Getting Ahead, Keeping Their Heads

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In a game of three Kraken leads, the third one was the charm as Seattle powered past the hometown Predators for its second win of the season and second on this road trip. Coach Dan Bylsma and his charges come home with a winning journey, taking two of three from three straight fast-skating and physical Central Division opponents. The 2-2 Kraken now breeze into a five-game homestand that begins with Philadelphia on Thursday in the first night game of the year.

With a 3-3 score in the second minute of the third period, new-for-the-night-and-likely-longer linemates Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jaden Schwartz teamed up on highlight-reel passing and a slick move by Schwartz to beat Nashville’s elite goalie Juuse Soros. Linemate and new guy Chandler Stephenson started the scoring play with a puck retrieval and a quick pass to Bjorkstrand. All three linemates had two-point nights.

Schwartz scored at 1:19 of the final frame to give the Kraken the lead for good and a happyt flight back to the PNW. Jordan Eberle provided Seattle with its second two-goal lead of the night 81 seconds later when he took a feed from Jared McCann for the captain’s third goal of the young season. Leading by example indeed.

McCann scored himself 12 minutes in the final frame to make it 6-3. McCann, who is the team’s all-time leading goal scorer, notched his first score of the year. Jamie Oleksiak assisted on both the Eberle and McCann goals for his first two points. All told, six Kraken players had two-point nights, with Adam Larsson, who assisted on the game’s first goal, finishing off the scoring with an empty-net goal.

Lining Up the Right Combination for First-Period Score

Dan Bylsma reworked his forward lines a tad Tuesday, and it paid dividends in the first period, with newcomer Stephenson finding time and space in the Nashville zone seven minutes into the opening period. New linemate Bjorkstrand took a pass from the free-agent signee approaching left of the goal, positioning for a right-handed wrist shot.

Predators all-star goalie Juuse Saros looked like he had it covered, but the Kraken all-star Bjorkstrand went whip-high over an on-ice Saros, finding a sliver of opportunity for his first goal and point of the season. Stephenson picked up his first assist as a Kraken, and linemate Jaden Schwartz notched an assist in his typical fashion, retrieving the puck along the sideboards and head-manning the puck quickly to Stephenson.

Stephenson pointed out that he, Bjorkstrand and Schwartz have played a bit as a unit, though Bjorkstrand and Schwartz haven’t really been linemates much since Bjorkstrand was acquired by trade after the inaugural season. The trio looked in midseason form here in the Music City, in a rhythm of fast transitions and even fast scoring chances.

“It’s been just four games together with Schwartzy,” said Stephenson. “We've been talking the whole time; I think we're more familiar with one another now. And Ollie is just a world-class shooter, which you saw on that goal. You give it to him, and he puts in the back in the net.”

For his part, Bjorkstrand said he was thinking of lifting the puck on his shot attempt: It was kind of an awkward angle. But when the puck comes to me, and it's at my skates, I'm thinking up. You just try to [read and] react fast.”

Bjorkstrand said coach Dan Bylsma’s line juggling in the Sunday loss at Dallas jumpstarted the success of the Stephenson line against Nashville.

“We had few pairs [two of the three linemates] together last game, so we got familiar with each other,” said Bjorkstrand. “I think today we naturally clicked.”

Stephenson and Schwartz have known each other since childhood when Schwartz played youth hockey with Stephenson’s older brother, and Chandler tagged along for pickup games. They have paired together since the regular-season start, albeit with Bjorkstrand subbing in for Andre Burakovsky (who moved to a line with Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen for this Nashville matchup).

“It’s obviously still a work in progress,” said Schwartz after the Kraken’s morning skate. “We've had some chances, but obviously, they haven't gone in. We’ve got to be better individually and produce more. There's been some good things and some things we can work on. With Bjorkstrand, it just a little bit different look offensively.”

Let’s agree the move produced a rousing first success and the look was both different and dangerous for Nashville.

Bylsma Praises Execution, Penalty Kill, Daccord’s Resilience

Dan Bylsma talked Tuesday morning about how a win against Nashville marked a winning trip and good feelings among teammates heading into five at home between Thursday and Oct. 26. He could barely express all that he liked about the effort here in Nashville.

“I think you saw a lot of good in a lot of different areas,” said Bylsma. “We talked about our execution and our cohesiveness, playing connected. That was evident [on the Bjorkstrand goal to make it 2-0]. It starts with coming out of the D-zone. Schwartz makes a wall play and Chandler’s speed produces a two-on-one. It's necessary for us to get some rewards for playing the right way and doing the right things. That kind of execution is great to see and you saw all over the game in a lot of different ways.”

Bylsma pointed out how the Yanni Gourde line’s forechecking led to a late-first-period Brandon Tanev goal to retake the lead, 3-2, at the first intermission. He mentioned how forechecking from Jared McCann and Shane Wright led to key insurance goals in the third period. He particularly liked the work of the penalty killers when the game was still in doubt in the middle period.

“The game was tight at that point in time,” said Bylsma. “It's four-on-three; it's a huge opportunity for them. Our guys came up big with some block shots, Rig [Jamie Oleksiak] in there, and Joey had to make some big saves.”

Bylsma called out Joey Daccord’s “next-play mentality in his career and in every game” when the goaltender stayed the course mentally when the Predators came back from 2-0 and 3-2.

“He never gives up,” said alternate captain Jaden Schwartz about Daccord during his post-game Kraken Hockey Network interview with KHN reporter Piper Shaw. “He made three or four huge saves.”

Schwartz added that the Kraken benefitted from solid goaltending all trip and it was unfortunate “we couldn’t get a win for Grubi” Sunday in Dallas.

Get Lead, Lose Lead, Regain Lead, All in 20 Minutes

The Kraken raced out to a 2-0 lead on young defenseman Ryker Evans’ first goal of the season (and second in his first 40 NHL games) and veteran Oliver Bjorkstrand scoring on a wicked wrist shot with assists from his new linemates, Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz. But Nashville answered back with a pair of scores later first period in what was a back-and-forth contest all night long. The first period ended with 13 Kraken shots on goal and 12 for Nashville. The second period finished with 12 more Predators shots and 11 for Seattle, adding up to 24 apiece in the first 40 minutes.

Typical of this game’s seesaw nature, the first period ended with Seattle going up 3-2 on Brandon Tanev’s first goal of the season and another strong shift of many so far this year from the fourth-line of Tanev, Yanni Gourde and Tye Kartye. Tanev tipped in a Brandon Montour laser from the right point. But late second period, former Carolina D-man and free agent signee Brady Skjei scored his first goal with his new team to make it 3-3 at the second intermission. Skjei’s turnaround shot on a rebound deflected off Daccord’s but unluckily angled inside the right post.

Ryker Strike: Evans Scores First Goal

Young Kraken defenseman Ryker Evans picked an opportune time to score his first goal of the season, and teammate Vince Dunn picked a pretty good moment himself to break his stick on a shot from the left point at the blue line. With the Kraken maintaining puck possession in the Nashville zone three-and-a-half minutes into the game, Dunn quickly skated off, and Evans jumped out to speed to the vacated left point. Adam Larsson saw an open Evans and sent the puck his way. Evans delivered without breaking stride.

Nashville Answers, Kraken Fourth-Line Impresses Again

After Seattle jumped out to the two-goal lead, Nashville answered with two goals in two-plus minutes later first period, one scored on a net-front scramble and the second on a back-door pass. But Kraken starter Joey Daccord held steady in net to finish out the first period and was especially strong on a Nashville power play that started the middle period when Seattle forward Jared McCann was whistled off for tripping with a second left in the opening 20 minutes. Daccord made a pair of close-in saves that doused any potential Nashville momentum.

While Daccord and the SEA defensive corps were keeping the scoresheet at two Predators goals, the steadily effective Kraken fourth line proved their early-season worth when Yanni Gourde started a scoring play by outmanning Nashville’s Michael McCarron behind the Predators net, winning the puck and sending it along the boards to Brandon Montour near the right point. From there, Montour played catch with Gourde before firing a hard shot on net that Tanev tipped for his first score of the season.