It’s a shame they couldn’t close it out, but there’s plenty of good things to learn about this game.
But first, the Highlights
Game Notes
- Your TOI leader for this evening’s contest was Ryker Evans, who logged 24:44 in total.
- If you’re a little glum after this one, I don’t really blame you. The Kraken put forward an honest-to-god really strong effort against a mostly NHL-ready Edmonton Oilers and gave them fits all night. It felt like a game that the Kraken could’ve played during the 2022-23 season; they were all over Edmonton’s forecheck, they forced Edmonton to sit back and make multiple saves in order to survive, and even if they didn’t do great at successfully getting shots away from the center of the ice, they made the Oilers work to stop them at every opportunity. If there’s anything you can’t fault about a game like this, it’s the effort on display.
- Well, okay. They played a strong hockey game right up until some of their old bugbears came a-swingin’ out all at once; power play woes, short-handed goals-against, immediate response goals from the other team, and struggling with defensive breakdowns put a team that was up 4-2 into the predicament they were in to finish the game. That, more than anything, is what feels like it put a damper on things. They showed plenty of heart and effort and they still have some of those dumb little hiccups to finish your night. It’s frustrating, and I don’t blame you if you feel like there was a win in this game they could’ve taken.
- Dan Bylsma and his coaching crew got a goal out of their power play, and from a well regarded talent who’s been going through some hiccups so it’s great to see the seeds of greatness starting to bear fruit…and then promptly decided they didn’t need to do any of what they were doing when Šalé scored and it completely broke down after the next four attempts. Gonna need a little more crispness out of their passing to the middle of the ice, and much better puck security. Hopefully that can all be amended by adding a bunch of the NHL players back to this roster.
- Centers got killed at the faceoff dot tonight with a measely 38.6%…although that may be because the mostly-Firebirds roster had to put up with effectively a Western Conference championship Center corps.
- Philipp Grubauer finished the night with an .861 SV%, including that shorty. Granted, neither goaltender put up exceptional numbers and both had to deal with spectacularly shambolic defensive sequences.
- John Hayden is cramming himself onto this roster by any means necessary. Dude’s just a firecracker out on the ice and he compliments the pace that the Kraken want to play with perfectly. I think he’ll make an exceptional 4th liner for this squad.
Was there anything good about this game?
Honestly? Plenty, in my opinion.
- Eduard Šalé proved that Seattle can in fact score power play goals and he put that one in from a sharp angle. He was also playing a pretty strong game all night; keeping his passing dangerous and was a net-positive possession player. While I’m not sure he’s gonna see NHL ice-time beyond the preseason, I think it was good for him to get one
- Brandon Biro had two assists in this game, and did it with only 9 minutes of even strength time on ice! That’s efficiency at work!
- Jacob Melanson had a goal and an assist tonight; Melanson’s goal being a net-front scramble that he never gave up on with two Oilers trying to impede him, and he took a hit to make a play on that assist. This kid understands the assignment of being gritty; toughness needs to translate to results, and his paid dividends.
- Ben Meyers was another player with two points! He put a heatseeker past Olivier Rodrigue off of Melanson’s pass and started the sequence that got Melanson his tying goal by picking off an attempted zone exit. Great game between those two young men!
- John Hayden may not have had a point tonight, but he was an active presence that was a nightmare to play against; constantly harrying the Oilers at every opportunity he got. It will be difficult indeed to pull him off this roster.
- The Feeling of Kraken Hockey; Successful Kraken hockey, even if it didn’t translate to a win…is coming back. The Kraken that gave the Western Conference fits, The Kraken that could hang in an end-to-end scorefest, The Kraken that made other teams go back to the bench gasping for breath. That, more than anything else this preseason, I wanted to see back from this team. They still need to play an otherwise complete game with all the NHL regulars and the rookies who’ve earned a spot on this roster, they still very much have the capacity to drive you crazy, but the version of this team you could easily fall in love with that drove the rest of the league nuts is slowly starting come back into bloom. That’s huge.
Fancy Stats from NaturalStatTrick.com
They mostly controlled the shot share in a game with a mostly complete Oilers Roster. I’m calling that significant progress. Annoying progress? Sure. Painful progress? Absolutely…but progress all the same.
I’ll take 1-1 coming out of a preseason back-to-back. We’ll continue Preseason on Monday with what is increasingly becoming a much more difficult team to play than anyone realized in the Calgary Flames. That game drops the puck in Alberta at 6pm PT.
Thanks for reading! And as always:
Keep Calm, and Post Zoidberg When We Win.