Kraken Cap Homestand With Shutout Win

Kraken center Chandler Stephenson didn’t mince words in a victorious dressing room Wednesday night about why he decided to pass and not shoot on his first of three assists.

Stephenson had acrobatic goaltender Juuse Saros apparently down and out with a dazzling net front deke move late in the second period of a still-scoreless affair. But instead of shooting, he slid a surprising backhand pass to incoming Daniel Sprong for the opening goal of a 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators that ignited a fifth Kraken victory in six tries to cap the season’s longest homestand.

Even Kraken coach Dan Bylsma thought Stephenson was about to shoot, though the centerman insisted afterwards there was zero chance of that happening.

“Not with how things are going right now,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson was referring to his own, somewhat snakebit season of just one goal in 20 games – including a sequence in the closing seconds of the opening frame when Saros robbed both him and Sprong with back-to-back kick stops by fully extended left and right legs. But Stephenson might as well have been referencing the entire Kraken team, now 10-9-1, which had seen its scoreless streak extended to nearly five full periods before Sprong’s wrist shot goal from the left side into a deserted half of the net.

Sprong’s first goal in a Kraken uniform since the 2022-23 playoffs carried momentum over to the final period, when Stephenson hit Brandon Montour with a net-front pass tapped in for a 2-0 lead just 23 seconds in. And then, after a Joey Daccord save off Zachary L’Heureux – left all alone in front following a Kraken turnover – and a subsequent Nashville goal minutes later overturned for being directed in off Alexandre Carrier’s skate, Yanni Gourde closed it out with an empty netter.

Daccord’s first shutout of the season underscored how improved defense helped the Kraken to this 5-1 homestand mark at a point when their own goals aren’t exactly coming in bunches. They certainly haven’t been for Stephenson, who, like many of his teammates, has generated opportunities without cashing in.

Still, the three-assist night gives him 12 on the season to underscore the type of playmaker he can be when afforded just a little space. Bylsma ahead of the game had stressed the need to see more creativity from playmakers and additional shooting from those who specialize in firing pucks at the net.

And Stephenson knows which one of those players Sprong is.

“I mean, he’s a shooter,” Stephenson said. “That kind of was the first goal there. I was trying to look for him finding that good ice because he’s one of those guys, you just kind of put it on his stick and it’s in the net.”

For his part, Sprong, in just his third Kraken game coming over from the Vancouver Canucks, felt his six-shot night was more in-line with what he expects. The Canucks had been his third team in three seasons despite combining for 39 goals with the Detroit Red Wings and Kraken the prior two campaigns.

“The first two games, I was walking out with one shot, zero shots, you know what I mean?” he said. “Offensive-wise, I wasn’t dangerous.”

But being given a spot on the top two lines – he’d been largely a fourth liner in nine Vancouver contests in which he scored once – bolstered his confidence. And having the talented Stephenson feed him pucks bolstered his opportunities.

“He’s a great player,” Sprong said. “He’s very calm with the puck. He’s very poised.”

Montour had actually thrown the puck through toward the net when Stephenson corralled it. Sprong had broken for the net hoping to get a rebound of what he’d thought would be a Montour shot, only to see Stephenson gather it in, make his deke move and then glance his way.

“It was like a split second where I go, ‘Oh my God, I think it might come back to me’,” Sprong said. “So, I was just ready in case it did. It’s a great play. And he gave me a wide-open net, and I’ll bury those.”

The Kraken as a team were on their game all night long, beginning before the opening faceoff when video coaches Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan were on their headsets spotting an improper lineup sent out by the Predators. Nashville mistakenly had No. 91 Steven Stamkos penciled into the starting five but then sent No. 9 Filip Forsberg out on the ice.

They relayed the info to assistant coach Jessica Campbell on the bench. Bylsma and Campbell were coaching at Coachella Valley in the Calder Cup Final last spring when they got the Hershey Bears penalized for an identical infraction. Ahead of the video coaches calling, Bylsma had already been wondering why Stamkos was listed pregame with linemates he hadn’t played with all season. Once play began, Bylsma alerted the linesman, who spoke to the referee during a play stoppage and the Predators indeed were penalized for the improper lineup.

The Kraken didn’t score on their first of four power plays the opening two periods, but they had the NHL’s top-ranked penalty killing unit on its heels with only Saros and his heroics keeping pucks out.

“You can’t get the mindset that you have to be perfect to beat him,” Bylsma said of Nashville’s top-flight netminder. “When you’re facing a goalie that’s playing that well and was that good, you’ve just got to…take the opportunity when you can get them.”

And once the Kraken kept on coming, Saros couldn’t deny them indefinitely. By the second intermission, the rather lopsided affair had the Kraken holding a 27-14 shots margin and a wide lead in dangerous opportunities despite just the one-goal advantage.

And by the time the Preds finally got one by Daccord with nine minutes to go in a 2-0 game, Kraken video coaches Ohashi and Morgan were at it again -- correctly calling for Bylsma to initiate a challenge that Alexandre Carrier had kicked the puck in.

It was that kind of homestand for the Kraken, who found ways to win on nights they weren’t always at their best or scoring at-will.

“This is one for us to feel good about and build off of,” Stephenson said. “It feels good. It was a really good homestand here before going on the road. So, I mean, yeah, it feels good to help contribute to this line and get a win.”