Schwartz’s power-play goal, fueled by an expert shot-pass from Eeli Tolvanen, marks the sixth straight game in which the Seattle power-play has scored, upping what was already a franchise record for the third-year Kraken. It also marks Seattle as just the second team in the NHL to score man-advantage goals in six straight games.
Faithful Fans Bring the Noise in Third Frame
It should be noted: The first two periods did not provide a lot of scoring or cheering chances. But when Schwartz tallied the power play score, the Climate Pledge Arena crowd aired out the noise and kept it rolling when the next couple of shifts generated offensive-zone time and near-misses. But maybe the biggest cheers of the night came when Vince Dunn, for the second straight game, scrapped with Edmonton’s Dylan Holloway (who earlier in the period had boarded Kraken D-man Brian Dumoulin). The fight was short but a clear decision to Dunn, who was still chirping at Holloway on his way to five-minute fighting penalties for each combatant.
Hyman’s ‘Trick’ No Treat
By first period’s end, Hyman had notched a natural hat trick (three straight goals in a game with no other scoring) and 2020 first-round draft pick Dylan Holloway (University of Wisconsin) made it 4-0 late period when a puck caromed off the end boards to Philipp Grubauer’s left and then reappeared to the Kraken goalie’s right post. Holloway was waiting to tap in his first goal this season and some fans were no doubt debating whether it was time to change goaltenders during the first intermission.
The night was disappointing for lots of reasons. Not squaring to a .500 record was one factor. Another was not continuing the momentum of a just-finished successful road trip for the second straight Saturday night. And there’s the storyline coming into the game: Edmonton entered the night with scoring troubles (averaging 2.58 goals in the first dozen games) and even bigger goalie problems (Jack Campbell, half of the EDM tandem to start the year, cleared waivers last week and is playing for AHL Bakersfield).
But those four goals in the opening period? The first time an opponent has scored four in a period since last Dec. 30 when the foe was ... Edmonton. Scoring issues were remedied, at least for one night. In goal, Stuart Skinner secured just his second “W” of the season (the other was the late October's “Heritage “outdoor game vs. Calgary). Skinner started the night with a .854 save percentage and faced just 18 shots on the night, keeping a clean sheet while Dave Hakstol replaced his goaltender for the first time this season, giving the net to Joey Daccord at the start of the middle period.
Hakstol said the goaltender change was a matter of getting his team’s attention and an attempt to boost energy going into the second period.
“At the point, after the third [goal], you’ve got a minute and 20 to get through the period,” said an unhappy and matter-of-fact Hakstol in the post-game scrum. “We didn't do that. It probably would have been a good time for a timeout. You expect we’re gonna get through that period. We didn’t. So make the goalie change. We challenged our group to go out and push in the second. But we didn’t find a whole lot of energy.”
Jaden Schwartz said the Seattle squad didn’t match Edmonton’s desperation, which was practically overheating after the San Jose loss with star Connor McDavid admitting publicly to low confidence among he and his teammates.
“We knew that they're hungry for wins,” said Schwartz. “We came out flat, which we've done a few times at home now. That’s unacceptable. We’ve got to be way more aggressive, way more assertive, and get to our game right away.”
Schwartz didn’t allow that Edmonton's tactics were at the root of the defeat. He was focused on what the Kraken didn’t do.
“We know what our game looks like,” said the alternate captain and leading scorer with 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 15 games. “I think it was just a mindset thing. We weren't ready. We had a good first maybe seven, eight minutes and then after that for a while, we weren't quick enough. We weren't on it fast enough. We were kind of backing up a little bit, just watching them. It took us a little too long to recover.”
