Featured photo: Daniel Sprong, seen in warmups, reclaims his familiar #91 Seattle Kraken sweater.
During his playing days, Seattle Kraken coach Dan Bylsma looked forward to afternoon starts. “No morning skate, just go out and play the game,” Bylsma said just before the 1 pm Pacific Time puck drop against the New York Islanders at Climate Pledge Arena. “Then, after you win, you have the rest of the evening to enjoy it.”
The Kraken earned the right to enjoy their Saturday night, rallying for a pair of 3rd period goals to grind out a 3-2 victory over New York. It wouldn’t have been possible without the 4th line, who are at this point misnamed. Yanni Gourde (one goal, one assist), Brandon Tanev (two assists) and Tye Kartye led the way.
Jamie Oleksiak scored the game-winner in the final four minutes. Joey Daccord made a late game-saver on Brock Nelson’s shorthanded breakaway. The Kraken have won all four games on their six game homestand.
1st Period
Kraken captain Jordan Eberle, who slammed awkwardly into the boards during the 2nd period of Thursday’s victory over Chicago, has been ruled out of both weekend games. That opened up a roster spot for new (re)acquistion Daniel Sprong, who cleared his immigration hurdles prior to the game.
Although Eberle and first-pair defenseman Vince Dunn are big missing pieces for Seattle, they’ll get no sympathy from the Islanders. Anthony Duclair, Alexander Romanov, Mathew Barzal, Adam Pelech, and Mike Reilly are all sidelined.
Yanni Gourde may never have scored an uglier goal, nor one that felt better. Without a score in his first 17 games, Gourde parked himself at the blue paint. 4th line mate Brandon Tanev came around the net, firing a shot which perhaps nicked Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. The carom bounced off Gourde’s chest (or his neck guard?) and in for a 1-0 Kraken lead at 8:10.
New York’s special teams have been dreadful – 31st on the power play, 30th on the penalty kill. However, Seattle doesn’t test them when Noah Dobson trips Jared McCann at 10:07.
New York has had the better scoring chances in the period, and cash in to tie the game 1-1 at 13:38. Jaden Schwartz breaks his stick; Ryan Pulock takes advantage, walking down the slot before firing a heavy shot that Daccord pads away. However, Pierre Engvall gets inside position on Oliver Bjorkstrand to chip the rebound home.
Shots finish 11-9 Seattle after 20 minutes, goals 1-1.
2nd Period
The 4th line drives play as they have all season, leading to a right point laser from Will Borgen which Sorokin tracks and grabs.
A speeding puck deflects directly over the head of Islanders coach Patrick Roy at the visitors’ bench. He does not attempt to catch the puck. Patrick Roy is a smart man.
Seattle gets a second chance to exploit the Isles’ PK, when Kyle Palmieri is called for holding. A Brandon Montour long-range missle is absorbed by Sorokin. Set up in the bumper position, Bjorkstrand fires wide.
During a delayed penalty on the Kraken, Seattle goalie Joey Daccord makes his best of a basket of good saves this afternoon. Casey Cizikas floats across the low slot with a lot of net to shoot at, but Daccord stays with him to make the stop. The Islanders retain possession for a full 50 seconds until Seattle can touch the puck.
That makes 17:19 the official time of Jaden Schwartz’s hold. Daccord rejects Simon Holmstrom in close, and blockers away Dobson from long range. After the penalty is killed, the Islanders keep the pressure on until the home team is saved by the bell – or more accurately, the end of period horn.
New York outshot Seattle 11-6 in the middle stanza, but the score remains unchanged.
3rd Period
Statistically, no one should be surprised the Kraken and their opponent have scored the same number of goals today. Through 17 games, Seattle has scored exactly 3.00 goals per game, and given up exactly 3.00 goals per game. We may be here until the end of time.
At 3:07, Matty Beniers knifes between New York defenders on his way to the goal, forcing Maxim Tsyplakov into a hooking minor. However, the Kraken realize their worst nightmare – a shorthanded break by Brock Nelson with Daniel Sprong the lone defender. For those who don’t know, Sprong’s deficiencies in his own end are the reason he’s lost jobs in Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Washington, Seattle, Detroit and Vancouver.
If that’s not enough foreshadowing, Nelson did indeed score shorthanded for a 2-1 Islanders lead at 4:49.
To the Kraken’s credit, they don’t hang their heads. Just 37 seconds after losing the tie, Jared McCann gets it back on a breakaway snipe of his own. It’s McCann’s fourth goal in his last five games, and team-leading 9th of the season. Andre Burakovsky’s tape-to-tape cross ice pass made the play possible.
Bylsma outdoes his Hall-of-Fame goalie coaching counterpart Roy. He makes a fine catch of a puck which tumbled into the Kraken bench, then treats a fan to a souvenir.
Sorokin stones Burakovsky and McCann to keep the game tied. At the other end, Anders Lee hits the crossbar.
Tanev, who’s been everywhere this afternoon, creates havoc again. Gourde sends the puck out to the line, where Jamie Oleksiak blasts the puck off Nelson and past a surprised Sorokin with 3:13 left. The Islanders challenge for goalie interference – by Tanev, who else – but the referees don’t agree. Not only do the Kraken keep their 3-2 lead, New York is assessed a delay of game penalty.
Amazingly, Nelson gets another shorthanded breakaway, this one more cold-turkey than the first. Daccord, who thought about skating to the blueline, realizes he can’t win the race. So he stays put and makes the game-saving stop as Nelson attempted to go five-hole.
The Kraken hang on for a 3-2 win.
Up Next
The New York, New York weekend set concludes Sunday, with a 6 pm faceoff against the Rangers. The Blueshirts have been idle since edging the Sharks 3-2 in San Jose on Thursday. New York (10-4-1) has won five of its first six road games.