Let’s just fast forward to Tuesday night.
If you can stand it, the Highlights:
Game Notes:
- Your TOI leader was Vince Dunn, with 22:31 logged.
- What a game this was. The Kraken did everything right, largely controlled play, and forced Laurent Brossoit to be the best kind of player he could be, and it once again came down to some extremely stupid bounce that put the Squids in a hole early. It’s easy to play what-if in a game like that, but the Kraken couldn’t finish in a game they were otherwise in the driver’s seat for.
- Also not gonna hold this game against Grubauer. Some absolutely wild bounce cause a goal against and that put him in a weird position. He played fine otherwise but…man, this is that Details thing I was talking about last year; you cannot be your own worst enemy here.
- You may remember this kind of game from it’s place in the inaugural season, where a weird bounce would herald a play-from-behind scenario all game, they’d get so close to tying it…and then they’d pull the goalie and forget how to manage the puck for the final minute-minute and a half. I sincerely do not know what David Hakstol needs to do in order to drill this particular aspect of the game but he must figure something out.
- I’m just glad we no longer need to see the Vegas Golden Knights until potentially deep into the playoffs. Screw this team.
Any Brightsides?:
- Sure! It was end of season award day!
- Vince Dunn received the Pete Muldoon MVP Award. Given that Dunn finished the year with 64 points and was a major component of anything getting done on offense this year, I have no disagreements here. Congrats to Vince.
- Jaden Schwartz received the Guyle Fielder Award; given out to the player who showed the most sportsmanship and on/off-ice leadership. Schwartzy’s been through quite a bit, so it’s good to see him come back, show a little fight and have a respectable season.
- Jared McCann won the Three Stars of the Year award, for most consecutive games as one of the three stars of the Kraken’s season. He had a career year and man he got REALLY good at yeeting fish. Let’s hope that continues into the playoffs!
- Matthew Beniers won the Fan Favorite Award. If you need to be told why, please go back and watch this and how loud Climate Pledge got. Seattle loves Matty, and will likely love him for years.
- In spite of the loss, the Kraken finished their season in the playoffs and having made an unreal 40 point improvement on their inaugural season. That’s incredible improvement for an expansion team. I am so proud of all these players, and you should be too.
- Jaden Schwartz got his 21st goal of the season, bringing the total number of 20+ goal scorers on the Kraken on the season to six!
- We do not ever need to think about the Knights again until the 2023-24 season, or until deep into the playoffs.
Playoff Update:
Well, it’s two-fold.
First of all, the Kraken finish their season at 46-28-8, with 100 Points even, and are expected to play the #1 seeded team of the Central Division. As of right now, it’s looking like it will be the Dallas Stars who Seattle will face in the first round. However, if the Colorado Avalanche beat Nashville tomorrow night, they will leapfrog Dallas and be their first round opponent. We’ll see how that game shakes out in order to better tell you who’s up.
Second, and this one stings…Andre Burakovsky will not be joining the Kraken for the playoffs. He will be expected to miss six weeks recovering from surgery, and that puts them deep into round 3, assuming they get that far. That’s a major blow to the Kraken, and I genuinely wish him well.
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win Our First Playoff Game
Let’s grouse about the results while looking at the NaturalStatTrick.com Charts:
A moment of sincerity:
Dear reader, from Sean, Em, Dan, Zaiem, Mel, and myself…thank you.
Thank you for not giving up on us. or sticking with us through the scariest moment in our Kraken-covering lives when we were told that this wouldn’t have the Vox backing anymore. We thank you for being engaged, willing to learn, willing to help each other with rules, and willing to just be good fans. For giving when all you would receive in return is our thoughts, analysis, and opinion on the Seattle Kraken hockey club.
We genuinely, sincerely, could not have done this or do any of this without you, or yourr help. This website would be dead and buried as a view aggregator for people who don’t care about you, nor about your fandom for this brand new team that has done nothing but be a net positive for the Pacific Northwest. You are the reason DJLR continues into the modern day. We are not perfect, we still have to make some changes here and there in order to be at what we think is the best possible form, but we have an entire offseason to worry about that. Just knowing we have an audience like you is the best comfort you can ask for.
We’re looking forward to enjoying the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with you guys.
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.
-Sky
The Kraken’s postseason aspirations in all likelyhood begin on Tuesday, but their foe will be decided tomorrow, as the Avs take on the Preds.
When that game ends, we will let you know the who, the when, and the where.
Let’s enjoy a crazy playoff run together.