‘Turbo-Charged’ Night

On a night when GM Ron Francis re-acquired Daniel Sprong for added scoring punch, the new forward’s once and future teammates fell two goals behind Pacific Division rival Vegas early. But the Kraken rallied behind a pair of goals from Brandon Tanev, one to halve the score by the end of the first period, then an equalizer in Period 2 to pull Seattle back to even at the second intermission.

In a tightly-contested third period, Oliver Bjorkstrand, not in uniform and healthy scratch in Tuesday’s final game of the road trip, looked like he might finish a storybook night and end it by scoring the game-winning goal. But Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo tied matters with 82 seconds remaining with an extra-attacker and goalie Adin Hill pulled. Pietrangelo’s shot from the point caromed off Seattle defenseman Adam Larsson's skate to redirect the puck past Joey Daccord.

But the night went back to storybook form 43 seconds into overtime when leading scorer Jared McCann notched his seventh goal of the year on a breakaway against VGK goalie Adin Hill. Bedlam ensured on ice in a melee of home blue jerseys and matching madness in the jersey-clad crowd. Vegas is now 1-4-1 on the road this season and Seattle rachets to 6-8-1 overall with a long, hearty emotional exhale to go with the win. Busting up a four-game losing streak was even sweeter with Vegas in the building.

With the Tanev goals and Bjorkstrand’s timely score, plus some big critical-time-in-game saves from Daccord, McCann’s OT performance is almost overlooked. McCann poke-checked Jack Eichel as he zipped into the Kraken zone. Brandon Montour moved the puck up to McCann at the blue line and open ice. McCann finished the breakaway by patiently holding the puck just long enough to force Vegas’ hill to commit down and left, so McCann went right and lifted the puck.

Kraken coach Dan Bylsma had a smorgasbord of choices for who and what to praise about the 4-3 victory. He was particularly happy to talk about Bjorkstrand, whom the coach predicted would have a “great response” after being a healthy scratch for the first time as a Kraken player.

“I thought his game, in particular, was a great bounce-back game for him,” said Bylsma. “He's a talented, skilled player with a great shot and scores a lot of goals [four to date this season but both Bylsma and GM Francis expect it to finish near 30 and definitely more than 20]. His competition was at a great level for him to have success in the game. And it's not just the evidence of going to the net and scoring a dirty goal, but on the wall in the first period, at the face off[circle], also in the first period, the battle on the wall in the second period in front of our bench. It was great.”

Turbo’s Big Night

Fans might think Tanev to be an unlikely source of scoring punch, but a closer examination bears the fact that Tanev and most frequent linemates Yanni Gourde and Tye Kartye have generated solid scoring chances with a formidable share of Grade-A opportunities. Tanev’s first goal came from a steal he made at the Kraken blue line, prompting his trademark speed dash to the Vegas net, slinging his shot past goalie Adin Hill on the short side.

The second goal was created by linemate Tye Kartye, who won a puck battle behind the net versus all-star, two-time Stanley Cup-winning defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (four inches taller, 15 pounds heavier with some 900-plus more NHL games played). Nonetheless, Kartye steered the puck net-front, and Tanev electrified the Climate Pledge Arena crowd with a stick-on, stick-off shot.

In the on-ice goal celebration, Tanev was clearly excited for Kartye, who was a healthy scratch Tuesday in Colorado. After the players made their way to the bench for glove bumps, Tanev sought out Kartye again, banging the second-year NHL in “good for you, way to show ‘em” fashion. Cool to see the veteran-young linemates bond.

Lost in the sitting out of a veteran who was the team’s all-star last season was Tye Kartye watching Tuesday’s game in street clothes.

“That ‘Turbo’ second goal is a great example of what Ty is good at and what he can do,” said Bylsma.

Bjorkstrand Most Decidedly Responds

Bjorkstrand Friday morning, veteran forward Oliver Bjorkstrand participated in the optional morning skate and then had to join a media scrum to discuss his thoughts about being a healthy scratch Tuesday night against Colorado. Bjorkstrand did not shy from the situation and simply insisted he needed to be better, specifically mentioning the need to win puck battles and generate shots on goal.

Early third period, Bjorkstrand did all of the above on the ice with Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz, who were both swarming the Vegas zone along with Bjorkstrand. Schwartz's low wrist shot from the right circle was stopped by Hill. Under pressure and down on the ice, Hill shoveled the loose puck out of his crease right to Bjorkstrand, who was barreling toward the crease. Bjorkstrand's momentum redirected the puck back behind Hill to give the Kraken their first lead of the night.

“Yeah, it was good,” said Bjorkstrand when he was asked about whether he played the game he hoped, especially impacting the game. “I would have been ready in Colorado, but I was ready tonight, kept it simple. I feel like I played well with the puck and was able to create some chances.

Daccord Stems the Scoring

The first-period goals for Vegas were not ones to pin on Joey Daccord, who turned in another strong effort in his ongoing campaign to establish No. 1 status even if he hasn’t said as much even once. The opening goal was a 5-on-3 score by one of the league’s most potent power play. In a rare instance, two Kraken were called for penalties at the same whistle. Young D-man Ryker Evans picked up the first for high-sticking on VGK star Jack Eichel, and then the aforementioned Kartye was called for tripping Eichel during delayed penalty time (which lasts as long as the attacking team keeps control of the puck). One can only imagine what, if anything, was discussed by the two young Kraken teammates who played starring AHL roles for Dan Bylsma in Coachella Valley.

Knowing his mindset, Daccord might say he could have played the second goal differently and better on a Nicolas Ray close-in turnaround sort of goal (Roy is yet another Ron Francis Carolina Hurricanes draft choice that have scored on the Kraken). But what should be noted is that Daccord kept the score at 2-0 with a monster point-blank glove save on William Karlsson's mini-breakaway, with Tanev scoring his first goal shortly after. As the period waned, Daccord made a key big stop on an Ivan Barbashev tip-in attempt.

‘Our Strength is Our Speed and Our Pressure’

Before Friday’s game, GM Ron Francis discussed his reasons for the Daniel Sproing trade redux. He acknowledged the lack of scoring, punctuated by a pair of road shutouts last weekend, as a primary reason for the move. Beyond the goal drought, Francis offered his assessment of the Kraken’s recent play when asked.

“I don't think we're skating the way we're capable of skating,” said Francis, who, with Hall of Fame player credentials, knows the ups and dips of NHL season (he played 23 years). “I don't think we're managing the puck the way we can. Some of that may be the days on the road and not practicing enough. But we’ve got to get back to playing the way we're capable of playing. Our strength is our speed and our pressure. We haven't been doing that lately. We’ve have to provide a bit of getting [speed and offensive-zone pressure] back In our game.”

The early minutes looked like the Kraken were aligned with the GM’s projection for improvement, playing and generating three Grade-A chances. One of the best: Yanni Gourde raced into the offensive zone, firing a shot on Vegas goalie Adin Hill stopped but couldn’t control the rebound. Gourde wristed the rebound shot, beating Hill, but it clanged off the left post.

GM Francis Talks Sprong Move

There were several storylines bubbling before the puck dropped here Friday. The lead news item was the Kraken re-acquiring forward and natural scorer Daniel Sprong from Vancouver in exchange for future considerations. GM Ron Francis connected with the local media before the Pacific Division matchup and also made an appearance on the Kraken Hockey Network pre-game show.

Some of the highlights from the GM’s trade talking: He likes the idea of Sprong’s presence creating more competition for power play minutes. Francis likes Sprong’s “offensive upside, making it worth the risk” of how the former Pittsburgh second-round draft choice (2015, 45^th overall) fares defensively. The Kraken hockey boss clarified both in the press conference and on-air with KHN host Linda Cohn and analysts Alison Lukan and Ian Furness that there were no issues with Sprong’s play when he opted for free agency in the summer of 2023.

“When we first got him, it kind of took a while getting to know him and build that trust and relationship,” said Francis. “Even when he left, it wasn't like he left on bad terms with us. He was basically coming off the 20 goals [in season two] and playing on our fourth line. We didn't have the money to pay him at that point. We said, go and test the market, and good for him. He ended up getting a couple million dollars, and that's why we couldn't keep it. There wasn't anything else with our locker room. The guys are excited and happy to have him back.”