I’m starting to predict the ways in which this specific team is going to lose games.
Granted, they have done it largely the same way over the past like week and change, but it is becoming terrifying how they keep doing it.
Here is what I have to call “Highlights” because while “Reasons to be angry at your press conferences” is an accurate descriptor, it does not roll off the tongue.
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader was Jamie Oleksiak, who played 22:06.
- The Kraken throughout December, with the exception of the bludgeoning at the hands of the Oilers, have picked up on a script that they have largely followed to the letter; keep game close, lead if you can, then piss every last drop of goodwill you’ve put into that effort away in the third period with either a crushing turnover, a lane so big you could drive a 70’s Town Car through it, or a power play goal-against. After one of their better games of the season in terms of effort, the Kraken went back to the well of letting the game come to them, and for the most part it was working…right up until the third period. Wasting a heroic effort by their goaltenders. Again. I think the term “Rally” has ended up in official game recaps on the Kraken’s website three or four times over the last month and not in reference to the home team.
- I’m done being nice about it. Whoever is in charge of this penalty kill cannot be any more. I do not care who it is nor do I care how they delegate it. I also don’t care if the Kraken went 1-for-5; the minute it went onto the 3rd period it felt like their unusual level of competency dropped back down to where it usually is. If two people do it for home and away? They both need to go. If it’s just one person? Enjoy NorCal weather without taking in a hockey game. This is supposedly Lane Lambert’s bread and butter and it’s all the way down in the basement. Something needs to change here.
- The Kraken’s offense seems to be good enough for 40 minutes of play right now. Thanks to the injuries, it feels like the disjointed lines are only ever good enough right now to maintain a certain pace and not actively control the game around them. The three forwards who are out are two 30+ year olds, and a rookie, and it feels like they were load bearing pillars on this team’s ability to get the puck moving in the right direction. That cannot continue to be the case; the rest of this team needs to get their skating legs under them and quickly.
- And the worst thing about all this is JOEY DID FINE!!! Hell, he did better than fine! He had a .933 SV% against 46 shots on goal! Did the 2nd goal take some air out of the tires? Sure! But he would’ve needed to stop his own player!!! There is no reason he should’ve had to deal with 46 shots on goal against a pretty mediocre team that gave you oodles of ice, but he persevered! He was not the problem most of the night!
- Apropo of nothing but how the hell did Nazem Kadri get to the point where he can basically cross check people in the head and get away with it? Wasn’t his big deal prior to coming to Calgary being that he lost his cool and pissed off referees?
- An assorted list of thoughts now that we’re down here together. Not about the game, but about the team in general.
- As we keep spiraling, there’s been another team that I’ve kept tabs on because I usually find them fascinating, and also because it helps to talk about this particular team because Kraken leadership clearly wanted to emulate them above all else; The Carolina Hurricanes. The Carolina Hurricanes like low event hockey, they sure like having weird amounts of vets, they sure like defense, they don’t really care if their goalies are great…but the reason they’re able to do that? Is that they trust the people in charge to make the smart call with their roster. When they decided that “we will now have the puck forever and ever amen” is their philosophy, they did every last thing to make sure that was done at the highest possible level. When scoring went up? They adjusted and made sure they made that identity work for them as well as scoring like crazy, and actively went after players that could allow them to do both. They did that by listening to their nerds, who were able to separate the wheat from the chaff with their graphs and their charts, and their nerds have gotten them to Conference championship after conference championship. The only reason they don’t have a Cup in that time is that they keep running into the Panthers.
- Speaking of the Panthers, they did nearly the exact same thing. They came to the same conclusion just in a different way; have the puck forever, not worry about goaltending, critically also acknowledge that NHL refereeing is bad and you can exploit that, and still listened to their nerds enough to avoid the pitfalls that so many teams get into when they go after “size” and “toughness” and all that jazz; they remember that you still gotta play hockey after the fights are over. There’s always been this feeling over the past few years that if the Kraken wanted to do this out here, they’ve been missing some critical points that have them continuing to play like this even with new talent in and out of the lineup, and it feels genuinely maddening.
- The Kraken’s thing, as outside observers seem to fail to acknowledge that has been here since day one, is that the Kraken have hung their hat on the concept of “defense”. Defense defense defense. We are not the high-flying, high scoring teams that have largely defined this division in the minds of fans who fall asleep watching them out East. We are the Defense-first team. Defense has saved and will save the team. Defense wins championships. Defensive Systems are a must for this team. We hired Lane for his Defense. And you know what? That’s fine! It’s good to have a goal and an identity in mind! Teams like that can win, I’ve seen them do it! But you know what? You need to understand defense in the NHL. You need to understand the value of a clean zone exit. Of clearing out the most dangerous areas of the ice and keeping them clear. Of not just blocking, but making the block so it ends up on the stick of your teammates. Of puck security, of supporting your forwards and defensemen. This is all ESPECIALLY true in the 2025 NHL, where scoring is higher than it’s ever been, league Save-% is below .900 for the first time in years, the amount of space good NHLers need to get a scoring chance off is miniscule, and the number of good teams with high-end scoring talent could probably be said to be all of them in some fashion. The Kraken really need to do some soul searching with themselves; both on the team and in the front office, and wonder if they really “get” what they’re going for here.
- I’ll probably elaborate on all of this later I just needed to get some of this out of my system or it was gonna consume the rest of this article.
- Change should come. We can only hope it will be for the better when it does.
- Currently 4th in the odds in the McKenna sweepstakes. This is the first time all year I’ve checked Tankathon. I now need to get back into the habit of checking it.
- I 100% get why Lane Lambert is cranky at this point.
Was there anything good about this game?
YES! AND THIS IS THE PROBLEM THEY KEEP RUNNING INTO OVER AND OVER AND OVER DURING THE LAST WEEK OR SO!
This team keeps doing good stuff and it keeps being blown into the wind!
Anyway…
- Chandler Stephenson actually had a pretty slick goal to open things up!
- Ryker Evans and Kaapo Kakko combined for a solid power play goal that was their sole chance at the man advantage, and they did fantastic at it!
- Again, Joey Daccord had a genuinely great game tonight and it was a busy one!
The Chartz, via NaturalStatTrick.com
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The Kraken get a day off for travel, and then face Macklin Celebrini and the Sharks on Saturday night in San Jose. That game is at 7pm.
We’ll see you there.
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.