Make sure to check out Sky On Air’s game recap of a 4-1 Kraken pre-season win in Edmonton.
What a remarkable ending.
Oh, you’re forgiven for thinking we’re referring to the Seattle Mariners clinching the A.L. West, with Cal Raleigh hitting his 59th and 60th home runs. That was fun, too, and what PNW sports fans were focusing on.
But since we’re a Seattle Kraken site, we watched the end of the Kraken 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, freeing you to pay attention to baseball. Admittedly, a three-goal preseason win – even on the road, over the Oilers – doesn’t sound all that remarkable.
So let’s recall a training camp quote from Kraken captain Jordan Eberle. “I thought guys were competing hard, details were good, execution was good. But making plays under pressure, that’s the biggest thing. Trying to perform when you’re tired. A couple of drills, guys are leaning over a little bit, but able to make plays and have the right details and sticks when you’re tired. That’s what this game is all about.”
For proof, here’s a timeline of the final 2:30 of the 3rd period. With Seattle hanging on to a 3-1 lead against a whole lot of players who went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, two prospects – goalie Nikke Kokko and forward Jani Nyman – led the honor roll.
17:25: Oilers pull goalie Stuart Skinner for a sixth attacker and enter the Kraken zone. Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch isn’t kidding around. His six skaters include veterans Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Trent Frederic, Evan Bouchard, and Mattias Ekholm, as well as David Tomasek.
17:48: Draisiaitl’s blue line wrister gets through heavy traffic, but Seattle goalie Nikke Kokko goes low to make the save.
18:24: Seattle coach Lane Lambert puts on fresh troops, as Edmonton re-enters the zone. The forwards are Matty Beniers, Ben Meyers, and Jani Nyman, with Josh Mahura and Jamie Oleksiak on defense. McDavid gets by Oleksiak but fires a backhand wide.
18:35: From center point, Ekholm pounds a slapshot, but Nyman makes the block – crouching and turning his body sideways, as players are taught to do, to absorb the brunt of the blast. If this Finnish youngster is capable of defense, too, there’s no way the Kraken can deny him a roster spot.
18:55: As the Kraken collapse around their goalie, Bouchard fires from beyond the left circle. Kokko again tracks the puck through bodies to make the save.
19:06: McDavid skates to the goal line at the far boards, centering a pass into a tangle of five players. With veteran savvy, Oleksiak lifts Frederic’s stick with his own to prevent a tap-in. The puck pinballs out of the crease – right onto the tape of Ekholm, standing between the circles. He shoots from point-blank range, but Kokko again has the answer with his left pad. Enjoy this guy, Coachella Valley Firebirds fans!
19:20: The tanks of the Kraken five are nearing empty. They’ve been on-ice for nearly a minute, unable to clear the zone or get a whistle, chasing around the dynamic Oilers offense – remember, operating with six skaters, including superstars McDavid and Draisiatl.
That’s when Nyman makes his second outstanding defensive play. When McDavid passes to Ekholm in the slot, Nyman shows slick hands. First, he legally whacks the Oiler’s stick so he can’t accept the pass. Then he completes victory in the 1-on-1 battle, spinning and finding the puck first. Despite being at the end of a tiring shift, Nyman fires the puck 150 feet down ice into the vacated net at 19:23.
Besides this being Nyman’s third goal of preseason, and securing a 4-1 Kraken victory, the play had an additional, invaluable benefit. Had the clear gone wide for an icing, the faceoff would have come back in the Seattle end – and dog-tired Kraken defenders wouldn’t have been able to change.
Maybe it wasn’t Big Dumper good. But it was good.