Final Buzzer: Toronto Powers Past Kraken

The Kraken faced a tall task at Climate Pledge Arena Monday night with Toronto in town. The visitors had averaged four-plus goals per game over their last 21 games. Make that 22 games. Toronto scored three goals in the first period, then held off the Kraken for a 6-2 final.

After the fourth goal mid-second period, Toronto played a more conservative game, keeping to mostly short shifts and dumping the puck into the Kraken zone when clean scoring chances didn't materialize. The teams traded goals earlier in the third period (a shorthanded score for Toronto and a power-play goal for Seattle) before Toronto rounded out the goal count on defenseman Jake Muzzin's slap shot.
Special teams spelled the difference Monday night. Toronto converted on both of its power plays. The Kraken scored only on the fourth power play of the night while giving up a shorthanded goal on an earlier power play. That's three against and one for.
"Up until tonight, we have generated real good scoring opportunities," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "Tonight that wasn't the case. We will touch on it a little bit in practice. This time of year, special teams will dictate [the outcome of an increasing number of games compared to earlier in the season]."
Credit to the Kraken players and crowd. Seattle's skaters didn't hang heads but instead skated hard and fought for every puck even when down 5-1. The fans were throaty and engaged through the final shift.

For Openers

Toronto opened the scoring four minutes into the game with an Alex Kerfoot shot from the always-treacherous slot or middle lane in front of the net. Leafs captain John Tavares centered the pass from behind the Kraken goal line for his 28th assist of the season. Toronto features six players with 23 assists or more to date in 2021-22, led by defenseman Morgan Rielly with 35.
The Kraken tied it five minutes later, capitalizing on a Maple Leafs mistake and quirky bounce off the boards that led to a loose puck deep into the Toronto zone. Forward Mason Appleton retrieved the puck and bulleted a pass to Calle Jarnkrok near-net for a quick release and score.

Fast Reply

The definition of a "response goal" is a second goal within two minutes of the previous goal in the game. While not officially a response goal, Toronto supplied a loud reply with its second score of the night two minutes and one second later to make it 2-1. The Maple Leafs took the lead for good with a goal credited to Michael Bunting but, unfortunately, the puck went off a Kraken stick and then Vince Dunn's skate before sliding past Philipp Grubauer.
"When we go down one, we came back, pushed the momentum our way," Hakstol said. "For me, the turning point was the second goal against. We weren't clean exiting the [defensive] zone. [Toronto] is a team you want to make work really hard for scoring opportunities."
Toronto finished the first-period scoring with a tic-tac-toe sequence started by veteran Jason Spezza to the aforementioned Bunting to Ondrej Kase for another goal generated by the NHL's leading power play (averaging 30 percent).

Change of Goalie Plan

Hakstol switched goaltenders to start the second period. While the trio of Toronto scores were not solely Grubauer's doing (he might "want one or two back," said Kraken TV analyst JT Brown on the ROOT SPORTS Northwest broadcast), Chris Driedger, Friday night's winner in Anaheim, skated to the Seattle crease to start the second period.
"It was mostly to change the momentum at that point in time," Hakstol said when asked about the goalie change. "We were in a hole. It was about getting back in the game ... we were trying to push the other way."
The goalie change is almost always a message to the entire team that more bearing down is in order. The Kraken responded, allowing just three shots on goal in the first nine minutes of the second period. One of those shots, a point-blank save near net from 17-goal scorer William Nylander qualified as a Grade-A save during the Leafs' second power play of the night.
But eight seconds later, the Toronto man-advantage squad converted for a second time. Tavares won the faceoff, Auston Matthews (32 goals) couldn't solve Driedger but Mitch Marner seized the rebound and scored his own 17th goal of the season. Marner has nine goals in his last 11 games. It represented the 400th career point (goals and assists) in 392 games for the 24-year-old.

Power Play Outages

The Kraken were awarded two power plays as well in the first 40 minutes. The first one resulted in zero shots on goal, while the second power play generated three shots but finished the two-minute minor with no score.
A third Kraken power play in the last 20 minutes produced one shot before Toronto's David Kampf scored a shorthanded goal on an impressive read by Marner in the defensive zone, speeding up ice to draw a crowd including Driedger before backhanding the puck back to Kampf, a depth forward and defensive specialist with six goals.
The Kraken's fourth power play of the night was whistled five minutes later. The Kraken broke a 1-for-20 skein in its last six games (including Monday) with Jared McCann's 20th goal of the season, a new career high for the Kraken's expansion pick from Toronto. McCann has seven power play goals for the Kraken.
"Hopefully the power play loosens us up a bit," Hakstol said. "We looked tight on the power play."
But that power-play goal wasn't easy coming in more ways than one. McCann's shot leaked past Leafs goalie Jack Campbell, but the goal judge and on-ice officials did not signal goal. The officials indicated play on, despite Jarnkrok, who had the best view, raising his arms in celebration.
The way it works in the NHL is while the game plays on, the league's NHL hockey operations "Situation Room" based in Toronto reviews the goal attempt, including an overhead camera above the goal line. The goal sounded as the Kraken were pressuring Campbell on the power play. Even with the delayed horn, the Kraken crowd supplied plenty of Seattle-worthy noise to celebrate.