Three Stars-
1. Vince Dunn 2. Joey Daccord 3. Matty Beniers.
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