Let’s have a chat.
But first, Highlights
Game Previews
- Your TOI leader was
- The Kraken once again had a miserable start to this game and spent the entirety of the following two periods trying their good goddamnedest to get back in to the game. This isn’t exceptionally new for the Kraken, they’ve done this before, but unlike during their boom period of this season, this did not end with an overtime heartbreaker or something like that. The Kraken learned in no uncertain terms that this is Go Time for the NHL, and the Jackets, who need to create separation on no less than four different teams in the east, and the Kraken, who should have been ready for this, have played disinterested, sloppy, and aggressively mediocre hockey since the Olympic break. This game was absolutely no different, and now they’re on the outside looking in with more and more points beginning to slip away.
- Brandon Montour, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, and Ryan Lindgren all had one of their worst outings as a Kraken tonight; with all four being well under 40% in CF%, FF%, and xGF%. If you’re new to analytics, that basically mean they spent the game getting shelled when they were on the ice and boy did it feel it. I’m happy for Dunner for scoring, but if that’s the effort you’re putting in front of your goaltender then I’m not giving out pity points for that; this was a lousy game for the Kraken defense and a bad sign for Seattle if this is what’s possible for them.
- Kaapo Kakko really has found another gear since the Olympics; he’s got six points in his last four games. What a pity the Kraken haven’t found a way to truly capitalize on it.
- Special teams were actually pretty good for Seattle! they went 3-for-3 on kills and scored on their one power play of the game! It was the 5-on-5 play and specifically the 1st period that doomed them!
- An .852 SV% is probably what you can expect for a goalie who struggled to find much help while out in front. Joey didn’t have his best night, but I don’t know if any more than two of the goals scored against tonight were 100% his fault.
- While we’re here…let’s talk deadline. We didn’t do an article on it, because frankly I think we covered it once the games resumed after the deadline, but the Kraken went and made a wild swing to get Artemi Panarin, and promptly decided that they’d be fine with Bobby McMann. Now, I happen to enjoy Bobby McMann on the Kraken, but he is a symptom of a bigger problem on the decision making in Seattle that this guy was effectively it. This team has been in dire need of high end shooting talent for years at this point, and combining this with Lane Lambert’s system suddenly malfunctioning badly when it comes to net-front defense with no real way to score their way out of problems has left them in a position where they are faltering. They don’t control the puck enough, and they don’t have the shooting talent to compensate. At one point they had the goaltending and the puck luck. Now, they just have about half the goaltending, no luck, and no 5-on-5 play. I’m sure GM Jason Botterill recognized this was a possibility; after all, he was the guy who swung for Panarin…but I’m not sure he realized how hard he probably should’ve gone looking for a player like him; I think the Kraken seriously misjudged just how “open” the western conference really is.
- The theoretically very winnable game is on Tuesday, then it’s Tampa and Buffalo. If you wanna prove you’re for real, now has never been a better time to buck your game up and show some improvement.
Was there anything good about this game?
- Kaapo Kakko squeaked a goal past Elvis Merzlikens while staring him straight down, which is just awesome. He had that power play tally and an assist on Vince Dunn’s goal.
- Vince Dunn scored, and that’s about the extent of the positives of his game tonight.
- Penalty Kill went 3-for-3!
The Chartz, via NaturalStatTrick.com
The road trip continues on as the Kraken head to Florida to face a flagging Panthers squad on Tuesday evening. That game is at 4pm PST.
We’ll see you there.
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.