Kraken Play Big, Win Huge in DC

Washington, DC – Jared McCann was savoring a rare Kraken victory in this town by describing how the entire team played a lot like its suddenly surging fourth line.

Fresh off his game-winner with 5:27 remaining in a 5-3 triumph over the Washington Capitals, McCann described the benefits of simplicity and hard work. There was plenty of that by the Kraken throughout Sunday’s second win ever at Capital One Arena for the franchise McCann has been part of since inception.

“We’re not doing anything crazy – we’re just winning pucks,” McCann said after taking a Brandon Montour pass and snapping it past goalie Logan Thompson from the slot for his second of the season and team-high seventh point. “We’re getting pucks at the net and we’re banging them home. You know things are going in for us right now. We’ve just got to keep going. We know what makes us successful.”

Successful enough to score at least five goals for the fourth time already this season and win a second straight to start a five-city road trip that continues Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Also successful enough to take down a Capitals team that spent the summer upgrading and getting bigger with strong, powerful forwards in hopes of securing a Stanley Cup for NHL all-time goals leader Alex Ovechkin ahead of his planned retirement next summer. 

Kraken goalie Joey Daccord made a huge stop off Boone Jenner, who tied the game early in the final period, with just under nine minutes to go ahead of McCann’s winner.

The Kraken’s fourth line was again a force after looking dominant two nights prior in Detroit. Ryan Winterton sealed Sunday’s game with his first goal of the season on a breakaway with under three minutes to go while Freddy Gaudreau also scored again to go with his prior pair against the Red Wings.

Jordan Eberle and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the Kraken, who held three separate leads in this game before ultimately hanging on. Jordan Kyrou, one of the Caps’ big off-season adds, scored his first goal for his new team to erase one of those leads, as did fellow newcomer Jenner to tie things again 46 seconds into the third.

Ovechkin also added his first of the season and 930^th of his storied career to put Washington ahead briefly in the opening period after a Ryker Evans turnover on a clearance attempt. But Eberle tied it with only 11 seconds to go until intermission, taking three net-front whacks at the puck before putting it in after a deft move and cross-ice, backhanded pass from Chandler Stephenson.

“I just kind of play until I hear the horn,” Eberle said of whether he was aware of time winding down. “So, yeah. It’s a big win for the guys and a big goal at the end of a period.”

Huge in a way given how the Kraken had outplayed the home side much of the opening 20 minutes. They carried that into the middle frame, winning puck battles throughout and doing the little things right to set up opportunities.

“I think when we get on our toes and play with speed we’re a good team,” Eberle said. “As soon as we sit back, they started to put some pressure on, but I liked our fight in the end.”

The Kraken were certainly on their toes for Gaudreau’s third goal in two games about 13 minutes into the second period, with Ben Meyers beating everyone to a puck behind the Washington net. He threw it back to Winterton at the side of the net, who redirected it to an oncoming Gaudreau for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.

Meyers, who joined Winterton and Gaudreau in picking up two more points apiece, said the fourth line takes pride in trying to set a fast, hard forechecking pace everyone else can build off. 

“It’s kind of everything for us,” Meyers said. “If we’re skating on to pucks with speed, that’s how you put pressure on teams. So, it’s a focus for sure.”

Beyond his recent goal-scoring outburst, fourth line centerman Gaudreau also dominated the faceoff circle Sunday with seven wins in 10 tries – most of them in the defensive end. He helped the Kraken kill off back-to-back penalties in the game’s opening minutes that might have sent the entire day south in a hurry had things gone the other way.

Lambert agreed those draws, especially Gaudreau winning them from the right side, were “critical” when needed. As was getting the entire team to emulate the fourth line in forechecking hard, winning puck battles and scoring when given a chance.

“At the end of the day, we want to continue to build and grow in terms of our mentality,” Lambert said. “You know how to win tight games and I thought we did a good job of puck support all over the ice.

Lambert felt his players did a good job overall of containing a Caps team with six players 6-foot-4 or taller and four weighing 225 pounds or more. And of creating offense of their own by aggressively chasing down pucks as all four forward lines scored at least once.

“We’re getting contributions from everybody, so that’s nice to see,” Lambert said. “It’s one of the ways we want our team to be made up. We continue to get contributions from everyone.”

Having McCann as a big contributor early this season amounts to one of the bigger reliefs for a Kraken team quietly hoping his return to health could produce big results. McCann was a 40-goal man in 2022-23 and had usually been good for 25 or more before lower body issues slowed him down the past two seasons. 

But he’s always been one of those guys that just doesn’t miss when presented a scoring opportunity. With healthier legs now getting him more of those chances, the 30-year-old has shown he still knows how to bury them.

“It’s not always going to be pretty,” he said. “I feel like when you get chances in the game, as long as you just stick with it, keep going, keep grinding, it’s going to eventually go in for you.”

McCann feels the fourth line has nailed the formula for a fast, hardworking team to stay competitive.

“It’s been huge,” he said. “Those guys are leading the way for us. You’ve got to give them credit. They’re playing a simple game and they’re on the forecheck, they’re creating turnovers and like I said, they aren’t doing anything crazy special. They’re just playing their game.”