YEAH NOT SO EASY TO BEAT THE KRAKEN WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE DAN VLADAR, NOW IS IT?
HALF THIS ROSTER BEAT DUSTIN WOLF IN THE AHL, DAWG.
But First, the Highlights!
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader was Adam Larsson, who logged 20:56
- The Kraken started a bit slow from the first period, but otherwise began to string together chances and got more used to the sheer amount of ice that the Flames usually give you, finally finding ways to stretch out Calgary’s backcheck in order to get unfettered access to the net front. Most of their goals came from plays that they managed to successfully pry some room from out in front of Dustin Wolf and made the most of it to the tune of 4 goals from roughly the same place on the ice, with Calgary utterly helpless to stop it. A well done dissection of a defense from the Squids!
- This 4th line absolutely rocks, man. Winterton-Meyers-Melanson are making magic together and I’m glad they finally got a shoutout on the broadcast. Tonight’s
- Lotta milestones in this one! Jordan Eberle’s 1100’th NHL game, Adam Larsson got his 250th point, and of course Jacob Melanson got his first goal. Congrats all around!
- Light night penalty wise for…some reason, but the Kraken did kill the one penalty they got called for tonight and while that shouldn’t count for much, it does count for a win tonight.
- Just a light bit of coaching concern for the kids; if you’re in a scrum you usually want to tie up a player’s stick in order to maneuver them out of a dangerous scoring position instead of mostly just jostle them, otherwise you’ll get a scenario like Matty Beniers did where he was mostly just getting slightly pushed while he turned in to score. I sincerely thought that was going to result in a faceoff win and just went “Oh?” when he did put it through.
- The German Gentleman once again put together an absolute masterclass of a game, taking shots from just about everywhere on the ice and only really giving up one especially juicy rebound that ended up behind him. But if one’s going in on 41 shots saved? I think you’ll take the .976 SV% and the win if it means sacrificing the shutout. Exceptional work by Grubauer tonight.
Let’s give a hand to…
- Jacob Melanson! Who not only got his first ever NHL goal, but also the game-tying goal that got this whole thing started in the first place. Him and Winterton combining for it was just the cherry on top for two former Firebirds. Congratulations!
- Shane Wright! who probably didn’t expect his birthday goal to involve him getting so intimate with Dustin Wolf he could reasonably decide what kind of gum he was chewing between periods, but did some really impressive work in tight to tip in the goal that got Seattle up! Happy birthday, buddy! Hope you had a nice big Birthday steak in Calgary!
- Vince Dunn! Who came in like a bat out of hell to score to put the game fully out of range for the Flames. Good hustle on that goal!
- Matty Beniers! Who gave Joel Hanley a crushing lesson in why you need to tie up sticks out front.
- Ben Meyers! Who could’ve very easily had multiple points tonight but was only credited with Wright’s goal as the assister. This young man, like the rest of the 4th line, has been playing his skates off and it’s great to see him rewarded.
- Philipp Grubauer! Who again, stopped all but one of 42 shots. Danke schön, Phil.
The Chartz, via NaturalStatTrick.com
No rest for the wicked, as the Kraken take on the Boston Bruins tomorrow at Climate Pledge. That game starts at 7pm PST.
We’ll see you there, and as always!
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.