FINALLY.
But first, the Highlights!:
Game Notes:
- Your TOI Leader for tonight was Vince Dunn with 22:55 logged!
- After four games of abject torture, this felt like a breath of fresh air and sunlight after being locked underground. Nearly every Kraken forward came away with a point tonight, they attacked the net with aplomb and kept the Hurricanes guessing for at least 40 minutes of play, and then when the Canes regrouped, they regrouped big as well. It wasn’t always pretty; being up 4-1 and then having to climb back into your own 7-4 victory is never ideal, but my god…they showed up. The Kraken I knew they could be actually showed up.
- I’m gonna talk about him later in the plaudits section but Tye Kartye ended up being my personal first star; even through the long stretch of game he didn’t have a point, he was involved nearly everywhere, and capped it off with both his first regular season goal and his first NHL fight. That fourth line found a kind of exceptional chemistry that paid major dividends tonight. They were all over the Canes and the Canes had no answer for them.
- The PK finally gave up it’s first goal of the year, but if that’s what has to happen to get these squids scoring, then I will happily take the hypothetical 3-1 win every time.
- Jaden Schwartz left the game during the 2nd period and didn’t return. It’s unknown at this time what ails him, but we hope it’s nothing serious. It’s a shame, he got this whole thing going and deserves credit for it.
- Daccord kept this team in a lot of this game as the Canes came out swinging. I do not agree with the .889 SV%; as far as I’m concerned his first two periods helped the Kraken win this game. Certainly not going to complain in a night where the Kraken chased the opposing netminder and made his replacement look not all that great either.
- Gonna have to bring myself back to the Dominik Hasek-brain space to watch Daccord from now, I think. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he listed Tim Thomas as an inspiration for playstyle after being that aggressive all night.
Let’s give a hand to!:
Oh boy this list is gonna be pretty long but who cares?
- Vince Dunn! Dunner had an exceptional night; finishing with 3 points, a goal, and was critical on getting the team going at multiple points through the game.
- Jared McCann! He explained the offense as thus, and contributed mightily to it:
“We just had to stick with it. We weren’t going to get down on each other. We’re going to pick each other up and be positive.”
So points not just for keeping the offense going, but also for being a ray of sunshine during some stormy times in Seattle’s forecheck. - Ollie Bjorkstrand! For being the forward version of Vince Dunn; three points, played like his hair was on fire, and in general was quietly extremely strong. Good for him.
- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare! I’ve given PEB plenty of grief throughout the early season, but he had a hell of a bounce back game that kickstarted the fourth line’s resurgence. Pretty great short-handed bid as well, excellent patience on the play.
- Yanni Gourde! For kicking this whole thing off on an incredible shift from himself, Tolvanen, and Burakovsky. He was, like most Kraken players tonight, all over the Canes and it was a great change of pace from what we’ve seen so far!
- Tye Kartye! The Kartye Partye couldn’t have picked a better time to get started. Pretty much everyone who had a microphone in their face post-game praised his energy and work ethic, as well as his willingness to go do a little extracurricular physicality in order to stand up for his teammates. This kid is going to make a ton of fans out of himself if he keeps this up.
- Joey Daccord! For keeping these squids in this game when the Canes were pressing hard. Well done, Joey. Well done.
- Dave Hakstol! For finally making some switchups in the lines and getting results from it. Keep that attitude, skipper!
Let’s all celebrate and check out the charts from NaturalStatTrick.com!
I’m not even gonna make any comment about it! They won! Who cares, this is how the Canes play most of the time! Seattle stayed with ’em!
The Kraken have one more game at home and it’s against the New York Rangers on Saturday night! That game drops the puck at 7pm PT!
We will see you there, and it feels so good to say this:
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.