Grubauer, Penalty Killers Spark Win

The Kraken started well enough, especially considering the four penalties whistled on the home squad in the first period. They secured a two-goal second-intermission lead for the first time in quite a while behind another fourth-line-generated goal for the go-ahead that finished as the game winner. The third period was generally uneventful, though Philipp Grubauer did make some pivotal stops to keep the Islanders from creeping back into this interconference affair between playoff contenders. The 4-1 final outcome is welcome to Seattle's playoff chase, and a stellar result in any case, as the Kraken penalty killers snuffed six of seven power plays for the New York Islanders.

The Kraken are now 22-18-9, staying abreast with postseason contenders Utah and Anaheim, both winners Wednesday. The division rival Ducks will be Friday night’s opponent at Climate Pledge Arena.

“It did feel good to beat them,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert when reminded he was relieved of his head coach role on Long Island two midseasons ago, “There's no question about it. But it felt better just to get a win; we need to get on track.”

For the record, the Kraken earned three points compared to two points for the Islanders in the season series.
While making it crystal clear that the Kraken must not commit handfuls of penalties in any game (whether all were legitimate or not), Lambert liked what he saw when the Kraken killed off six penalties after an early NYI power-play goal.

“I thought our structure was good,” said Lambert. They were looking for some passing lanes and seams. We were removing those situations, which sometimes stopped them from shooting. The other thing is, we had a great commitment to blocking shots. You have to have that if you're going to have success on the penalty kill. When they did get shots [seven total], obviously, the first one was a tough one, certainly nothing Gruni could do about it. It was off the post and then. But the other ones, I thought he really stood tall.”

Building a Lead for a Change

The second period here on Wednesday presented what can be called a low-event frame for the first 13 minutes, with the Kraken generating shots and offensive zone time, but nothing particularly challenging for Isles goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Then the fourth line worked more of its offensive fortitude, this time center Ben Meyers and winger Ryan Winterton setting up defenseman Vince Dunn for a go-ahead goal in the 14th minute. It was a beautiful weave play to accomplish Dunn’s 50th goal with the Seattle franchise, leading all D-men, of course.

Winterton started the play with an efficient breakout from the Kraken zone with a high-level cross-ice feed to Meyers in the neutral zone. Meyers hit the afterburners to get separation from NYI defenders with Winterton catching for a pass his way. Dunn trailed and quick-released the puck put on his stick for his seventh goal this season and second point of the game. Dunn has four two-point games in the last nine games.

But the Kraken were not satisfied with a slim one-goal advantage. Three minutes later, veteran forward Jaden Schwartz showed yet again why he is arguably the most valuable Kraken player night in and night out. He forechecked deep in the NYI zone, stealing the puck and feeding new linemate Kaapo Kakko, who had plenty of time and space but snapped his shot immediately upon Schwartz’s feed. It’s been too long since Seattle went into the second intermission with a formidable cushion. No doubt the locker room discussion was keep the foot on the pedal, most specifically mimicking the final seven minutes of the middle frame.

“I think the worst way we play is when we sit back,” said the aforementioned Dunn. “That's not our style. That's not how we succeed, even defensively. They came at us [in the third period]. They gave us a good push. I think we could made a couple more plays and controlled the puck a little bit to get into their zone instead of just flipping it out.

“But guys battled hard, a lot of blocked shots, just playing really, really hard in front of Grubi and trusting that he's going to be making the big saves he has been all year. Another huge reason why we win tonight is that guy back there. He's been phenomenal.”

Grubauer is now 10-4-3 on the year with a .919 save percentage, an elite stat this season for goaltenders. When what is working for him, the fan favorite pointed to getting into a rhythm with more starts rather than sitting two to three weeks at times last season.

“We are getting into a rhythm, kind of like a playoff rhythm, right? That’s the schedule right now: game, then day off, game, then day off. It helps to get out there [regularly] and get the rest ... that's what I was missing last year. You sit around for three or four weeks, and then you come in on a back-to-back. It's really tough. It felt like coming out of summer break every time you touch the ice.

Better Start Despite Four Kraken Penalties

The Kraken quest for a better start was stymied by an early hooking call on veteran forward Freddy Gaudreau in the game’s third minute. Nineteen seconds later, NYI forward Anthony Duclair opened the night’s scoring on a power play strike that seemed a bit too easy and hassle-free for the visitors.

The start could have further eroded when Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren was whistled off 4:18 into this contest. But the Seattle penalty killers, minus top-shelf contributor Ryan Lindgren in the box, snuffed that penalty plus another that sent Brandon Montour for high-sticking. It helped to have Lindgren fresh for the second kill, but all in all, it could have been worse than 1-0 eight minutes into this showdown between postseason contenders.

In fact, the penalty allotment spilled over to the visitors' side with two quick calls that set up a Kraken 5-on-3 situation for a minute and 13 seconds. The Kraken converted with good cycling by the Vince Dunn-quarterbacked power play unit, the group not letting up after Jared McCann’s one-timer clanged a goal post. McCann had another choice shot, but was blocked before reaching the goal crease.

The puck caromed to Vince Dunn at the right point. Dunn shot post-haste and looked like he beat Sorokin clean. But it apparently was redirected by young center Matty Beniers, who was credited with his 11th goal of the season. He has scored seven of those goals in the last dozen games, with Lane Lambert crediting assistant coach Chris Taylor and director of player strategy Justin Rai for their work with Beniers on finding time and space in the offensive zone more aggressively.

Dunn and McCann have established a scoring frequency in recent games. Dunn’s primary assist on the Beniers goal stakes him at nine assists in the last eight games. McCann now has notched seven goals and six assists in his last 13 games, helped by a late-game empty net goal.

That ended the scoring for the first 20 minutes, despite the home squad having significant time in the offensive zone. But there’s no arguing the Seattle start was better than recent losses and most definitely could have been way worse. The 1-1 knot at second intermission did require another penalty late in the period, with rookie Berkly Catton in the box for tripping. It all added up to two goals, six penalties, 10 shots on goal for Seattle and nine for the visitors.

Reworking the Lines with Results

Kraken Lane Lambert and his coaching staff made lineup tweaks on Wednesday to see if it would lead to more scoring. Jared McCann rejoined past top-line mates Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle (note that the pair has stayed together pretty much the entire season). Rookie Berkly Catton, showing some veteran moves at age 20 lately, moves up to the second line’s left side with Eeli Tolvanen going right wing between Chandler Stephenson.

The third line plotted Jaden Schwartz on the left wing and Kaapo Kakko joining right side with center Shane Wright. That move paid dividends on the Kakko goal served up on a Schwartz takeaway and centering pass.

The fourth line had a familiar with Ben Meyers in the middle, Ryan Winterton on his off-wing, and Freddy Gaudreau working at right wing. And the Vince Dunn go-ahead goal in the middle period validated the logic of keeping the trio together, with Meyers and Winterton continuing their gritty work and offensive production

The coaches tweaked the defensive pairs a bit. Jamie Oleksiak joined Brandon Montour on the second duo while shutdown D-man Ryan Lindgren skated with young D-man Ryker Evans.