Kraken Fall Just Short of Halting Streak

The third period here at Climate Pledge Arena started at 1-1. It moved to 2-1 Minnesota when a centering pass was tipped net front by Minnesota’s Marcus Johansson, his ninth goal of the season. The former Kraken forward jumped and finessed the puck past Philipp Grubauer, who deserved better on a starring night for the Seattle goaltender. Two late empty net goals made it a 4-1 final, but this was a decidedly tight game until late in the final period. Seattle is now 11-10-6 on the season and 0-5-1 in its last six games. Division rival Los Angeles visits on Wednesday.

On the very next shift after Johansson’s goal, it appeared fourth-liner Tye Kartye made it 2-2 when he bladed a high puck into the Wild goal behind goalie Filip Gustavsson. But the on-ice officials quickly signaled Kartye had his stick above the shoulders and the crossbar.

The Kraken had other chances down the stretch run of this contest, but couldn’t find the equalizer before Grubauer left his net for 6-on-5 attempts. Captain Jordan Eberle, who scored his 11^th of the season, supplied a straightforward message to his teammates during a post-game scrum.

“You’ve got to find ways to win,” said Eberle, prompted by a query about the Kraken playing a strong game overall. “I don't care how you play. I think it just comes down, for me, we just need to find a little bit better from everybody. You can say we're working hard, competing, but we need to find a little bit more from every single guy ... I've said this before, I think the line between winning and losing is so thin. I mean, obviously we've lost six in a row ... you have to realize a little bit here puts you over that edge and you start winning again.”

Coach Lane Lambert agreed with Eberle, specifically pointing out his squad is not turning tied home games after two periods into victories of late. “I would agree with his assessment that we need more from everybody,” said Lambert. “We have to have everybody playing well. We just can't afford to have any passengers. I didn't think everyone brought their best.”

Lambert then expanded on recent third periods falling short in front of the home crowd: “I thought the third period, I thought we could have generated a little bit more. But certainly we had some opportunities again. We're in a third period at home in a tie game. We haven't been good enough in that situation. We were earlier in the year ... we have to stay positive and work our way through.”

Kraken Power Up to Tie Game

After killing three Minnesota power plays, the Kraken turned the tide by scoring on the man-advantage, as practice-makes-perfect puck cycling started by first-unit quarterback Vince Dunn. He moved the puck to Jared McCann, who found Chandler Stephenson mid-zone. The Kraken center, playing on his 600^th game, spotted Jordan Eberle and calmly sent the puck for the SEA captain to score his 11^th goal of the year and first in eight games. There was a bit of sweet revenge for the Kraken as Minnesota's young star Matt Boldy was whistled for tripping Brandon Montour, with the Kraken D-man jawing at and jostling Boldy, with the referees not calling anything further.

During his Monday morning media scrum, Lane Lambert talked about Stephenson’s career from the perspective of winning a Stanley Cup with “Stevie” and facing him in opposing jerseys.

“He’s just a good person,” said Lambert. “Cares about his teammates. Look at the Thanksgiving dinner [his family hosted]. There's a leadership quality there. I've seen him evolve and grow since he was a rookie in Washington. Six hundred games is a great accomplishment. There will be more to come, but just a smart hockey player who reads the game well, understands the game well. Powerful too. That’s why the guy has played 600 games.”

Later second period, Seattle was awarded another power play, but veteran Russian-born Yakov Trenin notched the best scoring chance on a shorthanded breakaway. Trenin went five-hole, but Grubauer closed his leg pads in time to keep the game even going into the second intermission. Seattle’s Eeli Tolvanen did hit a goal post just more than a half-minute before the second intermission.

Penalty Killers, Grubauer Get High Marks Early

Two stress tests for the Kraken penalty killers in the form of veteran center Chandler Stephenson going off for tripping early first period and Vince Dunn whistled for high-sticking mid-frame resulted in a clean scoresheet for a group that had surrendered seven goals in the last eight tries by opponents. Philipp Grubauer played a starring role with big saves during both penalty kills. Lane Lambert said Monday morning that sometimes giving up a flurry of goals tends to get penalty killers “on their heels.” Solid work against the league’s 10th-ranked power play going into the game with star scorer Karill Kaprizov already notching seven man-advantage goals, a pace that could surpass his career high of 19 PPG during the 2023-24 season.

The penalty killers were back at it a minute-and-a-half into the second period, snuffing a third Minnesota power play with help from a sprawling Grubauer and a cooperative goal post. That kill kept the game at 1-0 after the Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek scored just 1:18 into the middle 20 minutes.

Grubauer, getting his first start since Nov. 22, was sharp throughout the opening frame. He made a Grade-A on Wild forward Ryan Hartman, who was free for a point-blank attempt just outside the Kraken goaltender’s crease. During the period, Grubauer made 10 stops, with seven of those saves coming in the first 10 minutes. He looked ready for any puck coming his way, looking strong on a couple of fast releases from Wild foes. The Kraken did not register a shot on goal until the 10^th minute, but did total eight for the period.

“Grubi gave us a chance,” said Stephenson. “It's kind of tough when you know he plays so well and stands on his head for the first five, seven minutes, whatever it was there. He gives us a chance. I wish we could go on two points for him.”

Dunn Gets Attention of the Wild

Vince Dunn drew plenty of attention from Minnesota. His high-sticking penalty came against Kaprizov, and then, late in the period, he put a clean but jolting check on 38-year-old forward Mats Zuccarello, which prompted Wild teammate Danila Yurov to chase down Dunn in the left corner of the Kraken zone. Dunn was called for a major penalty by the on-ice officials, but the call was reviewed and reversed as a clean hit, shoulder-to-body, with Zuccarello incurring chin and head contact with the ice surface. He fell. The Norwegian native and 2010 Winter Olympics star did not return to play after the hit, which required concussion protocol. In the end, Dunn went off for two minutes for roughing, while Yurov received a double minor for roughing and starting the scrap.

Lambert Insight on Oleksiak Decision

Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak’s tenure with the franchise reaches all the way back to his appearance at GasWorks Park on the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft day. On Monday, he was out of the lineup for a second straight game with Josh Mahura stepping in alongside Ryker Evans on the third defense pair.

On Saturday, coach Lane Lambert didn’t offer much about why Oleksiak was not playing, instead choosing to focus on getting Mahura back in action after an extended layoff from playing regularly when Evans missed the first six weeks of the season due to injury. On Monday morning, Lambert provided further insight into the Oleksiak decision.

“For me, I think he's been okay,” said the Kraken coach. “There are a couple of areas – and I’m not going to get into it with you guys here. He and I have talked about where we would like him to be better. But he's not the only guy, either. When a guy comes out of the lineup, another guy goes in. I thought Mahura was fine the other day. So give him another game and see what kind of momentum [Mahura] can get.”