Final Buzzer: Kraken Grounded by Jets

Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said early in the season his team needed to be comfortable playing close games.

After the visiting Winnipeg Jets scored in the sixth minute of play, Seattle proved competitive and poised, both keeping the game at a one-goal deficit and creating three to four "Grade A" scoring chances (as Hakstol would call them) each of the first two periods.
The Kraken's resilience incurred a momentary letdown early in the third period when Jets forward Mark Scheifele retrieved a puck in the corner of the Kraken's defensive zone, moving it to the "slot" area in front of Philipp Grubauer's net.
Unfortunately for all Kraken faithful and players, the receiver of Scheifele's pass was Kyle Connor. He quickly released a wrist shot for the game's second goal and Connor's 16th on the season, tying him with some guy named Connor McDavid for sixth best in the NHL.
Three Seattle defenders leaned toward Scheifele, leaving Connor wide open with too much space. It's the third time Connor has scored at least one goal on his birthday. He turned 25 Thursday.

Silence on Scoresheet, Not Crowd

The Kraken continue to play exciting hockey at Climate Pledge Arena - with maybe two clunkers of note - and the Seattle faithful ooh, ahh and ohh with purpose on home-team scoring chances.
The best chance of the night was a slick pass from Jordan Eberle to Jaden Schwartz late in the second period. Schwartz had the coveted time and space but could not convert. Eberle slammed his stick blade on the ice following the shift, while linemate Schwartz tried to break his stick in half over a raised knee. Frustration squared.
"We should all be a little frustrated when we lose games," said Mark Giordano, the captain returning after a 10-day COVID protocol. "But there is no lack of work effort from our team."
The payoff of a Kraken goal brings ear-popping decibels this city's sports fans are known for and definitely noticed by the Kraken players and coaches.
But that payoff never developed Thursday night as Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, one of best goalies in the sport over the last few seasons, was on top of his game. Hellebuyck made 25 saves en route to a 3-0 shutout victory. He made more than a handful of saves the crowd figured would be goals and subsequent lung power.
Connor added his second goal of the game and 17th overall to move into a four-way tie for third among goal scorers. The group includes Toronto star Auston Matthews, New York Rangers power play specialist Chris Kreider and Calgary breakout star Andrew Mangiapane.

Workload Debate

There has been lots of fan and media discussion about Grubauer's workload. Thursday was his 21st start of the season. He had a 7-10-2 record with a 3.17 goals-against average and .886 save percentage going into Thursday night.
Hellebuyck was starting his 21st game, too. He started Thursday night with a 9-7-4 record, 2.77 GAA and .914 save percentage. He made several big saves in the first period and a fistful more in the second when the one-goal margin was slim.
Grubauer made several highlight-reel saves of his own, finishing with 29 saves on 32 shots. Hellebuyck posted his first shutout of the year and 25th over 335 NHL games.

Kraken Low Outage on Power Play

The Kraken went 0-for-5 on power plays, the first two whistled while the score was still 1-zip. Two third-period WPG penalties came.
The Kraken fired just two shots on the five man-advantage situations, recording 13 shot attempts. The best scoring chance occurred in the seconds after the first power play.
Hakstol called a timeout with seven minutes remaining and 41 seconds left on the fourth power play. It resulted in Vince Dunn with a hard shot on net and a scrum for the rebound that didn't materialize for Seattle.
Winnipeg entered the game ranked 31st among 32 NHL teams in defending the power play. Winnipeg players Connor and defenseman Brenden Dillon said the Jets had a specific morning meeting to discuss penalty-kill strategy.
"They did a helluva job with the PK pressure," Hakstol said. "They did it with puck retrieval, quick outlet passes and puck speed."
Giordano credited the aggressiveness blocking shots and "getting sticks on pucks." He said overall Winnipeg is a "playoff-style" team that is big and "heavy" on the puck, but also patient enough to "manage the game" and wait for chances.

Guidance from 'Gio'

All good information for Kraken fans via Giordano in that chasing a team like Winnipeg for a wild-card playoff spot this season requires better execution of Hakstol's systems of play and the small details that are involved. Giordano said it helps Seattle to be quicker on making decisions about how to move the puck forward.
"Sometimes you just have to put the puck behind (the opponent's) net and grind out a shift," he said.

Sticking to the Plan

When Jets forward Dominic Toninato scored his third goal of the year in the sixth minute of the opening period, it was time for the Kraken to respond.
Sure, a tying goal would have proved ideal. But instead, the Kraken played solid defensively, for the most part sticking with the system of play that Hakstol has installed with veterans like Eberle buying in.
After Monday's lopsided loss to Pittsburgh, Eberle talked about his team getting away from what they have done best in winning efforts against the NHL's top teams in recent weeks. Details such as knowing faceoff assignments (win or lose off the draw), not taking unwise chances on offensive rushes that offer more risk than reward, winning individual puck battles.
Hakstol and his assistant coaches conducted two high-intensity practices Tuesday and Wednesday to "get back to work" and get back to the type of defense-first that actually creates scoring opportunities.
According to Naturalstattrick.com, the Kraken generated three high-danger scoring chances to one for Winnipeg in the opening 20 minutes. They added one more early seconde period, only to have Winnipeg all-star goalie Connor Hellebucyk stop a near-net shot by Yanni Gourde.
The first period was not without a giveaway or two by the Kraken. One such turnover put Jets forward in to get a solo break on SEA goaltender Philipp Grubauer, deking successfully but hitting a goal post. When coaches and players talk about "puck luck," that's an example to keep in mind.
The second period was filled with Grade-A scoring chances for the Kraken and continued responsible defensive play by Seattle.

Sizing Up the Shifts

Hakstol and his assistant coaches appeared to be looking at alternate captains Eberle and Schwartz to spark the Kraken forwards group Thursday, along with center Alex Wennberg. By game-end, Eberle and Schwartz played 20 minutes each and Wennberg checked in at 19:31. Only Yanni Gourde and Calle Jarnkrok played 17-plus minutes among the rest of the forwards.
Similar selection could be detected among defensive pairs. Adam Larsson played 23-plus minutes and partner Dunn logged 24 minutes while the Giordano-Jamie Oleksiak duo checked in at the 19-minute range. Carson Soucy played 12 minutes and Will Borgen logged 13.

Last Game in Old Arena

Winnipeg defenseman Dillon played in the last game ever at the old arena on this ground. His WHL Seattle Thunderbirds squad defeated the Chilliwack Bruins, 2-0, on Dec. 30, 2008. It was the second of four Seattle seasons for the undrafted Dillon. He captained the T-Birds in his final two seasons, notching eight goals and 51 assists in 2010-11, catching the eye of the Dallas Stars.
Dallas signed Dillon to a free-agent deal. He played 148 games for the Stars over three seasons, then played for San Jose and Washington before being acquired from Washington this past offseason. Thursday was his 680th NHL game and, of course, first in his old stomping ground with only the historic roof for him to recognize.
Dillon had lots of friends at the game, plus family members and his billet parents while playing for the Thunderbirds. He nearly scored a shorthanded goal in the first period.

Speaking of the Thunderbirds ...

Tij Iginla was drafted ninth overall in today's Western Hockey League draft. The 15-year-old is the son of recent Hall of Fame inductee Jarome Iginla, best known for his superstar play for the Calgary Flames and by all Canadian hockey fans for assisting on the "Golden Goal" that fueled Canada's overtime victory over Team USA in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The younger Iginla has six goals and five assists in 10 games for his Kelowna, B.C. U18 team.