Yeah I think I’m comfortable selling after this one.
Fire up the phones, Ronnie.
Here is what counts for Highlights:
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader was Brandon Montour, who played 24:16 tonight.
- The thing about losing an Oliver Bjorkstrand is that while his offensive gains are pretty solid, his responsibility with the puck and defensive capacity. The ability to leave your own end without the fear of something absolutely ridiculous going wrong is something that a lot of this defense hasn’t been able to do consistently this season, and boy howdy did that suddenly become a big problem. This was a cavalcade of mistakes
- In a lot of ways, this felt an awful lot like the return of Inaugural Season Kraken; where while they do get beat, they also help beat themselves in new and exciting ways. That feeling of “Back to Square One” is a little demoralizing because it’s come up more than once since the 2022 season. I really want to believe in some of these guys, I do, but the fact we keep coming back to “hapless” as a phrase to describe individual performances is getting a little frustrating.
- This was a bad night for Joey Daccord. Excusing of course some of the nonsense happening in front of him (like your own teammate tipping a shot through), some shots that had no business being scoring chances ended up getting past him, and he finished the night with an .879 SV%. The worst part is…there’s not much help behind him or in front of him for the next 20ish games. The Kraken need to help their damn goalie, he can’t steal games this screwed up.
- If the Kraken want to really improve, they desperately need to figure out a way to re-vamp their defense and quick. They’re slow, they’re unmotivated, and in spite of their size, not terribly interested in imposing their will, and it showed on the stat sheets. It’s the thing I’ve been hammering home all season: half-measures don’t work. These players need to commit to their defensive game, even if it means coming out of the play for a second or two. That’s a forwards and defenseman problem, but the defense corps’ issues with this are the worst of any of them.
- The Kraken are truly in a death spiral; having only won 3 of their last 10, and only 2 of those in regulation. It’s time for significant change.
- It’ll all be worth it for Michael Misa…It’ll all be worth it for Michael Misa…It’ll all be worth it for Michael Misa…
Was there anything good about this game?
Yes, and that’s why it’s frustrating! There was genuinely cool stuff in here!
- Adam Larsson scored the opening goal less than a minute into the game, with Kaapo Kakko and Vince Dunn getting the assists.
- The Power Play did something! Jared McCann potted home a late goal to get Seattle a tally on their third try at the man-advantage of the night
- Jacob Melanson had his NHL Debut! Still looking for an NHL point, but it was nice to see the Kraken try out the youngster, and he drew the penalty that got Jared McCann his goal tonight. I think more data is needed, but I’m positive on him coming out of tonight.
- Michael Eyssimont had his Kraken Debut and scored in it! I really liked Eyssimont in Tampa, and I’m glad he’s bringing that level of competitiveness he showed there to get a nice tip in. He also went to the net! Fancy how that goes, huh?
- The Draft Position bay beeeeeeee- Glenn will clue you in on how that’s changed in his own work.
The Charts, via NaturalStatTrick.com
Completely and utterly out-possessed by these Preds. These Preds! I simply refuse to believe you’re actually that bad.
The Kraken play next on Saturday against the Flyers at 12:30pm, but before that; the NHL Trade Deadline will likely mean more change is coming to this squad. At least, it should be. The Deadline comes at Noon PST, and we’ll be covering it as it happens right here on DJLR.
We’ll see you for all of that, thank you for reading, and as always
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.