Kraken Earn Standings Point, Fall in OT

NEWARK – The Kraken and Devils played nearly 65 minutes without a game-winning goal, providing a welcome standings point for Seattle. But it was New Jersey captain Nico Hischier notching his second goal of the night for the game-winner in overtime. The Kraken are now 21-15-9. Boston is next on Thursday.

"We played slow hockey tonight,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert. "Before the game, we said we'd have to play fast. I didn't think we were sharp. And part of being sharp is playing with some speed.

"I thought we got better in the third period, but certainly over the first 40 minutes, we were slow. I could probably count at least six or seven times when we passed the puck back into our own zone instead of driving into their zone with it. So that part of it wasn't very good.”

Overtime was a source of frustration for Lambert. “They had the puck pretty much the whole time. It’s pretty hard to generate offense when you're defending."

There was one scoring chance that almost provided the game-winner for captain Jordan Eberle and his teammates. The puck took a Kraken bounced off the backboards in the Devils' zone, but New Jersey somehow found a way to get the puck out of the net.

For his part, Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn aligned with his head coach. He assisted on both Seattle goals, but wasn’t pleased post-game.

“It's definitely not the game that we wanted to have out there,” said Dunn. “Not to be negative, but we really didn’t even deserve to win that game. We came out hard in the third and played a little bit better. We’re trying to get wins right now. I think it's disappointing. It's positive to get a point. Hopefully, with the third period there, we bring that momentum into the game tomorrow.”

Grubauer Keeps it Even in Third Period

With this tight matchup tied at 2-2 after 40 minutes, the Kraken and hometown Devils both had scoring chances in the third period, but both goaltenders were up to the challenge.

Berkly Catton and Kaapo Kakko both had choice scoring chances early in the third period

Philipp Grubauer did his part to earn the standing point by stopping 9 shots in a back-and-forth third period. There was a six- to eight-minute segment in the second half of the period in which all of the shots were heading Grubauer’s way. To the Kraken’s credit, most shots were long-range and/or from outside lanes in the offensive zone. It’s not a stretch to say getting to overtime was a fortunate outcome given a quiet third period from Seattle. The Devils definitely held the edge in offensive zone possession.

Power Play Scores Times Two

The second period was a tale of two power play goals. When Ben Meyers was sent to the penalty box for holding, New Jersey notched just their fifth man-advantage in 25 over the last 11 games. A bit of confusion for the Kraken penalty killers along the blue line led to the puck on the stick of young D-man Luke Hughes, who quickly passed to his brother, Jack, soon swinging the puck to Swiss-born star Nico Hischier. The Devils' captain had plenty of time and space, beating Philipp Grubauer below his blocker glove on the far side. It‘s just the second goal in opponents’ last 10 power play attempts over a half-dozen games.

Just a minute-and-a-half later, NJD forward Cody Glass picked up a roughing call for a hard backhanded glove to Berkly Catton’s face. Seattle didn’t wait long for the best kind of retribution. Matty Beniers won the faceoff, and the puck went to captain Jordan Eberle, who moved it promptly to Vince Dunn. Dunn quickly fired on goal, his stick breaking in two. Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom made the initial save, but the puck bounded to his left and directly to an awaiting Jared McCann.

The Kraken all-time leading scorer quickly fired into a gaping net for his 10th in just 21 games played this season. It marked his fifth goal in 10 games since returning to the lineup Dec. 28. His assist on the opening Seattle goal puts him at points in nine of those games and 10 points (five goals, five assists) overall.

Dunn picked up his second assist of the night, his 20^th and 21^st of the season. He’s now enjoyed three two-assist nights in the last five games.

The 2-2 score held up at second intermission despite some late, relentless pressure from Jersey in the last several shifts. Superstar Jack Hughes had the best chance, but it clanged off the post. For his part, Grubauer had made 12 saves over the first 40 minutes, facing seven high-danger chances per Natural Stat Trick.

Overcoming First Opponent Goals

In the first eight games of the Kraken recent 10-game point streak, they scored the first goal. Over the last four games, the opponents have now opened the scoring. Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton, widely rumored as being on the trading block, took a long shot inside the blue line in the game’s first minute here in Jersey. The puck was inadvertently redirected by SEA forward Jaden Schwartz just enough that starting goalie Philipp Grubauer bodied the puck but couldn’t control the rebound. The puck bounced to Devils forward Cody Glass, who now has 10 goals on the year.

New Jersey was afforded the opportunity to double the lead via a high-sticking penalty whistled on Adam Larsson. The penalty killers prevented that development, even with PK performer extraordinaire Larsson in the box. At that juncture, the Kraken had nullified eight of the foes’ nine power plays in the last six games.

Larsson exacted revenge by scoring just a minute after serving his penalty. His defensive partner, Vince Dunn, started the play with a crisp, diagonal outlet pass to Jared McCann from mid-Kraken zone to just outside the Devils zone. McCann’s first move was to feed linemate Berkly Catton in the high slot, but he fanned on the passing attempt. Gathering, he spotted an onrushing Larsson, feeding him for a wrist shot through traffic that NJD starting goalie Jacob Markstrom likely didn’t see.

While Dunn and McCann picked up the assists, Catton, who turned 20 on Wednesday, had found his way to the net front to screen the goaltender. Catton has been unafraid to battle for pucks in corners and fight for position in front of the net. This goal was another example – with a twist on the usual argument that a younger, smaller forward (Catton is 5-foot-10, 179 pounds) might struggle at the NHL level. He successfully disrupted Markstrom, who is 6-foot-6 and outweighs Catton by nearly 30 pounds. It’s Larsson’s fourth goal of the season and second in the last four games.

Not to be lost here, Jared McCann continues to generate scoring chances and goals with his elite-level passing since returning to the lineup. He now has points (four goals, five assists) in nine games since returning from injury on Dec. 28.

Coach Lane Lambert has certainly been noticing McCann’s effect on his young linemates, Catton and Shane Wright, who celebrated his 22^nd birthday Jan. 5.

“I think McCann has done a really good job of coming in there and sort of calming things down for them,” said Lambert pre-game Wednesday, "defensively, we still need more from them. The young guys defensively have to step up a little bit more. But certainly offensively, we're getting a good look at them."

Lambert appreciates McCann’s mentoring by example: “It's a little bit of everything, more execution and more poise. He's got a lot of poise with the puck, the play he made the other night to send Wright in on a breakaway, even though the puck was bouncing. That's an elite play. There are only a few guys that can make it in this league.”

Stephenson Draws In, Melanson Gets Break After 15 Solid Games

With Chandler Stephenson back in the lineup after he and his wife, Tasha, welcomed baby girl Calla into the world, Jacob Melanson was a healthy scratch for the first game since being called up from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley in mid-December. Melanson has been widely praised by coach Lane Lambert and numerous teammates. Veteran Jared McCann called him a “bowling ball” for his hits all over the ice.

Like fellow healthy scratches Tuesday, forward Tye Kartye and defenseman Josh Mahura before him, Melanson wasn’t benched due to on-ice shortcomings. Just more than somebody had to drop to get Stephenson back in. In this case, Ryan Winterton has been deemed by the coaching staff as one of the best performers in recent games, so he stays with the fourth line on the wing and Freddy Gaudreau positions to the right of center Ben Meyers. Gaudreau was stellar as the second-line center fill-in over the first two games on this road trip. With the back-to-back game at Boston on Thursday, Lambert said at Tuesday’s practice, he might opt for “fresh legs” against the Bruins.

Puck drop alert: The Boston game starts at 5 p.m. rather than the usual 4 p.m. for an East Coast game due to a pre-game ceremony to retire long-time Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. He will be the 13^th Boston player to have his jersey raised to the rafters.