He talked about the "tough ending" of the second period when Max Domi scored two goals in the last four minutes to make it 4-1 at intermission to "dig a hole in our own building."
But the Kraken clearly responded - and so did the crowd with noise on Vince Dunn's game-tying goal with four minutes left in the third period. It was the noisiest moment of the inaugural season, even bigger and denser than Dunn scoring the first home goal way back in the final seconds of the first period of the Oct. 23 home opener.
Hakstol said the Kraken's third-period "mindset and feeling" can carry over to Tuesday's matchup with San Jose, especially "how we did it."
Agreed, this team plays a style that leads opposing coaches and players to call the Kraken "hard-working" in most every media session, pre- or post-game. The Kraken players are believers in the Hakstol system of defense-first/winning back the puck generates offense.
One more note about mindset. When Alexander True, playing his first game for the Kraken, stood net front rapping his stick at Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins, both the CBJ goalie (who was wildly slashing at the back of True's legs) and teammates took umbrage with the 6-foot-5 Kraken center.
True was whistled for a head-scratching slashing penalty with Seattle silencing the ensuing Columbus power play. But the True-Merzlikins encounter was not lost on fan fave Brandon Tanev, who soon thereafter did the exact same whacking for the puck amid Merzlikins' pads before the whistle shrilled to signify the play is "dead."
Merzlikins didn't much like it and Tanev jawed verbally with CBJ's Gregory Hoffman. But think about Tanev's potential motive behind hoping to deflect a loose puck into the net. Maybe he saw a Columbus goaltender who made a half-dozen first-period saves losing his cool and focus?
