Fourth Line Work Again Keys Kraken Comeback

Brandon Tanev and his fourth line teammates are becoming quite adept at bringing the Kraken back from the brink.

A few nights prior, a Tanev breakaway strike helped cut into a two-goal deficit right at the tail end of the opening period. Then, in Tuesday night’s 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, it would be Tanev scoring a tying marker in a four-goal second period outburst that helped the Kraken again rally back from behind by two.

“It’s obviously not the start we wanted,” Tanev said of a first period in which the Kraken were outshot 18-6 and outscored by the pair of goals. “But I think we found a way to make some plays, and good things will happen when you’re playing the right way.”

The good stuff began once the Kraken simplified things, getting out of their own end more quickly with better passing and decision making. And then the fourth liners took over by doing the hard work along the boards and at the net front.

Not long before Tanev’s goal off a 2-on-1 break with Yanni Gourde, his other linemate on the fourth trio, Tye Kartye, had finally gotten the Kraken on the board three minutes into the frame with solid net front positioning. He then took a pass from Andre Burakovsky and tucked the puck behind goalie Elvis Merzlikins.

“(Kartye) did a great job of getting to the net and I think Yanni and Burakovsky made great plays on that play as well,” Tanev said. “And my goal doesn’t happen without Yanni driving the net and clearing space for me.

“So, there are a lot of good things, simple things that make the game easier for others and especially our teammates. When we’re playing that way, the game becomes easier for us.”

Only 10 seconds after Tanev’s tying goal, Eeli Tolvanen converted a cross-ice pass by Jordan Eberle at the net front to put the Kraken ahead to stay. Will Borgen added his first of the season before the period’s end, and Jared McCann scored an empty net goal in the waning seconds as the Kraken and goalie Joey Daccord – who stopped a season-high 38 shots -- picked up their second straight victory.

Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour helped keep it a two-goal lead late in the second period, chasing down Columbus forward Sean Kuraly from behind on a partial breakaway and preventing him from getting a solid shot off.

It's the first time in three weeks the Kraken have won consecutive games, boosting their season record to 7-8-1. Slow starts have hurt them lately, with Tuesday’s game the sixth straight in which they’ve surrendered the opening goal and the fourth in that span they’ve fallen behind by at least two.

That’s provided plenty of practice at overcoming deficits for some of the group’s more notorious forecheckers. Tanev, Kartye and Gourde typically make a living stirring things up and the Kraken desperately needed some of that when the second period began.

They’d been outplayed in the opening frame, giving up five shots in the first two minutes and then yielding goals by Kuraly and Zachary Aston-Reese by the 14:08 mark. By that point, the Blue Jackets had a 15-4 shots advantage and Kraken coach Dan Bylsma called timeout.

“It was simple – it wasn’t good enough,” Tanev said of the opening period. “It was some lazy, sloppy hockey. But I think at the end of the day, we had 40 minutes to figure it out and I think we definitely did that.”

Bylsma said the timeout provided “a little bit of a reset” for his team to get them to intermission trailing by only two.

“I think the attention to our game plan and the attention to the way we wanted to play wasn’t nearly good enough,” Bylsma said, adding: “The message after the first was ‘Get your heads up and play.’”

The Blue Jackets, losers of six straight, had been outshooting teams of late without cashing in offensively. Their bad luck continued with an early hit crossbar behind a beaten Daccord, but then their high pressure continued against the Kraken and finally paid off with the two goals.

“We fed into their strengths as a team,” Bylsma said. “But I thought the guys responded. Again, the second period was great to see. It was great to see (Kartye) get us that goal and get us back on the map. And you know, the Turbo (Tanev) goal is an example of what you can do if you get the puck by their defense. Some of their defensemen were being real active and it leads to a 2-on-1, with (Gourde) driving the net and Turbo making a great play.”

Kartye agreed the first intermission advice about taking advantage of aggressive, pressuring Columbus defensemen helped simplify things.

“We were kind of turning back too much and giving them too much offense,” Kartye said. “So, as soon as we started to connect on breakouts and get down there, we were good.”

He added: “We knew they were coming with pressure. So, all we had to do was make a few passes and we’d be down there and on rushes. When we executed, it helped us.”

Tanev’s goal saw him use his speed to race up a vacated right side of the ice with the puck after the Columbus defenders had pinched in too aggressively. As Gourde headed for the net front – taking the lone defenseman with him -- to distract goalie Merzlikins, Tanev alertly cut across the ice right as trailing defender Mathieu Olivier was catching up to the play.

Tanev’s move put Olivier in front of the puck and the Kraken winger used him as a screen before firing a 21-foot wrist shot into the net.

Just four seconds after the goal, the Blue Jackets took a roughing penalty. And Tolvanen’s ensuing power play goal six seconds later off a faceoff won by McCann changed the game’s direction for good.

It's the third time already that the Kraken have secured at least a point after overcoming a two-goal deficit, something rare for them a season ago.

“I think it’s just everyone understanding how to play the right way,” Tanev said. “And then good things will happen.”