Well, if there’s any positive that comes out of this, it won’t be Jason Botterill deluding himself into thinking this team has a chance.
Here is what I must call highlights
Game Notes
- Your TOI Leader was Vince Dunn, who logged 22:19 tonight.
- Maybe it was the back to back, maybe it was rust, maybe it was restarting their season on the road, but it feels like something is very off about the Kraken right now. This is not the same team that was happily keeping up with the best with their strategy. They just look absolutely unengaged or actively incompetent on every other shift, and that is bad news for a team that is now clinging to life on a wildcard spot with the trade deadline looming. The Blues had near uncontested access to Philipp Grubauer and the Kraken paid for this in blood.
- The Power play fell flat again, which is frankly unacceptable given how they didn’t even have a penalty kill all night; leaving a 0-for-3 power play which would’ve REALLY helped keep the momentum going after the game tying goal in the 1st.
- Speaking of the 1st period, that’s the second game in a row the Kraken have had a miserable start that has followed them throughout a game and we are worryingly looking at it becoming a trend. That has to get cleaned up. Shots need to end up on net. They need to have the puck for more than just transition chances.
- Defense was once again absolutely bamboozled by enemy team speed. The Evans-Mahura pairing definitely had a bad day but just about every pairing had a bad time in some form or another; particularly when it came to net-man scrambles. That’s gotta change if they want to compete.
- The Trade deadline is in like 8 days. The Kraken need to pick a lane and stick with it. Either improve or start selling.
- Grubauer once again had an interesting night, where he made more saves than the other goalie and had to come up huge multiple times, but ultimately the dam broke and he left this one with an .871 SV%. I can only assign so much blame to someone trying their ass off when the rest of the team’s try could barely make a cheek wiggle.
- Honestly, the thing I think I’m most concerned for is that the Lane Lambert game is just not there for the Kraken, or even worse…maybe it is, and we’re finally seeing a debt that they’ve accrued through game after game of letting the momentum come to them rather than the other way around start to come due. I don’t think we want to know what that looks like.
Was there anything good about this game?
Sure.
- Kaapo Kakko scored the Kraken’s only goal. He got it off of a slick pass from Shane Wright and Brandon Montour.
- The Penalty Kill didn’t have to come out and disappoint us again! Which is rare, but it’s pretty fun when that happens!
The Chartz, via NaturalStatTrick.com
The Kraken return home from this little trip to the middle of the country to face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. That game begins at 7pm PST
We’ll see you there! And as always
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.