Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena provided a contrast in salary-cap era roster construction.
The Seattle Kraken, with plenty of complementary pieces but no bona fide superstars, hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs, top heavy with superstar talent, but perhaps without the remaining dollars to surround them with complementary pieces.
What the Leafs did bring to CPA is a red-hot power play, against a Seattle team taking far too many penalties (and 25th in the NHL killing them).
Bobby McMann’s 1st period PP goal was the fifth allowed by the Kraken in the last three games, putting Seattle behind 2-0 in a game they eventually dropped, 3-1. Playing for the first time since mid-December, Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 27 shots.
The Kraken failed to take full advantage of an unusual stretch – nine home games out of their last 10. In those nine, Seattle won four, lost four in regulation and one in a shootout, for nine of a possible 18 points. A missed opportunity because when the home stretch started Jan. 18, they were eight points out of a playoff spot. With those nine home dates spent, the Kraken stand nine points out of the second Wild Card spot.
1st Period
Stolarz returns after knee surgery and a 24-game absence. He’s tested by a Kraken power play 1:34 in, making two PK saves. On the first Leafs PP, a key shot block by Adam Larsson on Oliver Ekman-Larsson keeps the game scoreless.
The Kraken fail on a couple of clearing chances, giving Philippe Myers the opportunity to score from about the longest distance possible in the offensive zone. From the extreme right point, Myers’ first of the season (officially 66 feet) puts the visitors up 1-0 at 7:23.
Myers, determined to dominate the score sheet, goes to the box 88 seconds later. The Kraken’s seemingly mandatory shorthanded breakaway against per game comes early, to exactly the wrong guy, Mitch Marner. He does Seattle a solid by firing high and wide on Kraken goalie Joey Daccord.
Chandler Stephenson takes a four minute double minor for high-sticking at 17:06. The Kraken get a temporary reprieve when John Tavaras pushes a shot off the left post with the net yawning. However, Bobby McMann scores on a pretty deflection with 14 seconds remaining on the front half of the double minor, meaning the Kraken are both behind 2-0 and still on the PK.
2nd Period
More about the contrast in roster construction. Seattle doesn’t have any forwards who have scored 20+ goals; Toronto has four: William Nylander (33), John Tavares (21) Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies (20 each). When it comes to 10+ goal scorers, the Kraken have nine to the Leafs’ six.
When Seattle goes on its third power play, Stolarz is stellar in robbing Montour twice; the first on a rocket, the second glove-hand magic on a mid-range wrister. The goalie and defenseman were teammates on last season’s Florida Panthers Cup winners. After the second save, Stolarz had a wink and a smile for his former mate.
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Truculence. Unlikely Kraken combatant Oliver Bjorkstrand fights Toronto’s Simon Benoit. After fighting just three times during his first nine NHL seasons, Bjorkstrand has now had two bouts in the past month.
Knies lifts his stick to deflect a Jake McCabe shot past Daccord at 12:37 for an apparent 3-0 lead. Now Daccord is raising his stick, indicating to the Kraken bench that Knies’ stick made contact with the puck above the height of the crossbar, which isn’t allowed. Out comes the video tablet for referees Kyle Rehman and Carter Sandlak to review, and eventually confirm, their original “good goal” call.
Knies admitted to TSN that he went second in the fist-bump line at the Toronto bench “to try and hide a little bit” that he’d touched the puck, because, as he added, “It was a bit of a questionable call.” The Leafs TV panel believed the puck had been touched above the crossbar.
3rd Period
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The Leafs, who already employ defenseman Chris Tanev, have been rumored for weeks as in the running to acquire brother Brandon. For this night, though, the younger, forward Tanev brother was still skating with the blue “S” on his jersey.
Although the 3rd period has been Seattle’s best, the Leafs are a league-best 22-0-0 when leading after two periods.
Cue the Seattle comeback attempt. Eeli Tolvanen rips his 16th goal of the season past Stolarz, with Daccord recording one of the assists, to bring Seattle within 3-1 at 5:43. Tolvanen beautifully hid the puck with traffic in front so the goalie didn’t have time to react.
With 3:08 left, Seattle went on its firth power play (0-for-4 to this point), and pulled Daccord for a 6-on-4 advantage. It didn’t produce a goal.
Up Next
The Kraken, now done at home until March, have one more game before the mandatory league break for the 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament. They travel to Calgary Saturday to rematch with the Flames, who defeated them 3-2 at CPA on Feb. 2. The Kraken will have one representative in the 4 Nations, Kaapo Kakko, who will play for Team Finland.