Squids blank Wild 4-0, claim Washington as the new State of Hockey

The Kraken went more than a little wild tonight!

But first, the Highlights!

Game Notes

• Your TOI leader for tonight’s game was Vince Dunn at 23:46 across all situations, and Adam Larsson at 5-on-5 with 21:49 logged.
• If you were wondering where John Forslund’s energy went on the broadcast during the later part of the third, I think at that point is that the Kraken’s success in the game...felt routine? The Kraken took full control of this game early, and the Wild only really had a couple of shifts where they were able to claw anything back in the second period...after which the Kraken began their goalscoring and that kind of put a stop to anything the Wild had to say about the matter. They didn’t just win, they mostly utterly dominated the Wild and mostly made it look easy. Don’t take my word for it, take the Wild’s head coach for it!
• The Kraken were up in Marc Andre Fleury’s grill all night and it paid off huge. Including one very funny bounce-off-his-back goal that I was so happy counted. I cannot confirm this in any way because I think the data for it is impossible to quantify, but I think the hallmark of a good team getting a dominant win is a goal that goes in off of a weird play. Alex Wennberg got the first star of the game and in my eyes, he earned that on the exact moment the puck bounced off of Wennie’s noggin.

• Who knew Big Rig had a shot like that? It helps that Yanni Gourde was once again a playmaking force but sheesh big fella, where are you keeping that?
• A clean sheet for Martin Jones, who was of course excellent, making some quality saves in traffic and getting a little help from his defense, who defended his net=front with aplomb. He really only had to work hard during the 2nd period, as the Wild dropped a combined 10 shots on goal across the first and last period of play on him.
• SHANE WRIGHT WATCH: Wright appreciators one and all across this beautiful state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest in general: I have some excellent news for you; not only did Shane Wright play above 10 minutes in this game, but he also got power play time! He also looked a little better; still getting pushed around a bit, but very much in control. We can only hope he manages to get a couple more rushes and more time on ice while Jared McCann recovers. He could play upwards of 12 minutes in the near future. TWELVE!
• Maybe if Allen Walsh pulled that sword he swears Pete DeBoer put into MAF’s chest out, he’d play better.
• Keep calm, and Post Zoidberg when we win.

The Kraken are going to see a number of rematches in the coming week, starting with the Pens on Saturday in Pittsburgh; that game starts at 4pm PT. We’ll see you there! Go Squids!