Kraken Get Even, But Come Up Short

The Kraken chased an opponent’s lead again on Monday afternoon, falling behind 2-0, before evening the score late in the middle period when the fourth line generated its second goal of the annual Kids Game. But the tie lasted less than a minute when visiting Pittsburgh scored a third goal, albeit on an unlucky carom off a linesman’s skate. The teams traded third-period goals, Seattle’s coming on a power play score against the league’s fifth-best penalty killers. But the Kraken couldn’t find an equalizer, and two late Pittsburgh scores (and another two-point game for Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby) plus a late empty-net goal made it a 6-3 final.

The Kraken are now 21-18-9 with 51 points. The homestand continues Wednesday against the New York Islanders, another team in playoff contention. Going into Monday night action, four Western Conference teams have 51 points, including division rivals San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.

“I thought there wasn't a whole lot, I thought it was really totally on track, that's for sure,” said head coach Lane Lambert, asked what went right for Seattle in a game closer than the final score. “I thought our penalty kill did a really good job against a very good power play. That was probably the bright spot of the game.”

Lambert also appreciated the Kraken’s fourth line, which started with Ben Meyers centering Jaden Schwartz and Ryan Winterton, with Catton slotting in when Schwartz moved up in line combos.

“Our fourth line did a really good job to get us back in the game and get some momentum going by Schwartz to Ben Meyers [on the first goal]. Then we tied it up in the second period. But what's happening right now is we're making mistakes that are going in the back of our net. We've got to correct those mistakes.”

Getting Even, Then Bad Puck Luck

The Kraken fourth line continues to provide both energy and offense. In Monday’s Kids Game on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, winger Ryan Winterton made an elite in-close pass to defenseman Ryan Lindgren for a tying goal with six minutes left in the second period. Fourth-line center Ben Meyers, who scored the Kraken’s opening goal, started the goal sequence by sealing the wall to keep the puck in the Penguins' zone. But additional kudos need to go to rookie Berkly Catton, still on the ice as his third-line mates had just exited to the bench. Catton found defenseman Ryker Evans with a cross-ice pass that yet again shows fans and his own teammates when the just-20-year-old showed the offensive skill set that is most likely a factor of his high-octane scoring prowess down the playoff contention stretch this year and seasons to come. All the above efforts added up to a Kraken comeback from an early two-goal deficit.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh regained its one-goal edge before the second intermission on the wrong kind of puck luck for Seattle. It appeared Freddy Gaudreau won a faceoff on his side, beating Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby. But the puck caromed off the faceoff linesman’s skate and made its way to Penguins defenseman Brett Kulak, who fired a shot through traffic that just slipped in under the crossbar for his first goal of the season. Kraken starting goalie Joey Daccord didn’t move toward the shot, clearly not seeing it through the bodies of traffic.

The tie game had lasted just 50 seconds when Pittsburgh took the lead again. Kraken Hockey Network Eddie Olczyk declared one of the other three Seattle forward lines needed to step up during even-strength to support a fourth line that had totaled two goals and four assists before the second intermission. The Kraken tallied a power play in the third period to make it 4-3 Pittsburgh via an Eeli Tolvanen one-timer set up by Brandon Montour and Shane Wright. Post-game, Lambert was clear that the team’s other three lines did not contribute enough during 5-on-5 play.

“When we got it within one, I just didn't think we forechecked well,” said Lambert. “We were not connected enough. Whether it was a lack of energy from coming off a road trip, I don't know. I just didn’t think there was a lot of connectivity to our game ... We got back into it, so to speak, where we had an opportunity to pull our goalie. Then we took ourselves right back out of it with a failed breakout.”

“We're just too loose right now in the D-zone,” said Ryan Lindgren, who scored the Kraken’s second goal and his second of the season. “We're giving up too many chances. We're hanging our goalies out to dry a little bit. You know, when we're playing our best hockey, we're a hard-defending team. We don't give other teams much, so we've got to get back to that.”

Part of the defeat was Pittsburgh getting big-bodied in the Kraken goalie Joey Daccord's sight lines. Three Penguins goals were delivered long-distance, as in the blue line of the Seattle zone.

“As defensemen, we’ve got to do a better job of boxing those guys out and not letting them get to the net,” said Lindgren. “We need to let Joe and Grubi [Grubauer] see the pucks.”

For his part, when asked about Daccord’s afternoon, Lambert allowed that his goaltender might want maybe a couple of Pittsburgh's scores back. Daccord finished the night with 26 saves.

Falling Shorthanded Again

When Pittsburgh’s Connor Dewar scored on the Kraken’s power play during the opening period, it marked the third straight game that opponents have scored a shorthanded goal. The goal pushed the lead to 2-0 for Pittsburgh just eight minutes into the game. It is a situation, chasing a lead, all too familiar to Kraken players, coaches and fans during the recent road trip. The Kraken have five more games on this homestand to reverse the trend before going on the road against Vegas, Anaheim and Los Angeles before the Olympic break.

The Kraken had a second power play opportunity in the middle period to even the score at 2-2. The best chance was on the stick of captain Jordan Eberle at the left post with PIT goalie Stuart Skinner late sliding over. But Eberle hit the side of the goal post and would likely say he should have buried it into the net webbing.

Trading Places on the Wings

Head coach Lane Lambert juggled the Kraken’s forward lines mid-second period during Saturday’s road loss against Utah. The moves, which included elevating Jared McCann to the top line, worked to stoke a Seattle comeback to reach 3-3 at second intermission. The third period didn’t hold up, and Lambert said after Sunday’s practice that he liked what McCann has contributed to young linemates Shane Wright and Berkly Catton. As such, for Monday’s MLK matinee, the Kraken’s leading scorer was back, the Kraken’s 2022 and 2024 first-round draft picks. Kaapo Kakko returned to the top line with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle.

Lambert did switch up the second line, adding Freddy Gaudreau to play with Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen, a combination that was productive when alternate captain Jaden Schwartz was on the injured list. The move put Schwartz on what is hard to call a fourth line alongside center Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton.

The exchange of wingers paid dividends for a much-needed goal from Meyers late first period. After Meyers secured the puck in the neutral zone with a skilled move to gather the puck from his skate blade, he moved the puck into the Pittsburgh zone. From there, linemates Winterton and Schwartz handled the wall battles to return the puck to their center. Meyers went high, far left corner to beat Penguins goalie Stuart Skinner blocker side.

Meyers now has five goals and four assists in 30 games for Seattle, along with a nine-game point streak down in Coachella Valley when he was re-assigned to the AHL Firebirds for a month in mid-November to mid-December. The five goals mark a career high, and he is 10 games short of topping his most NHL games played in a season (39, Colorado, 2022-23). Monday was his 105^th NHL appearance.

“He does everything well, sees the ice well,” said Freddy Gaudreau, a fellow undrafted teammate, to Kraken Hockey Network personality Piper Shaw during first intermission. “He can match up with anybody on their team. He’s a great teammate, and it’s good to see his success.”