Roll the Highlight Reel!
Game Notes
Tonight was the 100th win for Hak and the Kraken franchise, a satisfying conclusion to a game filled with drama.
- Shooting. The Kraken started off aggressively. In the first period Calgary didn’t have their first SOG until there was about 7 minutes remaining and the 11 to 2 SOG differential in the first period was telling.
- The Martin Pospisil problem. In the first period, Adam Larsson took what looked like a dirty hit by Pospisil and no penalty was called. The fight between Tye Kartye and Pospisil seemed like inevitable response by sticking up for your teammates. But when Pospisil hit Vince Dunn from behind in the third period, forcing his head into the boards and causing him to leave the game, the Kraken had enough. Matty Beniers sent fists flying against him.
- Scoring. Andrei Kuzmenko of the Flames was a star of the game for a reason as he scored Calgary’s only two goals, but the Kraken had some real beauties. Yanni Gourde drew first blood in the first five minutes. Oliver Bjorkstrand answered a goal by Calgary in the second. Adam Larsson kicked off the explosive third period with a goal in the first minute. And finally, Jared McCann tenaciously scored a shorty to put a nice bow on the game.
- Hard-fought. Vince Dunn took a puck to the ear in the second period before the awful hit he took in the third. Brandon Tanev was hobbled after blocking a shot with his calf. Eeli Tolvanen took friendly fire in the third. Seattle had a total of 23 penalty minutes to Calgary’s 32 minutes. The game proved to be rough all around.
- And now, the fights. Tye Kartye threw hands against the aforementioned Pospisil and Brandon Tanev again proves to be a formidable fighter as he let off steam on Blake Coleman at the end of the third period.
Post-game Updates
After the game, Dave Haksdol was silent about Dunn’s condition, saying, “No, I don’t have any update right now” and calling the hit on Dunn “Garbage.”
“I though both hits were about as bad as you get,” he said.
In response to the hits, Jared McCann said, “They laid a hit earlier in the game that we didn’t really agree with and [Kartye] stepped up for him. It shows that we’re a tight-knit group and we’re going to stick up for each other.”
Adam Larsson, himself the object of a questionable hit, had one word to say about the hit on Dunn: “Unnecessary.”
Three Stars of the Game
⭐ Jared McCann (1G, 1A)
⭐⭐ Andrei Kuzmenko (2G)
⭐⭐⭐ Philipp Grubauer (.946 SV%)
Here’s tonight’s Natural Stat Trick heat map:
Next, the Kraken travel to Winnipeg to face the Jets in tough back-to-back games on the Canadian prairie. Game starts at 5:00pm pacific on Tuesday.
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