No-Quit Kraken: Rally Late, Fall in Shootout

Kraken rookie Shane Wright scored a pair of signature goals Tuesday to extend his point streak to six games (with eight points in the last eight games), tying the game in the second and getting Seattle back within a goal as the game clock reached midway third period. Good thing, too, because veteran center Chandler Stephenson scored the next tying goal of this exciting night to make 4-4 with three minutes remaining.

As a result, these two franchises went to overtime for the fifth time in eight games played since Seattle’s inaugural season. Joey Daccord made the top save of overtime, shutting down DET forward Alex DeBrincat in the second minute during the five minutes of suspense. Kaapo Kakko helped perhaps just enough by lifting DeBrincat’s stick before the scoring attempt. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot parried with his own elite save on Kraken D-man Brandon Montour.

Daccord made a stop on Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin with 6.8 seconds left to afford the thrilled crowd a shootout to decide which team would snag the extra standings point. Daccord made some key saves down the third-period stretch to get this game to OT and he stopped the Red Wings leading scorer Lucas Raymond in the shootout. But all-time great marksman Patrick Kane scored in the shootout while Detroit goalie Cam Talbot blanked the young trio of Matty Beniers, Wright, and Kakko.

Detroit ‘Powers’ Up for Three Goals

Power plays steered the Kraken into one too many dangerous curves Tuesday night against red-hot Detroit, prompting the 5-4 final that featured no quit in the Kraken at any point of this game.

“There was a bunch of adversity in the game for us,” said Kraken coach Dan Bylsma post-game. “Some unfortunate pucks and plays got us back in our heels early on. They got to the power play, where we knew we needed to keep them off of, and they cashed in on their opportunities ... we answered back a couple of times but they always seemed to answer with power play goal. It kept us fighting back in the game, which we did, the guys still kept coming, still pushing, and found a way to claw back to even.”

Kraken Respond, Notch More Impressive Stats for Beniers Line

Instead of another Detroit early string of goals similar to the Jan.12 game in Detroit, Seattle’s hottest line struck again when left-shooting winger Kappo Kakko zipped up the right boards in the Detroit zone and curled around the net to attempt a pass to net-front. That pass was rejected but landed right back on Kakko’s stick and he quickly bladed the puck to an awaiting Beniers maybe 10 feet from the goal. Beniers one-timed a rocket of a shot past Detroit veteran goalie Cam Talbot, victorious in his last four starts entering play Tuesday.

It was hard to ignore Benier’s demonstrative actions after scoring, first pumping a couple of times, then looking for Kakko and practically tackling him in appreciation of Kakko’s both skillful and gritty assist. It marked Kakko’s 17^th point (five goals, 12 assists) in 22 games played for the Kraken since the December trade that sent defenseman Will Borgen to the New York Rangers. Beniers now has 12 goals on the season, eight since Kakko has played alongside the Kraken alternate captains Beniers and Jaden Schwartz, who has scored 10 goals since the Kakko trade. Duly noted: One Schwartz goal and two Beniers scores in the span have been on the power play.

“Wish we got the extra point, but, yeah, it was good to battle back,” said Beniers, clearly not satisfied for his team but appreciative of his linemate. “[Kakko] is a fun guy to play with. Sees the ice well, holds on to pucks, makes great plays.”

Problem is, Detroit was afforded a late first-period power play and didn’t need the entire 24 seconds before the first intermission with defenseman Moritz Seider scoring directly from a faceoff win. The Red Wings picked up another power play score mid-second period to retake the lead at 3-2 and ultimately secured their fourth road victory of the road trip (beating Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Seattle) with a fourth goal scored just four seconds after an early third-period tripping penalty on Wright ended but before Wright could rejoin play at the Kraken end.

Wright On: Rookie Center Scores Twice

With the Kraken down 2-1 six minutes into the second period, linemates Andre Burakovsky and Shane Wright were heading up ice together cutting through the neutral zone. Burakovsky slid the puck over to Wright outside the right faceoff circle in the Detroit zone. Wright promptly wired a shot “bar-down” past Wings goal Cam Talbot. Wright beat Talbot short-side, ringing the crossbar and in. The tying goal extended Wright’s point streak to six games (two goals, four assists) and he has points in seven of the last eight games.

Wright’s second of the night and 11^th of the season was facilitated by a deft pass from linemate Jared McCann (his fourth straight game with an assist). Wright was skating with McCann and took the feed near-net and backhanded a pass to Burakovsky that bounced right back on the rookie’s stick. This time he flicked a hard shot on net to be Talbot and “The Kraken have life!” exhorted John Forslund in the Kraken Hockey Network broadcast booth (which was heard loud and clear on the Climate Pledge Arena press bridge below).

“I just want to shoot,” said Wright, when asked if he was “feeling it” on the goals. “I saw some lanes and had a little time and space. I’ve been told to shoot a little more. I just wanted to put it on net.”

When [Shane] is playing well, a shot-first mentality is one of those keys,” said Dan Bylsma, who learned first-hand in Wright’s stellar 2023-24 American Hockey League season as a 19-year-old. “It’s also his skating and carrying the puck and getting opportunities to do that. His first goal is a great example of that. And you know when is when you see those things in his game, you know he's progressing. He's playing his game. He's got a great shot, he's got great wheels and he needs to use him as often as possible. When he has that mentality, he's dangerous.”

Wright has been a bit under the radar in this stretch, but coach Dan Bylsma and his teammates have noticed the rookie center’s crisp and accurate passes to set up goals and plenty more scoring chances. He’s also impressed with hard-nosed play on the forecheck and backcheck. He nearly tied the game again later in the second period (Detroit went ahead on a power play goal) with strong moves behind the Red Wings goal line leading to a loose puck in front of Talbot.

Kraken Resilient After Detroit Jumps to Lead

There were media questions Tuesday after morning skate referencing the first game between these two teams on Jan. 12 in Detroit in which the Red Wings scored four goals in the opening eight minutes, then added two more early second period to build a six-goal cushion. Three of the scores were on the power play.

“I think certainly the last game should stick with us,” said coach Dan Bylsma. “Much like the last time they were a hot team [entering that game with a six-game win streak under new coach Todd McLellan]. Going into tonight, they have won six [again] in a row and playing some good hockey. You look to the last game, you know, the [Detroit] power play was a factor, and just our readiness to start the game. You’ve got to be ready to go against this group.

As it turned out, Detroit scored first, less than four minutes into the game. The Red Wings leading scorer, Lucas Raymond, redirected and tipped in a waist-high, bad-angle shot from captain Dylan Larkin. Soon after, Detroit received their first power play opportunity with lots of fans liking thinking, uh-oh. But the Kraken penalty killers snuffed out any scary chances despite extended zone pressure from the likes of Larkin, Raymond, DeBrincat, and future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane.

“Great kill, four or five blocked shots, good save by Joe [Joey Daccord], it gave us a lot of momentum,’ said Matty Beniers in conversation with Kraken Hockey Network personality Piper Shaw during the first intermission.