This was the epitome of the kind of game they refer to as “They don’t ask how, they just ask how many.”
But first, the Highlights!
Game Notes
- Your TOI Leader tonight was Adam Larsson, who logged 24:56 tonight.
- This game was capital S Sloppy. It was sloppy steaks sloppy. The Kraken played tonight like they had experienced being locked in a sensory deprivation tank for 48 hours and were completely bewildered to have all that space to skate around in. This lead to defensive assignments abandoned or drifted away from, plays that extended a little too long, and puck security that felt completely back-asswards. This game was a real mess and it’s only through some hard course correction in the third period where the Kraken got two huge goals in under a minute that they were able to walk away from it with two points. That really cannot be the way they play this team on Wednesday; they need to bury them in the next 48 hours.
- The Power Play was almost supernaturally poor tonight as well. They gave up short-handed chance after short-handed chance and could barely find enough puck movement to actually try and give Lukas Dostal something to think about. I don’t know what Coach Campbell is doing while drilling these guys and building a power play behind the bench, but man she has got to figure out something different for them. It’s just not working.
- Leo Carlsson got sent to the back on a bodycheck from Tye Kartye that sent him careening into the net; knocking it off it’s pegs. He spent a scary amount of time on the ice, but managed to leave the ice under his own power; a good sign for him, but he didn’t finish the game. We don’t have any notes on what he’s dealing with, but hopefully he recovers quickly.
- On a similar note; Eddie Olzcyk lost his marbles over Kartye having to deal with the aftermath of that on his own (getting mobbed by a couple of Ducks) on the broadcast. I can understand wanting people to jump in to save your guy but like…everyone but Kartye was way up ice. Wait for people to get back into the defensive zone. Tye’s a tough kid. He can handle himself for fifteen seconds.
- Joey Daccord finished his night with a .913 SV% on 23 shots. Maybe a little below his standards, but given that his teammates were playing so far below their own personal standards he could probably get a weather report from hell on a couple of them, I think we can give him some slack.
Let’s Give A Hand To…
- Shane Wright! Back after three games on the bench, he ended up the single most impactful forward for Seattle tonight; with a goal, an all-important assist on Monty’s goal, he was everywhere on the ice tonight. I think he earned a star tonight, it’s criminal the NHL didn’t give him one.
- ANDRE BURAKOVSKY WHO SCORED AN ACTUAL NHL GOAL! HE LEARNED HE CAN DO THAT AGAIN! Holy crap did he need that, and tonight he finally got that gorilla of a monkey off his back with a tally in front of Lukas Dostal. It’s pretty easy to say he desperately needed something, ANYTHING to go in, and his goal being an important game tying goal, it can only help to spur something special in him. Here’s to many more!
- Brandon Montour once again proves to be the single most impactful signing that Ron Francis has ever made; he’s on a three game goal streak, which is a franchise first, and got the team ahead with a missile fed to him by Shane Wright.
- Ryker Evans had two assists tonight; a helper on Wright’s goal and on Burakovsky’s tally. Good on ya, Garth!
- The Penalty Kill did it’s job! Given how special teams was uh…bad tonight, this is something that they should be doing backflips over. They kept Anaheim 0-fer on their only power play of the evening.
The Charts, Via NaturalStatTrick.com
Did you like the Kraken playing the Ducks? Well good news! They’ll be doing that before Turkey Day! They get their chance to take revenge on Wednesday night in Seattle. That game drops the puck at 6:30pm.
We’ll see you there, and as always!
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.