First Period Dooms Kraken

The Kraken’s playoff push went sideways in the first period Sunday night when the visiting Montreal Canadiens jumped to a 4-0 lead. Seattle looked like it might have halved the lead at 4-2 mid-second period, only to have the goal called back due to an offside infraction that was challenged by Montreal coaching staff. From there, the Kraken couldn’t whittle down the deficit, dropping a 5-1 decision.

The Kraken are now 28-29-13 and 13 points out of the second Western Conference wild-card playoffs spot with 12 games left in the regular season. Next up are two home games in three nights (Tuesday and Thursday) against division rival Anaheim.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol was unabashedly unhappy about his team’s play and not impressed with his team notching 37 shots on goal, nor did he want to itemize missed assignments or goaltending issues at the defensive end of the ice.

“This game comes down to 20 guys battling and competing hard, working for one another and doing it from the start of shift to the end of shift, then the next group goes out,” said Hakstol. “That's what it comes down to ... it hasn't changed for many, many years, and it's not going to change going forward. You play this game with passion. You play it with heart, and you play it for the guy next to you, but we're not doing that right now. That’s more than disappointing. That's hard to be part of, and that's something that we’re going to change.”

Not surprisingly, Hakstol did not detail what those changes might be. Plus, he was having none of the team generating “good looks” and shots on goal.

“That's an easy way out on this one,” said Hakstol. “Yes, absolutely, you can go through and find all the positives because, hey, you can always find those. But this is start to finish, right? You don't play part of a hockey game. You don't pick and choose the pieces that we're competing in. It's the full process. I'm not gonna duck any of that ... when you don't bring the whole package, and you don't do it from start to finish, this is the position that you put yourself in after a game. This is how you feel.”

Hakstol was asked what he wanted to say to fans: “That's what this group inside of this room has to decide. That's why I said how important putting that jersey is on their backs every night, the front of the jersey, what that means, and what that means to everybody in this building. You know, it's two nights in a row [at home, including a 6-2 loss to Buffalo last Monday]. This group, previous to the last week here, has battled so hard; they’ve scratched and clawed. We've been through a whole bunch of different things. We can't allow this to slide in this direction.”

Early Goals Lead to Goaltending Move

It was a tough night for goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who was pulled after the fourth Montreal goal at the 18-minute mark of the first period, just 27 seconds after the visitors’ 21-year-old captain Nick Suzuki scored the third goal for the Canadiens. Grubauer, replaced by Joey Daccord, faced six shots in those 18 minutes.  On the night, the Kraken finished with 3x shots on goal (and eight Grade-A chances per Natural Stat Trick) compared to 16 for the visitors.

Bright (and Not So Bright) Spots

One of the few bright spots for Seattle was Jordan Eberle notching his 298^th NHL career goal in the first minute of the second period. Eberle skated into the Canadiens zone up the right side with Jaden Schwartz joining the rush to his left. Eberle held onto the puck and hammered a perfect shot upper right corner He is just one assist away from 400 career assists in what Kraken fans all know is just over 1,000 NHL games played.

In a decidedly not bright spot, rookie defenseman Ryker Evans, who scored his first NHL goal Friday, did not return to the game after suffering a lower-body injury in the first period.

Scoreboard Tells Full Story

By the middle of the first period Sunday night at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken had notched nine shots on goal against Montreal goaltender Cayden Primeau, while the visitors had recorded just two shots. This seemed promising until you looked at the scoreboard. Montreal scored on both shots while the Kraken were still looking for their first goal of the game.

Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, opened the scoring for the Canadiens when his shot from the left point through traffic beat Philipp Grubauer. The goal was originally credited to another Montreal first-rounder, Juraj Slafkovsky (No. 1 overall in 2022), but a closer look revealed Slafkovsky might have hassled Grubauer, but the puck never hit the 19-year-old forward.

Alex Newhook was next on the Montreal scoring binge, notching his first of two goals in the first 20 minutes. Newhook redirected a quick-release far-range shot by the aforementioned Guhle, again at the left point. Newhook added the fourth goal of the game late in the first period and then nearly completed his hat trick in the second period, but his shot clanked an inside post instead. Guhle got a secondary assist on the second Newhook, making it three points in the period for the young D-man.

Slafkovsky in Company of Montreal Legends

Juraj Slafkovsky, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, notched his 24th assist of the season on linemate Nick Suzuki’s goal, making it 3-0 Habs. With his 15 goals, Slafkovsky now has 39 points on the year, providing upward-trend fodder for fans who cheered his selection in person during that year’s draft held in Montreal. Slafkovsky is now on a six-game point streak (two goals, four assists).

Only Habs legend Henri Richard, who won 11 Stanley Cups, has totaled more points in one season as a teenager playing for the Original Six Canadiens. Slafkovsky tied the 39 put up by five-time Cup winner Mario Tremblay and needs only two points in the remaining dozen games for Montreal to top Richard, who was the younger brother of all-time great Maurice “Rocket” Richard.