“We got 20 games left. We came out of the break with 26 games left and we haven’t done
the job that we wanted to. It’s not too late, but it’s crunch time here.”
Seattle Kraken coach Lane Lambert
All season, Seattle Kraken observers – and maybe the coaching staff, too – have been baffled how the team could look so good one game, then so bad the following game.
Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena against the Nashville Predators, Seattle managed to display both their best and worst in the SAME game. The worst proved more powerful than the best in a 4-2 Nashville victory.
It couldn’t possibly have been Lambert’s game plan to have his team shoot from the nearly identical, nearly impossible angle. Yet that was the strategy resulting in 1st period goals by Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers. Seattle, averaging the third-lowest shots per game (25), had 19 after 20 minutes.
For all five games of their current homestand, the Kraken have scored first. But for the third consecutive contest, they surrendered that lead. Nashville scored three times in the middle frame, including a spectacular individual effort by rookie defenseman Ryan Ufko that left Kraken jockstraps in his wake.
Predators goalie Juuse Saros shined with 43 saves, keeping Seattle scoreless for the final 50 minutes, 14 seconds. Joey Daccord stopped 23 shots for the Kraken, who have lost three in a row and five of seven since the Olympic break.
1st Period
You take shots, see, because even if the first one is easily stopped, the second one might not be. Like, say, Shane Wright’s floater from a bad angle off the pads of Nashville goalie Juuse Saros. But Saros kicks the rebound into the slot, where Kakko deposits his 9th at 2:14.
Speaking of shots, Seattle takes the first seven SOG. The Preds don’t get one for more than nine minutes.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for Matty Beniers to score a goal from the spot he fired the puck. Yet, Beniers’ pinpoint shot from along the goal line by the near boards somehow squeezes between Saros and the far left post. Matty’s 17th, second in two games, gives Seattle a 2-0 lead at 9:46.
Wright’s bid for a goal of his own kisses the outside of the far left post. Chandler Stephenson with a snappy turnaround on goal, then Stephenson feeds ex-Predator Eeli Tolvanen for a tip try Saros denies. Jacob Melanson finds the right pipe unwelcoming, followed by testers by Wright and Kaako.
The Kraken outshot Nashville 19-7. It was such a dominant period, the official scorers even found that 19th shot well after the period ended.
2nd Period
What a difference a game makes. During the 2nd period on Saturday, Seattle trailed Ottawa in shots, 21-7. Tonight, 2 1/2 minutes into the middle frame, the Kraken LEAD in shots by that same 21-7 count.
Precise cross-ice passing puts Nashville on the board at 4:14. Fedor Svechkov dekes to the middle and feeds Tyson Jost . perfect placement over a diving Joey Daccord and under the crossbar.
Berkly Catton’s shot is Seattle’s 26th, exceeding their season average before this game is half over. Seattle appears to restore its two-goal lead at 9:46, but referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas immediately washes it out. The ruling is that as Wright’s shot beat Saros, defenseman Ryker Evans makes contact with the goalie.
From 3-1 Kraken, the Predators instead tie the game 33 seconds later. Showing no hometown loyalty, former WHL Seattle Thunderbird Reid Schaefer taps home Matt Wood’s rebound.
Saros makes a brilliant glove save on Kakko, shooting from between the circles. That becomes even more important when defenseman Ryan Ufko gives Nashville its first lead at 14:25. This is Ufko’s first NHL goal in his fourth league game – but if he can repeat the moves he made to undress the Kraken defense and Daccord, he’s got a bright future.
3rd Period
Beniers comes to the defense of teammate Jared McCann, after Justin Barron cross-checks McCann to the ice. While Beniers and Barron serve fighting majors, the Kraken go on the game’s first power play.
And oh is Saros, who looked shaky early, now dialed in. Freddy Gaudreau has one, then a second, then a third grade-A chance; the Nashville goalie imitates a brick wall on all three to keep the visitors in front. Seattle takes five total shots with the extra man, and are up to 41 for the game.
Evans may have saved a goal with a kneeling block on Roman Josi while Daccord was occupied at the other side of the net. But the Kraken will have to defend a Kaako slash – and they do. But after Gaudreau registered the 41st Seattle shot 2:38 into the period, the Kraken didn’t get another one for the next 12:03.
Seattle pulled Daccord for a sixth attacker with 1:54 left. No dice.
Up Next
The Seattle six-game homestand concludes Thursday against the NHL’s top team, the Colorado Avalanche. Following a Saturday night visit to Vancouver, the Kraken are back home for a pair vs. Florida on Sunday and Tampa Bay next Tuesday.