Head Start

Kraken goalie Chris Driedger had a lot to sort out mentally as he skated to the net Saturday night at FLA Live Arena.

He was starting against the Florida Panthers, the top scoring team in the league, a squad with just three regulation losses and one win at home away from an NHL record 12 straight home victories to start the season.
Plus, the Panthers are the team Driedger played for last season.
"No animosity," Driedger said afterward. "It's just good to see those guys. Honestly, it was a bit of a challenge trying to just keep my head in the game.
"It's so familiar being in this barn. Seeing those guys on the other side of the ice is a bit different but at the end of the day, I just need to focus."

Getting his head right turned out not to be a problem for Driedger in his third start in 21 games. The Panthers didn't take it easy on him.
Florida fired 34 shots at Driedger. He kicked away 33 to lead Seattle to a big 4-1 win as the Kraken have won three of the last four games against a quartet of top-five NHL teams.
Driedger's focus was tested in the first two minutes of the game while the Kraken were on a power play.
Florida's leading scorer, Jonathan Huberdeau stole a puck and was loose, breaking away toward Driedger, looking to score a momentum-snatching shorthanded goal. Driedger met the challenge, stretched out his left pad on Huberdeau's bid to keep the game scoreless early.
Seconds later, Jordan Eberle scored on the power play. The Kraken were able to grab the early momentum.
"The save on the breakaway early in the hockey game was a huge save," Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. "[Driedger] was really solid from there on out."
Seattle's expansion pick from the Panthers was at it again in the second period with the Kraken holding onto a slim 2-1 lead. Florida went to the power play at 16:31 with a chance to tie and once again wrestle the momentum away from Seattle.
The Panthers worked the puck around, sending it to Sam Bennett, who had time and a gaping net to shoot at. As Bennett wound up a shot, Driedger saw it, reacted and slid to his left in time to make the save and preserve the lead.
"When you have a goalie who you know is back there making saves when you're making mistakes, it gives you confidence," Eberle said. "Drieggs, he must have been the first star, he was awesome.
"He made a ton of big saves at the right time. He was just solid making plays back there."
Driedger was indeed awarded the first star in his old home rink.

The 27-year-old was originally drafted in the third round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators. Bouncing around various teams in the American Hockey League and ECHL, he landed in Florida to play 12 games during the 2019-2020 season. But it was this past season that Driedger broke out.
In the COVID-shortened campaign he played in 23 games, winning 14 and posting a .927 save percentage. Driedger was so good that he started earning the majority of starts over veteran Sergei Bobrovsky.
To make room for the up-and-coming Spencer Knight - who was in net against Driedger and the Kraken Saturday - Driedger was not re-signed by the Panthers at season's end.
The Kraken jumped on the chance to sign the unrestricted free agent during July's NHL Expansion Draft. He had a rough start to the season with Seattle, suffering an injury in a relief role the night before his first planned start.
After a stint on injured reserve, he made two starts and had yet to find his form. Saturday's start indicates a better trend.
"Just need to go in there and feel good and make some saves and just get some confidence back," Driedger said. "A lot of buzz coming back into this building, so it felt really good to get that one.
"I'm pretty happy with that performance by the group too. That's about as good as I've seen our group play. Hats off to them."
It was a big performance for both goalie and the team in front of him. While Driedger's confidence grows, so does the confidence of the players. Saturday night could go a long way in leading to more wins as the Kraken move through their remaining schedule.
"This has to have meant a lot to him," Eberle said. "It's funny with the scenario that we're in, every night's gonna mean a lot to a lot of guys on this team… that's just the unique situation that we're in.
"To have a starting goaltender come in and play the way he did and have such an impact in the game, I'm sure that meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to us too."
Those emotions were evident watching teammates line up to congratulate Driedger. The veteran alternate captain Eberle took an extra moment with the goalie to give a hug and words.
"Those things build team camaraderie and build team success," Eberle said. "When you have storylines like that, you really pull for a guy."