One: ‘Turbo’ Effect
Brandon Tanev earned the Davy Jones hat Wednesday night in the handoff of the Kraken players’ celebratory prop after victories. The custom “Pirates of the Caribbean” chapeau (thanks to minority owner Jerry Bruckheimer) is awarded to the player who contributes to the win beyond the scoreboard.
Tanev scored the first of Seattle’s seven goals (nice symmetry with the city’s seven hills, though let’s talk sometime about whether we have more hills than that or if the current seven is different than the original seven). In the second minute, he put on a shootout move (hmmmm) after the Kraken turned a Sharks attack (sorry) into a scoring chance via Jamie Oleksiak moving a net-front scramble puck to Alex Wennberg, who spotted Tanev. The veteran winger took it high gear, whirring past San Jose defensemen Kyle Burroughs and Jan Rutta for the score.
Tanev later squared off with Burroughs, landing several haymakers to raucous noise before the contestants were dismissed for the rest of the period, each doled out five minutes for fighting.
Post-game, Dave Hakstol pointed out his usual appreciative remarks about Tanev when asked about the high-energy forward’s recent return to the lineup after a knee injury opening night put him on the shelf. Then Hakstol leaned into what is perhaps most impactful about Tanev’s return. While Tanev has played on several line combinations, his recent slot alongside Alex Wennberg and usually the always dependable/productive/standup Jaden Schwartz coincides with Wennberg’s rise in goals, assists, and scoring chances totals. Tanev’s pace of play (one big reason why he’s a fan-favorite) is rapid and pretty much riveted to that gear.
“You know exactly what what [Tanev] brings every game,” said Hakstol. “He brings intensity, he brings pace. That might be a bit of an odd look on the line chart. But when he’s on the right side there [with Wennberg at center], it’s a good fit because he brings that pace. He gets you up, he gets into the offensive zone.”