Commitment is hard to quantify. One way to measure it? What great lengths skaters are willing to traverse to keep a game scoreless.
From one knee, like a rockstar reborn, Oliver Bjorkstrand slid behind Joey Daccord midway through Saturday’s 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars, stopping a surefire goal from Jason Robertson. Spinning out, the Kraken winger rose and jumped right back into pursuit of possession, as if nothing happened.
Late-season heroism has been hard to come by for Seattle, struggling even to maintain motivation over the last 15 games. A block was awarded by the league’s official game report— it should’ve been a save.
But ever the straight shooter, Bjorkstrand called it as he saw it: “[I’m] lucky it hit me.”
Welcoming Dallas to town meant welcoming the same snug, low-event hockey which characterized their playoff series with Seattle almost a year ago. Far less competitive circumstances— the Stars clinched a berth Thursday and the Kraken still await the guillotine on their season— meant the contest lacked leftover hostility, albeit lost nothing in zeal, particularly defensively.
Strict man-to-man coverage from defensemen, instinctual anticipation of opposing attack movement, and awareness of Daccord’s blind spots kept Dallas hemmed to the perimeter and robbed of rebounds. Despite ending the first period with an 80.76% control over five-on-five shot quality, the danger of the Stars’ attempts was relatively low given a lack of chances across the board.
Will Borgen excelled at leveraging his size and location to push Dallas off net-front drives. Justin Schultz, in the right place at the right time, cleared an important loose puck out of the crease late in the frame. A masterclass defensive showing from the home team kept things scoreless headed into first intermission.
”We played hard, especially without the puck. We played extremely hard,” head coach Dave Hakstol assessed.
“We kept it close,” Bjorkstrand acknowledged, “so it’s just a matter of us pushing the tempo and trying to create chances.”
As stellar as the backend appeared— perhaps their most inspired collective effort since January— defense alone doesn’t win games. A second period push for chances rewarded the Kraken with a few strong looks within Jake Oettinger’s vicinity, targeting his weak side, but no dice.
Seattle failed to sneak anything by the goaltender the entire night.
”We never really got into— I mean, they’re a hard team to get into a rhythm offensively,” Hakstol said. “The first period, our bigger issue was coming out of the zone and getting through the neutral zone. Whether it was their pressure on our D or our ability to make the next play off the wall, that hampered us in the first period.”
According to the disappointed head coach, his team “left a little bit on the table” offensively. Oettinger was attentive to every puck, but ultimately the Kraken failed to truly challenge the breadth of his skill set.
And the home team’s fragile momentum soured in the final frame when Adam Larsson was controversially dealt a game misconduct and five-minute major for elbowing Dallas’ Chris Tanev.
Initially resembling a soft call, replays of the behind-the-net sequence depicted the Swede swooping in to retrieve a loose puck with his arms raised. Tanev stumbled back and fell upon contact with the opposing defenseman, wobbling in a way suggestive of head injury. But reviewing an overhead slo-mo revealed Tanev’s right arm bent awkwardly as result of the collision.
Curiously, Tanev returned for a handful of shifts late in the game despite leaving for nearly 10 minutes. Per Stars’ radio analyst Bruce LeVine, Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer reported Tanev didn’t finish the contest in full, and further testing awaits him back home at the conclusion of the road trip.
Losing Larsson dismantled Seattle’s authoritarian defensive effort, already worn down by Dallas’ relentless pressure. Hakstol refrained from commenting on the quality of the officiating, viewing the sequence as inconsequential and distracting from costly offensive weaknesses, the real culprit behind the loss.
“[Larsson’s] an important player for us. But the other five guys are there— they’re available and they’re capable of doing the job.”
Nine games remain on the schedule in total, a majority on the road. Ample opportunity exists to end the season on a high note, a feasible goal with Saturday’s game and prior back-to-back wins over the Anaheim Ducks. Averaging 1.86 goals per game through March, however, that can only be done if the Kraken can tap into consistent scoring.
Shane Wright could be a big part of accomplishing that.
Sunday afternoon— listed as a travel day for the team ahead of meeting San Jose Monday— the Kraken announced the centerman’s recall from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, his third stint in the NHL this season.
Wright has 43 points in 56 games with Seattle’s AHL affiliate, ranking fifth on the roster in scoring.
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