Buffalo: the NHL’s Get-Right Game.
But First, the Highlights!:
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader was Adam Larsson, who finished the night with 23:21 logged.
- The Kraken played a real “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” kind of game; their first period was absolutely awful. They couldn’t get out of their own end, they made their passes as though they were playing on a sheet of sand, and their puck security in the few times they did leave the defensive zone was appalling. Mercifully, it seems as though they recognized their slow start and rapidly pressed the Sabres for the entirety of the 2nd period; forcing the Sabres to make desperation plays that created the opening goal for Evans, and then committed themselves to winning board battles and getting right up on the goalie to pull away for good. An excellent effort through the final 40 minutes of the game given where the opening frame had them.
- It was helped along a bit by the Sabres themselves, who also played a very typical game for them; great first period where they clogged lanes and made the Kraken forecheck effectively non-existent, and then just stopped doing any of that after the 2nd period. They completely backed off once Burakovsky scored his goal and the ice seemingly opened up after Jacob Bryson accidentally knocked the puck into his own net. Even with Seattle’s many struggles, I really cannot fathom how it must be to be a Sabres fan right now; Die By The Blade must be an ongoing group therapy session.
- Y’know if you take the first 20 minutes of the game away Joey Daccord had a shutout. Otherwise I’ll absolutely take a .943 SV% on 35 shots! Great game for him down the stretch as the Kraken improved over the course of the game, and the Sabres desperately tried to course correct during the 3rd period.
- I’ll take a 1-out of-4 on the man-advantage if it means they actually start to do it consistently.
- I really appreciate how quickly the team stuck up for one another across multiple points in the game; most obviously when Brandon Tanev got elbowed in the head and received no call for it, but they frequently came to each other’s defense in multiple scrums, which given how this season has gone, still bodes well for team chemistry.
- The Kraken now have the most multi-goal comeback wins in the NHL this season at 6. They never make it easy on their opponent or their audience, do they?
Let’s Give a Hand To…
- The 2-point wonders of tonight’s contest! Who include:
- Chandler Stephenson! Who’s been quietly been on a 5-game points streak that continued with 2 assists tonight.
- Josh Mahura! Who had an EXCELLENT game tonight, I was very impressed with how he was moving the puck. He also had two assists.
- Kaapo Kakko! Who scored twice tonight! His first was arguably tougher than the 2nd; given that it came from the half-boards, his 2nd was effectively uncontested by anyone other than Luukkonen. Still a great night for him!
- Jared McCann! Who decided he wanted to be a playmaker today and set up Kakko and Tanev for their tallies!
- Ryker Evans! Who got this whole thing going!
- Brandon Tanev! For getting revenge in the best possible way: mucking it out with your teammates, and then putting the dagger home with an empty netter. Great stuff tonight.
The Charts, via NaturalStatTrick.com
Did they have to dig themselves out of hell? You bet they did. Did they do so? Ab-so-lutely.
Hope you liked an early game, because they have a noon-time tilt against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow on Sunday, January 12th as this road trip continues on.
Thank you for reading, and as always…
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win