SEA Comeback: Hope, Heartbreak

The Kraken completed this six-game homestand with six of a possible 12 standings points. Not quite the hope going into the stretch at Climate Pledge Arena but ending in an up-note with a late Oliver Bjorkstrand power play goal to push this playoff-atmosphere contest into overtime. Rookie defenseman Ryker Evans produced his fourth primary assist in the last three games.

Bjorkstrand fired yet another dead-accurate longer-range shot past another goalie (veteran Cam Talbot) not seemingly quite ready for the wicked shot inbound. Bjorkstrand celebrated with a one-kneed fist pump to mark his 10th goal of the season and helped re-tie Vince Dunn for the team scoring lead.

The overtime featured a nail-biting two minutes of penalty kill for Kraken fans when Vince Dunn committed a slashing penalty the Kraken announcer flat-out defined as a “bad penalty.” Joey Daccord made two big saves in the final minutes of the kill and Seattle survived OT to decide this one by shootout, with the Kraken converting on three of nine chances, including a highlight-reel Matty Beniers goal. But LA’s Cam Talbot outlasted Daccord in a nine-round shootout neither goaltender deserved to lose.

Saturday’s effort, if not the scoreboard, proved Seattle can play with Stanley Cup contenders from this night’s victorious LA Kings to last season’s Eastern Conference champ Florida (4-0) to recent two-time Cup winner Tampa Bay (overtime loss).

Post-game, alternate captain Yanni Gourde commended his Kraken teammates while addressing the query of “lots of hockey left” to decide who makes the postseason: “Our battle level was high. That's a big part of our game. If we do that on a consistent basis, we are going to win more games than we're going to lose. We’ve just got to find ways to find ways to find more pucks in the o-zone."

Scoring First Again

Saturday started out right on the twin boards with defensive stalwart Adam Larsson scoring his second goal of the season. But Seattle was outshot 14 to three in the first 20 minutes and that shots on goal marker was 29 to 9 at the second intermission.

Joey Daccord turned in another strong performance as the current No. 1 goalie for the Kraken, surrendering one goal after a near-net turnover and the second goal on a Kings power play that effectively was made possible by Jamie Oleksiak losing his skate edge to leave LA young star Quinton Byfield with time and space to get a back-door pass to the seemingly ageless Kings' captain and leading scorer Anze Kopitar, who snuck in behind Adam Larsson and Yanni Gourde.

Los Angeles is no question an elite Western Conference and Pacific Division squad this season the Kraken hung with the Kings blend of young upcoming stars and veteran wonders such as Kopitar and D-m Drew Doughty. Staying close in this matchup is not enough for Kraken players and coaches alike, something to keep front of mind in the Wednesday rematch in downtown LA.

“We played hard from start to finish,” said Dave Hakstol, who was clear this was no moral victory game and that he and the team wanted both standings points. “One of the keys against that team is not becoming frustrated. They're outstanding. Defensively, they play hard, they shut down the middle of the rink, and they're able to break out with structure [Gourde backed up his coach, saying LA is the most structured team the Kraken have faced this season]. A real important piece is going into the third period just remaining confident, staying with it.”

Unwanted Penalties

The aforementioned power play goal in the second period was made possible by a roughing call on Kraken defenseman Will Borgen, who took exception to LAK defenseman Mikey Anderson’s monster takedown of Seattle rookie Tye Kartye. But Anderson didn’t retaliate to Borgen’s hard shove and only Borgen went to the penalty box. For his part, Hakstol didn’t like what Borgen did, and the same for the two-minute minor for slashing that Vince Dunn took in overtime.

“We took two penalties tonight that we'll talk about internally, discuss penalties that we don't want to take,” said the Kraken head coach. “You know, sometimes there’s frustration that builds when you see a couple of other calls or non-calls ... won't get into which ones. The bottom line is those things happen during a hockey game. You just have to have the presence of mind to take care of the situation [but not by taking a penalty].”

Larsson Lights It Up

With all eyes on veteran scorer Tomas Tatar joining the Kraken as part of the Matty Beniers line, the fourth line continued its influential ways, this time on the game’s opening goal. Kailer Yamamoto won a puck battle in the left corner, to keep play in the Kings zone. Yamamoto passed to Vince Dunn who took hold of the puck and moved it to his defensive partner Adam Larsson who went net-front and pinballed the puck past LA goalie Cam Talbot. Winger Devin Shore and linemate/center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare held off their respective foes net-front to allow Larsson’s successful scoring attempt.

Los Angeles is no question an elite Western Conference and Pacific Division squad this season the Kraken hung with the Kings blend of young upcoming stars and veteran wonders such as Kopitar and D-m Drew Doughty.

Trade Talk: Tatar Impresses in First Seattle Start

Speaking of Tomas Tatar, he suited up in a number 90 jersey and lined up with Matty Beniers and Jared McCann. Early first period, Tatar set up McCann with a nifty net-front pass (McCann lost the handle on the pass). Tatar continued to make sharp small-detail plays from breaking an offensive rush to keeping pucks in the offensive zone to looking altogether familiar and comfortable with his linemates and power-play unit mates.

Tatar stepped into Jordan Eblere’s role on the Beniers line and power play grouping. Kraken fans have to be encouraged by Tatar’s comfort and skill level. He is surehanded in all zones and looks to be a valuable addition to an injury-riddled forwards corps as the Kraken head to Dallas, LA, and Anaheim before the holiday break.

Defense as Best Offense?

If you are looking for a silver-lining impressive outcome of the homestand (besides some strong outings and the first NHL shutout for Joey Daccord and Ryker Evans’ auspicious six-game debut), it would be the defensemen scoring stats in the last 10 days. The D-men racked up 15 assists, with nine of them primary assists, and scored two goals themselves (Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak both notching their second goals of the season). Will Borgen had five assists over the middle four including doubles in the two wins this week. Evans had two assists himself in the 7-1 romp over Chicago and four total in the last three games. For good measure, Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson both scored their second goals of the season during the homestand.