Early Lead Fades in Wild-Card Matchup

The Kraken jumped to an early Tuesday, revving up the crowd and NHL standings watchers here at Climate Pledge Arena and on the internet and hockey chat boards. But the standings fervor faded with a Nashville second-period rally that led to a 4-2 win for the visitors. The disappointing result turned a potential two points for the home squad into a crowded and cloudy Western Conference wild-card race.  

The Kraken retained its second wild-card position with 67 points and .531 win percentage in 63 games, but a Los Angeles victory equaled the 67 points and .523 win percentage in 64 games. San Jose lost and remains a point out of the wild-card second spot, same now for Nashville. Utah, which lost Tuesday (that’s a good development), is in the first wild-card spot, six points ahead of the Kraken and LA.

“I thought we started the game great,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert. “It was unfortunate we couldn't get a third one in the first period. We had plenty of chances, probably the most chances we've had in a period all season long.

“We came out well. And then our team hasn't been in this position here for a couple of calendar years. We're showing it a little bit right now.”

A bit later in his post-game remarks, Lambert was asked to elaborate on his team being in a wild-card spot this time of the hockey year compared to the last two months of March.

“It's a mental thing,” said Lambert. “Certainly, we've got to get over that mental hump and understand that instead of backing off potentially when we have a lead, go, keep going, build on that lead. It's just something that we talk about and continue to work on. It’s a learning process. But at the same time, we've got a lot of hockey left here. I don't want to lose sight of that.”

In fact, the Kraken will be playing seven games over the next 12 days. This stretch is likely to speak directly to Seattle’s squad’s learning curve for playoff contention success.

Seattle is not trending in the right direction since played resumed after the Olympic break. The Kraken are now 2-5 in their first seven games and have dropped three games of the five games in the current homestand. Western Conference leader Colorado visits Thursday to complete the homestand. Then it’s a short trip to Vancouver for a Saturday divisional puck drop and back here Sunday for a home date against Florida.  

For his part, Matty Beniers is undaunted about the recent spate of losses, including Tuesday’s result.  

“We had a bunch of chances in the second [period] that just didn't go in, theirs did,” said Beniers, who is seven goals shy of tying his career best of 24. “I thought we played pretty well all the way through. We’ve just got to bury our chances ... I loved our start. We came out physical. We came out fast. It was honestly a pretty good game. If we play like that, we're gonna win more than we lose.”

Goalie Steal Part of the Story

Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros was a major reason for the current wild-card traffic jam. He made 43 saves on the night, including six stops (at least two doozies) during an early-third period power play precipitated by a cross-checking penalty on Nashville defenseman Justin Barron, who slammed SEA forward Jared McCann to the ice. Matty Beniers instantly went after Barron, getting in his share of fists to the body and face. The Kraken alternate captain went off five minutes for fighting, as did Barron.   

For the game, Seattle put up 45 shots on goal but couldn’t crack the code on Saros over the final 50 minutes and 36 more shots in that timeframe. The final period was scoreless and featured the fewest shots on goal for the Kraken. The home team line was 19 in the first period, 16 in the middle frame and 10 in the final 20 minutes.  

First Things Fast 

With a weekend illness behind them, the Kraken were feeling good after a 2-0 lead at first intermission. Seattle’s third line delivered the game’s first goal just two minutes into this Western Conference wild-card showdown against Nashville. Center Shane Wright carried the puck deep along the right wall in the Predators' zone, firing the puck at a bad angle on net. The puck caromed off Juuse Saros’ leg pad, and Kraken linemate Kaapo Kakko cleaned with a quick-release score.  

Kraken head coach Lane Lambert was crystal-clear Tuesday morning (and after Saturday’s loss, for that matter) that his squad needed more offense from the top-nine forwards. After the Wright/Kakko combination delivered, top-line center Matty Beniers scored his 17th of the season on a highlight-reel shot to make it 2-0. 

Defenseman Vince Dunn started the scoring sequence, and first-line wing Jared McCann then moved the puck to Beniers. It was another bad-angle shot to the far left of Saros. But this one proved an elite approach from the young Kraken center, beating the Nashville goaltender in the upper-right corner short-side. Not a lot of room there, but it provided a two-goal lead just halfway through the first period. 

Seattle pressured and generated plenty of scoring chances in the first 10 minutes of the opening frame. The closest call was fourth-line phenom Jacob Melanson hitting iron in a net-front scramble. In the final shift of the period, the third-liners were at work again. The wakeup call from Lambert clearly landed.  

It all added up to a 19-7 shots-on-goal advantage for the Kraken in the first 20 minutes. Per Natural Stat Trick, Seattle mustered 16 scoring chances while Nashville recorded five.  

“I liked our mindset coming out of the gates,” said SEA assistant coach Jessica Campbell to Kraken Hockey Network personality Piper Shaw at first intermission. “The third line all have gifts and tools, they were leaning into the message.” 

Second Period to Forget... 

After Nashville scored early second period to cut the lead in half, it appeared the Seattle third line came through again. But the on-ice officials swiftly ruled it goalie interference, with the Kraken coaching staff apparently not seeing evidence to challenge the ruling. Just a couple shifts later, Nashville knotted the game at two with some close-in passes and a dangle to outdo Kraken defenders, beating Kraken starting goalie Joey Daccord in the 11th minute of the middle period. Reid Schaefer, recalled from the American Hockey League six days ago, notched the goal.  

The second period went full disaster mode 15 minutes into the frame when Nashville center Ryan O’Reilly won the Kraken zone faceoff, moving the puck to another veteran forward, Jonathan Marchessault, who found 22-year-old defenseman Ryan Ufko, who was also recalled from the AHL six days ago. Ufko weaved from the right point to the net front, finishing off his first NHL goal with a dangle too. Ufko was named an AHL All-Star this season and notched 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points in 50 games.   

The Kraken picked up the pace after the third Nashville goal, juicing its shots on goal count to 16 for the middle frame and a whopping 35 after 40 minutes. But the flurry of shot attempts didn’t materialize into an equalizer by the second intermission. Nashville’s three goals came on 11 shots over the period. The Kraken amassed 12 high-danger scoring chances over the first two stanzas while Nashville racked up a half-dozen. After surrendering those early pair of goals, NSH veteran goaltender Saros redeemed his play with more than a handful of elite saves.