Final Buzzer: Winning Habit

MONTREAL, QC - As head coach Dave Hakstol spoke with the assembled media in Montreal after the morning skate, he smiled when asked if it was difficult to coach a team like the Kraken with so much depth. "This is an awesome team to coach," he answered. And, my goodness, if his team didn't put that depth and balance on display at the Bell Centre on Monday as they avenged a 4-2 loss to Montreal earlier this season on Dec. 6.
The Kraken got a goal from a forward, a defender, an All-Star, and the power play. Their penalty kill was perfect and the team as a whole was backed by solid goaltending on the way to a 4-0 win over the Canadiens.

If you need the point driven home more clearly that the Kraken are finding success through contributions from all over the lineup, the first goal came from Eeli Tolvanen. The forward was a shrewd waiver wire pickup by general manager Ron Francis who now has four points (3-1-4) in his last five games. Daniel Sprong, who considers Montreal his adopted hometown, scored the second goal and currently ranks as the second-highest goal scorer per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play among players who've played at least 10 games, (1.96).
What stood out? Let's dig in.

Take Control

It's a lot easier to protect a lead than chase one, and in four of the five Kraken wins that make up this current streak, Seattle has been the team to score first. The opening score of this game came 6:58 into the game. Vince Dunn - who had himself a game - began the breakout from the Kraken defensive zone sending a pass north to Yanni Gourde. The Quebec native carried the puck into the attack zone drawing the defense to the right side of the ice. Meanwhile, Dunn used his speed to get through the center lane and be available for the pass back. Michael Pezzetta tried to take away possession but the Seattle defender controlled play and moved to the left flank pulling apart the Montreal defense before moving the puck across the slot from backhand to forehand to pass to Eeli Tolvanen. The lateral challenge was too much for Sam Montembeault and the Finn tapped in his third goal as a Kraken player, all three of which have gotten the primary helper from Dunn.

"He just (finds) me open and gets the puck to me," Tolvanen told ROOT Sports NW's Piper Shaw during the first intermission.
By the time the first period was over, the Kraken had established a commanding 3-0 lead.
"We had a great start to the game," Dave Hakstol said. "We played a really good first period. (That's) the way that you want to come out on the road and are able to not only build the lead, but we played a really good first period."
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Dunn and Done

For the third straight game, the 26-year-old who wears 29 had a multi-point game. Daniel Sprong had already put the Kraken up 2-0 off a power play tally when Tolvanen returned the favor and set up Vince Dunn at the top of the zone for his seventh goal of the season. Add in the earlier assist, and Dunn now has nine points (3-6-9) since Jan. 1, the most among NHL defensemen.

"He's doing a lot of the little things," Hakstol said. "When you look at the way he's getting us out of the zone, he's defending while but he's really using his feet. He's playing fast and on our exits, whether that's a breakout or D zone exit, he's doing a really good job down low and that's a credit to him."
Another key part of the defense, Martin Jones, in his fifth straight start, and sixth straight game, earned his second shutout of the season. He wasn't tested in terms of volume but came up big when it counted including a save on Juraj Slafkovsky late in the first period and another on Nick Suzuki with 3:03 remaining in period three.
What Jones has been doing in this latest stretch of play has been remarkable. This marks the third time this season that Jones has had six-plus straight starts bringing him ever closer to his season-high eight straight starts spanning the majority of November when Philipp Grubauer was injured.
Jones's current stretch of work is included in a season when he's started in 66.67-percent of all games for the Kraken, played in 29 of 39 contests (74.35%), and earned 15 quality starts and one steal.
"Goaltending has been great all year for us," Dunn said. "That's really important. . . .This year, we definitely turned the page and we really can count on (our goalies) to make the saves that we need."

Surviving the Surge

After building up a 3-0 lead, the Kraken knew that Montreal would come out ready to play and they did. The Canadiens generated seven of the first 12 shot attempts before Sprong took a penalty for roughing, and while they didn't score a goal, they continued to add shot attempts upon returning to full strength. At the end of period two, the Kraken had earned 43.59-percent of all shot attempts in the middle 20 minutes and just 36.9-percent of all shot quality.
Dunn told Shaw during the second intermission that the team's pressure was a little loose compared to the opening period of play and that the team needed "to take care of the puck a little bit better (and) we'll get back to where we were."
Play got chippy in the third period as Montreal continued to push. With just under nine minutes to play, Dunn took a heavy hit along the back boards from Joel Armia. Ryan Donato would come to his defense getting into fisticuffs with Jake Evans and Chris Wideman would be ejected with a game misconduct penalty. But, even as the Habs continued to push into the final frame, while the Kraken bent, they didn't break. No puck got past Jones and Matty Beniers would put a puck in the empty net with 1:03 left to seal the 4-0 win for the Kraken. Seattle stays perfect on this road trip and delivered a fifth straight win.
"It's always going be a grind," Hakstol said. "When you come out of the first period that way, there's going to be a push from the other side and there was, but we did a good job."

By the Numbers

Here's a look at our data-driven Instant Analysis from Sportlogiq (click
HERE
for how to read this graphic):