Final Buzzer: Kraken's Up-and-Down Night

After trading first-period power-play goals, the Kraken and visiting Philadelphia played a tight game that suddenly fizzed and frazzled with five-and-a-half minutes left in regulation, then advanced to overtime.

Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov, who played 27 minutes on the night, scored the game-winner with 2:46 remaining in OT on a breakaway.
"Tonight we gave up a breakaway, there's nothing hidden there," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said via Zoom after the game. "It would be a great time for a timely save on that one.

Kraken Controlled Possession

The final stat on offensive zone possession time was lopsided in Seattle's favor: 5:47 for Kraken compared to 1:39 for the Flyers in all situations.
"I thought we created [scoring] opportunities and defended well," Hakstol said after the game. "There's not much different I would want to do after an 11-day layoff."
The Kraken outshot the team Hakstol used to coach, 36-22: "We didn't get inside enough in the first half of the game," Hakstol said. "That's an area we need to improve."
Hakstol said during the final 30 minutes his squad made "the saves more difficult" for Flyers goalie Martin Jones.

Jubilant and Jarring

At 14:32, Jeremy Lauzon whipped a shot past Jones, just minutes after Lauzon thought he had his first goal as a Kraken defenseman. His defensive partner, Adam Larsson, made the goal possible with a slick move by gliding to the high slot, faking a shot and slipping the puck to a wide-open and charging Lauzon.
The 24-year-old, Quebec born defenseman hammered a shot past Jones to put the Kraken ahead 2-1 with 5:47 left. He was highly appreciative of Larsson's moves on the primary assists.
"He's obviously done it before with [Vince] Dunn earlier in the season," Lauzon said. "The goalie wasn't set."
Jubilation ensued at Climate Pledge Arena for a hearty crowd that showed up despite Seattle snow and freezing temperatures - the joy lasted 15 seconds.
That's when veteran forward James van Riemsdyk notched his second goal of the evening, beating Philipp Grubauer, who was caught leaning. Philly defenseman Travis Sanheim set up the tying and deflating goal with a crisp pass from the left point to the waiting van Riemsdyk a stride or two from Grubauer's crease.
"It's hard to be happy [about scoring his first goal] when you lose a game," Lauzon said.

Go-Ahead Goal Reversed

Six minutes into the third period, it appeared defenseman Jeremy Lauzon scored his first goal for the Kraken on a laser shot from his usual left-point location. But Philly coach Mike Yeo challenged the goal based on potential goaltender interference.
The on-ice officials and the NHL hockey operations situation room in Toronto determined that Jaden Schwartz did indeed interfere with Flyers goalie Martin Jones' attempt to make a save. Schwartz entered the goal crease and bumped into Jones. Philly D-man Travis Sanheim was entangled with Schwartz.
The Climate Pledge Arena crowd clearly did not agree with the call.

Would-Be Hero to Goat?

Less than two minutes later, Lauzon was called for roughing-putting the game outcome in peril in a matchup in which the Kraken were tilting the ice big-time with a 28-13 margin in shots at that point.
The Kraken killed the subsequent two minutes of shorthanded play without allowing a shot.

Tale of Two Power Plays

Philadelphia and the Kraken traded power-play goals in the first 20 minutes. The Flyers took advantage of Jordan Eberle called for cross-checking four-and-a-half minutes into the first period.
van Riemsdyk received a pinpoint pass from still-going-strong veteran center Claude Giroux, firing a quick-release shot past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer. It was the Flyers' second shot of the game. Grubauer faced six shots total in the opening 20 minutes.
Giroux's assist placed him second all-time on the storied Philadelphia career-points list with his primary assist on the power-play goal by van Riemsdyk. The play produced the Philly captain's 600th assist to go with 284 goals. Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is way ahead in the No. 1 spot with 358 goals and 852 assists for 1,210 total points.
The Kraken responded late in the first period with a power-play score of their own. Seattle defenseman Carson Soucy, filling in for Vince Dunn (COVID protocol) on the second power-play unit, exhibited patience with the puck after accepting a pass from Morgan Geekie.
Soucy found Yanni Gourde (great to see him back on the ice), who fired a rocket of a one-timer past Martin Jones, who played a stellar first two periods, turning away 22 of 23 shots on goal.
After the first 40 minutes, the score remained deadlocked at 1-1 when both teams fell short on second-period power plays. From one reporter's perspective, seconded by John Forslund on the ROOT SPORTS Northwest broadcast, the Kraken's second power-play unit looked more lively on the first two man-advantage situations.
Morgan Geekie's assist on the first SEA goal represented his seventh assist of the season to accompany three goals. The 10 points is a new career-high for the 23-year-old forward with 60-plus percent of the season remaining.
On the night, each team was 1-for-3 on power plays.

COVID-19 Quarantine Changes

Earlier Wednesday, the league sent a memo to the 32 NHL teams announcing a modified COVID protocol that reduces isolation of certain players from 10 days to five days after a positive test.
Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson was the first Seattle player to benefit from the change, arriving at the arena in time for morning skate. Larsson notched 22:38 of time on ice, the most of all Kraken players.
The new guidelines require five days of isolation in any positive test case. If the player has a fever, he has to isolate until fever subsides.
If the player is asymptomatic or the symptoms are resolving after five days, he can leave isolation and return to practices and games, provided the following conditions are met:
A negative lab-based PCR test, or a lab-based PCR test that has a CT value greater than 30, or two negative molecular point-of-care tests collected more than two hours apart.
And medical clearance from the team physician.
And such exit from COVID protocol is permitted by local health authorities.
And the player continues to always wear a mask around others for five additional days, other than for practices and games.
The NHL and NHLPA medical experts will re-evaluate the measures on or before Jan. 12.