Those comeback kids showed up big tonight!
Now, onto tomorrow!
But First, the Highlights!
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader was Adam Larsson, who logged 22:36 tonight.
- The Kraken’s games lately have gone like this: Have a great first period, follow that up with a miserable second period, and then roll through and win in the third. This game, they decided on a slightly different script, wherein the Squids played a very sleepy, very unengaged 1st period that had a very different version of these Game Notes prepared, and then walked out to the ol’ comeback machine, revved it up, and went on an absolute tear; scoring six goals unanswered through the final 40 minutes, and absolutely ripping the game out of the Blackhawks’ hands. Just an outstanding roll-through from the Kraken. Now all they have to do is start doing that against extremely good teams, and we have the makings of a true contender!
- The Kraken got five players to score tonight, which has led to an interesting situation where Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, and Jared McCann, are all after Eeli Tolvanen and Jaden Schwartz in the Seattle Goalscoring race. While the fact that they’re all chasing 20 goals is a bit of a let-down, it’s still a marked improvement on where they were.
- Weird night on special teams, as Seattle only had one power play chance and gave up a goal on the PK…and that was about it; all assessed in the 1st period and then never re-opened after the fact. Partially because the Kraken were swarming the ‘Hawks so hard and so fast that they didn’t have much of a chance to commit much infractions, and partially because the refereeing in the NHL lately appears to be gearing up for playoff time. I mean that last part as derogatorially as I can.
- John Hayden and Pat Maroon had a confrontation off the opening faceoff that was less a fight and more Pat Maroon using his wingspan to his advantage to wail on poor Hayden. Hayden went on to have twice the on-ice impact of Maroon and Hayden’s team dropped six unanswered goals. The single definition of the phrase “Scoreboard” yelled in the most obnoxious way possible.
- Man…I thought I knew how bad the Hawks were but I really had my low expectations blown through the floor by how bad Chicago is. Building was a mausoleum all night, and they left passing lanes so open I’m pretty sure you could’ve drifted a Yaris through them. I know that the Kraken are frustrating, but there’s at least the semblance of hope here and there. Outside of Bedard, what hope is there in the ‘Hawks right now?
- Not a great start, but Joey Daccord finished his night with a .931 SV% under some heavy fire as the ‘Hawks seemed determined to take shots from as close to him as they could feasibly get. He needed a game like this, and I’m glad he got it. Great work from him!
Let’s Give a Hand To…
- Adam Larsson, who had a busy night tonight in getting the Kraken on the board, then being a direct enabler of the Kraken’s many, many, many cross-ice one timers that happened throughout the game, and ended his night with three points and the first star of the game. Well done, well done indeed!
- Shane Wright had a pair of goals; with his first coming off of a third chance opportunity with Brandon Montour and Michael Eyssimont taking bids on Spencer Knight, and then off of the many cross-ice bombs to a yawning cage, and ended up the 2nd star of the evening. Excellent night from him!
- Matty Beniers had a great assists to get Adam Larsson on the board, and then he got his good work paid back to him by Larsson handing him the keys to a free bomb from the circles to get an easy score and the third star. We’re gonna need more games like this next year, but it’s good to see the good stuff he does on ice, especially when it comes to responsibility with the puck, get rewarded.
- Jared McCann was one of the few players to not try to shoot into an open cage courtesy of a cross ice pass that may as well have had road signs beside the lanes, and instead put a missile past Spencer Knight in transition. Great stuff!
- Jordan Eberle was the beneficiary of one of the easiest scoring plays anyone can ever be part of; a pass directly to the middle of the ice where he got free reign to pick his shot, and chose top corner. Lovely little goal from him!
The Charts, via NaturalStatTrick.com
H e l p y o u r g o a l i e
The Kraken get no rest, as they take off to St. Paul to face the Minnesota Wild tomorrow at 6:30pm PT. Our preview will be going up at 7am, so be ready for it!
Thanks for reading, and as always
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.