André Burakovsky’s contributions to the Kraken’s slogging effort to defeat the New York Islanders 3-2– their fourth-straight win at home– are undersold by the scoresheet alone.
A single assist on Jared McCann’s third period game-tying goal is hardly the biggest takeaway from Saturday’s matinee. Joey Daccord’s impressive .917 SV% served as a safety net for an offense at a loss outside of pressure generated by the fourth line, and Jamie Oleksiak’s late blueline bomb made a back-and-forth contest winnable in regulation. Neither team held more than a one-goal lead.
Burakovsky’s pass off the neutral zone boards allowing McCann– tearing into the offensive zone alone– to fire on Ilya Sorokin from the slot and score seemingly pales in comparison to his teammates’ performances. But the play required timing, vision, and the execution to match, three things missing from the Swede’s slow start to the season.
Saturday, the winger opened up about it.
“It’s hard to play when you’re not really feeling a whole lot of confidence. That’s one thing I think has been coming back here in the last eight games or something, feeling confident having the puck. That was something I was maybe struggling [with] a bit before that– I got nervous, didn’t really know what to do, didn’t see the ice as well.
“It’s all up here,” he said, pointing to his forehead. “It’s nothing that you just forget.”
Twenty-four games have come and gone since Burakovsky last found the back of the net for Seattle April 9, a dry spell notably rearing its head after going shot-less and goal-less in the Kraken’s 8-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens Oct 29. While another goal wouldn’t have made a difference, scoring droughts are of greater concern when the afflicted forward is a top-six staple earning $5.5 million annually– 10% of the money Seattle is dedicating to offense this season– and can’t score even in a blowout win.
Injury to Vince Dunn and now Jordan Eberle deprives the roster of two of its biggest playdrivers on both ends of the ice, putting an even greater emphasis on scoring from the Kraken’s usual boxscore suspects. McCann hasn’t struggled to produce, leading in goals (9) and points (21). Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourde, and Tye Kartye have picked up some of the slack accumulating 12 points during the present homestand.
Gourde notched his first goal of the season against the Islanders, leaving Burakovsky and defenseman Josh Mahura the only skaters left without one. Newly reacquired winger Daniel Sprong had a single goal with the Vancouver Canucks, whom he began the season with.
Under these circumstances, and with Burakovsky replacing Eberle on the top line, the pressure’s on to produce.
“He’s a little bit snake bitten right now,” head coach Dan Bylsma said Friday at practice. “He’s a goal scorer, likes to have the puck on his stick and to be able to shoot it. And he’s had it there a number of times the last couple games. Just needs to get it off a little quicker, have a little more shooting mindset.”
With a four minute bump in ice time skating alongside McCann and Matty Beniers, Burakovsky sent three shots Sorokin’s way— the first time he’d done so since Oct 26’s 4-1 loss at home to the Carolina Hurricanes.
He explained to reporters that building offensive confidence is all about “keeping it simple.”
“Get into the game and feel good about those little things that you can do to build up some confidence. And then when you feel better and more secure about your play, maybe ramp it up a bit and try and take it to the next level. Then when you feel good about that, try and take it next level again.”
Puck handling, possession, and his presence as a shooter were all areas Bylsma felt Burakovsky excelled, and he wants him to feel confident after Saturday’s performance. After all, it was his pass to McCann that kickstarted a game-winning effort in the third period.
“[New York had] just scored the shorthanded goal and we needed to come up with a big play from our big players, and André did that with the pass to Canner,” the head coach said.
“That was more like an instinct play,” Burakovsky reflected. “That’s also one of those plays that I didn’t see earlier on in the season that are coming back. I know somewhere in my head that [McCann’s] going to be there, because that’s the way we play and [you have to] just trust your gut.”