Most Seattle Kraken home games start just after 7 pm Pacific Time. Why do the Kraken so often have trouble remembering that?
Friday at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken once again failed to start on time. The Anaheim Ducks’ Cutter Gauthier scored 62 seconds after the opening draw, the second straight game in which Seattle allowed a goal on the first shot against. Before the period ended, Seattle had allowed a shorthanded goal for the fourth time in the last five games.
Anaheim never looked back in a 4-2 win, their 6th consecutive victory. Jared McCann and Jaden Schwartz scored for the home team. Philipp Grubauer, the best Kraken in those once-again cursed 3rd jerseys, played well with 27 saves (plus a penalty shot poke check) to keep the score respectable.
On this night at least, the visitors looked so much faster than the home team. The Kraken have lost seven of their last nine (2-5-2), but rarely in that stretch have they looked as lost. Defenseman Brandon Montor candidly admitted in a KHN interview, “They wanted it more.”
1st Period
No wonder Grubauer was tabbed for his second consecutive start, following a 4-1 win over the Islanders on Wednesday. His .919 save percentage ranks 2nd among NHL goaltenders who have played 16 or more games. His goals-against average coming inn (2.45) was sixth overall.
With Ben Meyers out week-to-week after suffering a lower body injury, Jacob Melanson has been recalled from AHL Coachella Valley.
Early grade-A chances each way. Anaheim goalie Lukas Dostal’s kick save and a beauty denies Matty Beniers. When the Ducks’ Cutter Gauthier turns on the jets down right wing, he beats both defenseman Vince Dunn and Grubauer for his 23rd goal at 1:02.
Grubauer stops Mikael Granlund from point-blank range, and another from Olen Zellweger. Not much going on in the Kraken O-zone; after the Beniers chance 27 seconds in, Seattle went more than 11 minutes before Dostal shrugs off Jamie Oleksiak’s drive.
Since the beginning of December, the Kraken power play has been clicking at better than 30% efficiency. But there was nothing efficient when Alex Killorn went off for hooking – unless you count Anaheim’s Ryan Poehling busting down left wing, avoiding Dunn, getting Grubauer to move, and then sliding the puck where the goalie had been. The shortie gives the Ducks a 2-0 lead at 15:24.
In a thoroughly dominant period, Anaheim outshot Seattle 12-3.
2nd Period
The Kraken and Ducks couldn’t be more different in their approach to winning hockey. Anaheim is 13th in goals-per-game, and 31st in goals-against. Seattle, by contrast, is 11th on defense, 25th on offense. Who’s got the better formula? Prior to puck drop, the Kraken had allowed 11 more goals than they’ve scored this season – exactly the same as the Ducks.
The Kraken need less than two minutes to equal their 1st period shot total. The third is a goal-scorer’s goal, Jared McCann finding open ice in the slot and sniping home his 12th at 1:55.
A self-inflicted wound – Ryker Evans flicking the puck over the glass – ruins the home team momentum. The Ducks on the power play fired too many shots for Grubauer to save them all. In a six second span, Jackson LaCombe is stopped, Gauthier is stopped, but Chris Kreider isn’t. Kreider’s 16th at 4:00 restores the Anaheim two-goal lead.
Moments later, yet another example of Anaheim looking fast and puck-hungry, and Seattle looking like they missed their pregame nap. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren is forced to wrap up Jansen Harkins following a Kraken turnover, resulting in a penalty shot. Grubauer takes matters into his own hands – more accurately, his own stick – poke-checking Harkins while the center is still making dekes.
More self-inflicted wounds for Seattle. Montour short-circuits a power play with a neutral-zone cross-check. While shorthanded, a poor Seattle line change results in a 4-on-2 Anaheim break. Ryan Winterton and Freddy Gaudreau collide at center ice. Somehow, the Ducks don’t add to their lead.
Shots after 40: Anaheim 24, Seattle 11. Sounds about right.
3rd Period
It’s not like the Ducks arrived in Seattle at full strength. Check out this big-name quintet out injured: Mason McTavish, Troy Terry, Leo Carlsson, Petr Mrazek, and Frank Vatrano.
The reports of the Kraken’s death in this game may have been exaggerated. Shane Wright finesses a pass through the Anaheim defense. Jaden Schwartz lunges forward for all he’s worth, and that’s just enough, as the puck slithers in off his blade at 1:54. Down 25-12 in shots, Schwartz’s 9th brings Seattle within 3-2.
Amazingly, the Kraken come inches from a tie. First, the puck won’t cooperate with Chandler Stephenson on a semi-breakaway. Seconds after that, Adam Larsson rings the crossbar. Berkly Catton and Eeli Tolvanen fired rockets that Dostal swallowed. Montour and Dunn put two more testers on the Ducks’ goalie.
The Kraken showed up to play in the 3rd period. They’re playing hard, fast, and with desperation. Is there enough time to make up for lost time?
In a word, No.
After Grubauer is pulled for a sixth attacker, Matty Beniers whacks a deflected puck out of midair – on goal, forcing Dostal to make a pad save. Anaheim’s Pavel Mintyukov with the bank shot to end all bank shots, wires the puck of the side boards in his own zone and all the way down into the vacated Kraken net to end the suspense.
Up Next
Seattle is halfway through a six game homestand. A Sunday afternoon tilt with the New Jersey Devils has been pushed back an hour to 12 noon, so as not to overlap the Seahawks-Rams NFC Championship game at Lumen Field.