Kraken vs Golden Knights RECAP: Opening night Injury comes with 4-1 loss

Okay, so 81-1-0 it is, I guess. I just hope Tanev’s alright.

If you can stand it, the Game Highlights

Game Notes

• Your TOI leader for tonight’s contest was Vince Dunn who logged 22:18 tonight.
• This was, to put it bluntly…a rough game. They had the puck for a good long time and had the worst time trying to crack Adin Hill, but the Knights kept the Kraken second guessing over and over with their shots. Their Puck Security was just abysmal all night long; lowlighted by Brandon Tanev effectively scoring on his own net. That was just…yeah. Many of their attempted transitions to the Vegas end of the ice effectively died from this inability to either receive a pass cleanly or get the required power underneath a pass to make sure it ended up on a stick being held by a player wearing a white sweater.
• Both teams went 0-for-4 on the power play tonight, but only one walked away with far and away more penalty minutes, and given that the Kraken had 5 straight minutes in the middle of the 3rd to try and get the game even slightly closer than it was…there should be some real concern about Seattle’s power play, because it was completely ineffective. I would be less antsy about this had I not just got done watching that same power play be just as difficult to effect the score in the preseason. Still, it’s game one, so we can’t get on our high horse about it yet. Vegas games have been pretty tough no matter what the Kraken do, so maybe it was just a part of the process.
• Speaking of that Major Penalty, the Kraken lost Brandon Tanev to a horrifically high hit from Brett Howden that took the wind directly out of his body and had him land awkwardly, to the point that he couldn’t stand under his own power to get off the ice. It was a very difficult scene for much of the third, for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was also nursing something throughout that meant a good 2/3rds of the fourth line were briefly off the ice. Bellemare came back, Tanev didn’t. We’ll find just how badly he’s hurt later, but we wish him the best; that injury looked rough.
• The faceoff battle was not a fun one for Seattle; having lost nearly 60% of them.
• I would comment on the pulled goalie thing but at this point that’s just belaboring the point that the Kraken are one of the most baffling teams with a man-advantage in the NHL.
• Philipp Grubauer finished his night with a .889 SV%, which is…not great, but I’m not sure how you deal with your own player doing something like Tanev did. The Barbashev goal on the other hand…that’s one you need to have.
• On the other hand…man Adin Hill had a .970 SV%. I thought this dude would’ve crashed to earth by now.
• Again, every kvetch given is tempered with “It’s Game One”. It’s not the end of the world if they struggle now. I’ll start to be concerned if they struggle with two teams that aren’t expected to be playoff-bound over the next week in Nashville and St. Louis.
• Man I cannot stand the Vegas Golden Knights. They’re right there with the Kings in “get this guy outta here” territory.

Were there any Positives?

Well…I guess there’s a couple.

• Jared McCann!: Got the Kraken’s only goal tonight. Given where Hill was looking, genuinely think he got completely lost in the sea of bodies. He also led the Kraken in shots tonight with 5.
• The Penalty Kill!: The Kraken didn’t make it worse on themselves and kept Vegas off the scoresheet on the man-advantage. All they have to figure out now is how to do that at evens.

Let’s grouse about this game while checking out some charts from NaturalStatTrick.com

For those of you freshly joining us, these charts are running tallies of the Shot Attempts (called Corsi) and Quality Shots (called Expected Goals) that can be used as a way of looking at how puck possession and offense in the game progressed throughout the sixty minutes of play. We include them at the end of every written recap.

What a rough way to begin the season. Thankfully it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.

Still, gonna need to start finishing.

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The Kraken continue their road trip by heading to Nashville; who narrowly lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier last night. That game will be on Thursday on ROOT Northwest, and drops the puck at 5pm PST.

We’ll see you there, and remember.

Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.