Kraken Generate Some Goals, But Not Enough

DENVER – Kraken veteran and all-around performer Brandon Montour said there was no missing the pregame message sent his team by its head coach ahead of Tuesday night’s fourth consecutive defeat to end a dismal road trip.

The lineup presence of freshly recalled AHL forward prospect Ryan Winterton and rugged winger John Hayden for what coach Dan Bylsma suggested was their “bite” and “compete” was message enough that the team’s best so far wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t good enough again in this 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche despite the Kraken finally scoring some goals, prompting Montour to suggest the competitive bursts shown at times needed to continue all game.

"I think that's our issue right now, the compete level -- it's probably not where it should be," Montour said of a team that's lost seven of eight overall to fall to 5-8-1 on the season. "A tough road trip. But the energy level's got to pick up. It's not going to be easy.

"Again, tonight was a night where I thought the energy level was up early. We wanted to end the road trip off okay...but again, a lot of one-and-dones, with one guy watching. It's tough. You want to have a five-man unit and everyone's got to stick together. Then, it kind of gets lost a little bit."

A Montour shot from the left circle was redirected home by Matty Beniers with 2:29 to go in regulation to bring the Kraken within a goal. But Mikko Rantanen scored his second of the night into an empty net just 24 seconds later to ice it with Philipp Grubauer pulled for the extra attacker.

Then, with Grubauer back in, Nikolai Kovalenko added a sixth Colorado marker with just under two seconds to play.

While it’s still a bit early to be concerned about the optics of the team’s win-loss record, Bylsma clearly hoped to generate positive momentum at Ball Arena after being shut out in consecutive games.

“I think there’s a clear expectation for the team,” Bylsma had said after his team’s morning skate. “I don’t think anyone thinks we’re at our best yet. And we haven’t given our best 60 minutes yet through 13 games. In particular, the last couple.

“And that goes for the team and that goes for the players,” he added. “I think everyone in there should feel that way.”

Bylsma then showed he wasn’t messing around, inserting Winterton and Hayden into the lineup while sitting Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tye Kartye. The defensive pairings were also reconfigured with Montour moving up to join Adam Larsson while Jamie Oleksiak and Will Borgen were reunited in addition to Cale Fleury replacing Josh Mahura.

“Yes, we’re looking for (Winterton) and John (Hayden) to come in and add a little of that compete, a little of that bite to our lineup and to our team mentality,” Bylsma said of a crew that had didn’t register a shot on goal against Boston their prior game until more than 17 minutes had elapsed.

And the Kraken in this one, at least initially, responded to their new coach’s challenge. Jaden Schwartz scored the first Kraken goal in nearly seven periods with a re-direction of a Beniers shot about 13 minutes in, followed by Jared McCann tying things 2-2 on the power play just 23 seconds into the middle frame off a Chandler Stephenson pass.

But the Kraken continued to fall behind as the game progressed, with Arturri Lehkonen regaining Colorado’s lead just six minutes later. The Avalanche then went ahead by two when Rantanen scored on a nice passing sequence midway through the period.

The Kraken initially got that goal waved off by successfully challenging that the initial zone entry was offside – which it clearly was. But the Avalanche alertly challenged that decision, claiming the puck had entered the zone as the result of a missed Kraken shot that rimmed all the way around the boards behind Colorado’s net and then traveled back down the ice into the visiting team’s end.

After plenty of delay, the play was reviewed as well and the goal stood. And while Bylsma would suggest postgame the rule was open to interpretation as to whether the shot meant the Kraken had "intentionally" played the puck, the play ultimately decided the game and pretty much symbolized how the tail end of the trip went.

The Kraken had entered with a 3-1-0 record in this building and a 6-2-0 mark if counting games from their opening-round playoff victory over the Avalanche two springs ago.

But after scoring eight times in an initial blowout win over Montreal to start this five-game trip, they managed just one goal total in the next three losses. This fourth consecutive defeat again saw the Kraken fall behind early, with Chris Wagner putting Colorado's second shot of the game behind Grubauer just 2:28 in.

Then, after Schwartz tied it on the first Kraken even-strength goal in nearly 10 periods dating back to the victory over Montreal, the Avalanche regained the lead just under two minutes later. Grubauer had dived atop a loose puck, attempting to smother it in a pile of players, only to have it squirt loose as his helmet was simultaneously knocked off. Ivan Ivan was there to fire the loose puck into the net to put the Avalanche back in front.

"We just need to be a little better, man to man, all the way through," Beniers said after scoring for the first time in seven games. "Yeah, we scored some goals but we really need to put together a full 60 minutes and find a way."

Beniers said the team had emphasized more of a net-front presence and got that on the deflection goals by him and Schwartz. That's something he felt they could build on even while looking to improve on shortcomings in other areas.

"We saw some results on that but we need some more volume on shots." he said. "We can always have guys at the net, always get pucks back and have some more sustained pressure. Because I think it was a little bit too much one-and-done and not enough sustained pressure."

And Montour, who won a Stanley Cup with Florida in June and knows how to ride out slumps, agrees there's a fine line between learning from mistakes and allowing them to haunt you going forward.

"Realistically, it's still early and there's nothing you can do about this trip now," Montour said. "You've got to take it for what it is. We don't like where our game is at right now. But we've still got belief in the talent of this group and in our locker room. So, again, turn the page. We've got a homestand coming up here where we've got to figure it out and start feeling good again.

"That's kind of where it's at."