Oh right you need to defend Quentin Byfield.
Whoops.
Here are the Highlights
Game Notes
- Your TOI Leader was Brandon Montour with 23:58 logged.
- Your Forward leader in TOI was much more interesting, in that Freddy Gaudreau ended up the leader in ice time with 18:17, just a few seconds over Matty Beniers and Bobby McMann.
- You might look at the above thing and assume this was some premium CoachBrain thinking, but Gaudreau was actually pretty solid possession-wise, and was rewarded with a goal for his efforts. Still, it’s probably not a great thing when he’s considered a highlight of a performance.
- So hey did you know Quentin Byfield is pretty good at hockey? Because the Kraken sure as hell didn’t know tonight; they dug themselves a deep hole on Byfield getting two unassisted goals. One was rotten luck…but the other? That first one? Just pure work. It’s frustrating because otherwise the Kraken did actually try to get some shots and their 2nd-3rd period was stronger than how the game started…but it was just too much to start out with.
- While yes, the goalscoring came too late, one of the most frustrating aspects of this game was that the defense that just…did not help their goalie much at all. Nikke Kokko had to defend far too many odd-man rushes with at best one player in Deep Blue in front of him.
- No penalties for the Kings, huh Refs? You sure about that one? Anyway, LA got one of their goals on the power play towards the end of the game and while it was too late to matter it does ultimately return the penalty kill to it’s ignoble status.
- Nikke Kokko had a very un-fun night of getting victimized by 55 in Black and Silver. Otherwise, it wasn’t exactly a great night for him as the Kings did a lot of scoring in transition on 2-on-1’s. He finished his night with an .862 SV% on 30 shots.
- I don’t love the Kings (or even like them much, really), but if I have to say something nice about one of them? Then here it is: I am glad that a big part of our previous generation of stars get one last kick at the can in the NHL playoffs, and one of our last Western Conference titans gets a shot as well. Anze Kopitar joined the league during the middle of the 2000s with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin reminding us what it could mean to be a goalscorer again. Kopitar suffered through some Kings teams that would make your hair turn white from how inept they were, and eventually became sort of the premiere two-way center of the Western Conference. Players like Kopitar are genuine unicorns, and players like him who make it to age 38 in the NHL are rarer still. If nothing else, I am happy I lived through a time where world class two-way centers could play in every time zone, and Kopitar was part of the fabric of that tapestry. I really don’t want them to go deep, but I hope the Crypto.com Arena is ready to make Kopitar’s retirement feel special.
- I sincerely hope Matty Beniers’ fate in this league is to be looked at in the same way. I really want that for him.
- Tankathon Update: Thanks to the Leafs deciding to make an all-timer run in giving up, the Kraken and Leafs are neck and neck when it comes to that 5th overall pick. However, the odds are largely the same. 7.5% for the 1st Overall pick, and a much higher chance of them dropping to 7th or 8th. There’s no shame in that, I’m a huge fan of Defender Alberts Smits from Latvia, and Carson Carels with the Prince George Cougars just took my Spokane Chiefs to six games and came out the other side, but I know everyone is looking for Gavin McKenna/Ivar Stenberg. The Squids need help now and they need someone as NHL ready as they can get.
Was there anything good about tonight’s game?
Sure, a couple of things.
- Bobby McMann is playing his ass off and got yet another goal, getting him up to 14 points in 16 games.
- Adam Larsson scored from a helluva wrister that just beat a whole host of players on it’s way past to Anton Forsberg.
- Frederick Gaudreau scored on a fun backdoor feed from Kaapo Kakko!
- Matty Beniers walked away with two points tonight.
The End-of-Season Team Awards
- Pete Muldoon Award: Essentially the team MVP as voted by media and the players. This year it was Jordan Eberle!
- No contrasting opinion here.
- Guyle Fielder Award: Award for player who embodies perseverance and dedication to hockey. This year it was also Jordan Eberle!
- Again, no contrasting opinion here.
- Fan Favorite Award: Voted on by fans to be their personal favorite, and this year it was Philipp Grubauer!
- Absolutely a choice deserving of the year he had. If you get away from the crowd who is frustrated by his play (aka: me up until the beginning of this season), you know this is Seattle’s guy. Fans love this dude so much and finally he had a year that loved them back. Hats off, Grubi.
- 3 Stars Of The Year Award: Basically whoever had the most stars in the “Three stars of the game” post-game segment, and this year it was Matty Beniers!
- According to ESPN.com, this should be no shock: 33 of his 50 points came from playing in front of the Climate Pledge faithful this year. Clearly the Kraken need to start lobbying for more home contests.
Chartz, via NaturalStatTrick.com
The last two games of the regular season are nigh; first they face the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday in their final confrontation, which will likely be pretty Henderson heavy depending on how John Tortorella wants to play this.
That game is at 7pm PST.
We’ll see you there.
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.