The Final Buzzer: Fast Start, Unhappy Ending

GLENDALE, AZ -- The Kraken built a two-goal lead and a bona fide fast start in the first minute of play against the Arizona Coyotes, who entered the game winless in eleven games to start the season. Maybe it was a little too much too soon.
For the first time all season and even back to the first day of training camp or talking the media via Zoom when he was selected in July's NHL Expansion Draft, Kraken center and alternate captain Yanni Gourde was not smiling when he met the media in a brief session.

He appeared to be still processing a 5-4 loss that ended in similar fashion as to how it started-with two goals in a little more than the last minute after the Kraken opened up a two-goal lead in first minute of the first period.
"I don't know," said Gourde said in answer to the first question. "We got two quick goals and I don't think we played very well after that.
"We weren't managing the puck very well. We weren't playing fast. We weren't playing our identity [part of which is what Gourde frequently says is 'be hard to play against']. If you don't do that, there's good teams in the league and they're going to beat you."
That's exactly what happened on this see-saw Saturday night that swung from first-period glee for Kraken fans to nail-biting (figurative and probably some literal) through what Seattle coach Dave Hakstol called a "hard-fought" second period to a third period in which Coyotes forward Lawson Crouse tied the game 46 seconds into the final frame and scored a book-end goal to win it with 65 seconds remaining.
The Arizona crowd most definitely got louder as the game unfolded, exploding on the Crouse goal plus Phil Kessel's 393rd career NHL goal to give the Coyotes a 4-3 lead, completing an unlikely comeback if the first minute of play was any indication. But the next 59 minutes made a different case.
"Our identity is playing 60 minutes hard," said Gourde. "We didn't play that way."
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol was understandably brief in his post-game remarks.
"It's obviously a real disappointing loss with a lead going into the third period," said Hakstol. "Able to tie it up late to push it to overtime, that's disappointing [to give up the late game-winning Crouse goal]."

Third Arizona Goal Not Charming

Without prompting, Hakstol brought up the early third-period goal by Crouse that tied the game. It started with a hard dump-in from top-pairing defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who began the night with no goals or assists and a minus-18 plus/minute rating.
Journeyman forward Johan Larsson gathered the puck behind the Kraken goal line unscathed, passing out front to Crouse, who had time and space to find a hole in Philipp Grubauer's stance.
The replay shows three Kraken players in near vicinity to the net but none checking Larsson to prevent the pass to even be made. One more Kraken player skated back into the play but didn't find the puck before Crouse did.
"Overall, in critical areas, our focus was not there," said Hakstol. "You look at the third goal. It is a pass-out play from underneath our goal and we've got three, four people back. But our awareness wasn't there and that's indicative of a couple goals against tonight."
Hakstol indicated there was a lack of communication among Kraken players on that goal and at least one or two others, not a tendency in the first 11 games of this season.
"We didn't give up much," said Hakstol. "We had some pieces of our game but didn't have completeness."
The Coyotes chipped away at the lead one period at a time. Arizona forward Antoine Roussel scored 93 seconds into the game to make it a 2-1 game. Fourth-line forward Nathan Bastian tallied his first goal of the year on a close-in backhander past veteran Scott Wedgewood, who subbed in for rookie goalie Karel Vejmelka after those first two Seattle goals in the first minute.

Coming Back

Three minutes into the middle period, Arizona forward Travis Boyd notched his second goal of the season to tighten the game at 3-2. About four minutes later, it appeared Seattle was about to get the game back in control thanks to a laser shot from the slot by Jordan Eberle, but the would-be hero to the rescue was foiled by the crossbar. That 4-by-6-foot goal opening is smaller or bigger than looks depending on the night and the scorers.

As an omen not appealing to Kraken fans, the Coyotes looked in flow during the final seven to 10 minutes of the second period. The Kraken had scoring chances themselves, but the Coyotes seemed revived and not feeling adverse effects from playing their second game in two nights, one in southern California.

Wedgewood Off Waivers, In a Groove

The veteran goalie Scott Wedgewood came in relief to stop 24 of 25 as the game approached the 13-minute mark of the third period. He made all the big stops while still wearing New Jersey colors on his equipment since he was just picked up on waivers earlier in the week.

All those saves paid off when Nathan Bastian, the scorer of the third Kraken goal, was called for tripping at 12:54 of the third period. Veteran NHL scorer Phil Kessel notched his 393rd goal of his career 40 seconds later to complete the comeback for Arizona.

Wait a Last Minute....

With 1:18 left in the game, Kraken captain Mark Giordano scored his third goal of the season to tie up the game and potentially send this see-saw crazy contest to overtime.
But 15 seconds later-that sounds a little too familiar to this game's start-Crouse scored his second goal of the night, then jumped about three feet in the air in celebration.
"Good teams have to finish teams off," said a disappointed Nathan Bastian, his first goal for the Kraken tarnished. "It was a bit rollercoaster at end. We were so excited to score. We forgot there was a minute left."

The Kraken skated furiously toward and in front of the Coyotes net after Dave Hakstol called a timeout, but the clock ran out during a final scrum.

First-Period Frenzy

Veteran Kraken forward Jordan Eberle picked up where he left off, which was a natural three-straight-goals hat trick to fuel a 5-2 home win over Buffalo. Eberle scored 15 seconds into Saturday's matchup with Arizona, backhanding the puck past Coyotes rookie goalie Karel Vejmelka.
Before the Seattle fans in strong-lunged numbers here could finish celebrating, Kraken center Yanni Gourde took a pass in stride from linemate Brandon Tanev and buried his shot past Vejmelka 59 seconds into the game.
The Czech rookie was then pulled by rookie NHL head coach Andre Tourigny. Vejmelka was done for the night-he played Friday in a 3-1 loss at Anaheim-and veteran NHL backup Scott Wedgewood, just picked up on waivers this week, took over in goal.
Thirty-three seconds after that, Arizona left wing Antoine Roussel sped up ice, entering the zone unchecked while Kraken D-man Vince Dunn jumped back into the play where he had fallen behind the goal line. But Dunn overcorrected to the slot in front of the Kraken goal, leaving Roussel open to beat Grubauer.
More history for the Kraken: The three goals scored in the first 93 seconds marked only the sixth time in 104 years that has happened, the last time coming in January 2006. And the last time three goals were scored on the first three shots of the game was December 2010.

Fast for Official Scorers Too

The Eberle and Roussel goals were both announced in arena as unassisted. But several minutes later the public address announcer informed the crowd that Kraken center Alex Wennberg was awarded a primary assist on linemate Eberle's score. It was Wennberg's sixth assist of the season.
Arizona defenseman Shayne Gotisbehere was added to the official scoring list with primary assist on Roussel's first goal of the season. It is Gotisbehere's sixth assist of the year too.
Then Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was added to the credits on the Gourde goal. He earned his fifth of the season.