Kraken D Tightens Up, Supplies Offense In Loss

Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson felt his team somewhat redeemed itself defensively in this latest gut-wrencher after allowing a franchise record nine goals in a debacle of a game two nights prior.

But while Larsson contributed a goal and an assist to a four-point Saturday night by Kraken defensemen, he quickly pointed out that the result was still the same. That’s because the Kraken blew a chance at snagging at least a point in this 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings by surrendering the decisive goal to Patrick Kane with just 2:29 to play in regulation.

“It was definitely a lot more solid defensively from the whole team, but, I mean, we lost another one,” said Larsson, who got part of his stick on Kane’s just as he released the shot but not enough to prevent the 37-year-old’s 497^th career goal. “So, we’re sitting in the same position again.”

Indeed, the Kraken dropped their fifth straight game in front of a disappointed Climate Pledge Arena crowd that had seen them twice battle back to tie the score on goals by defensemen Larsson and Brandon Montour. Chandler Stephenson then put the Kraken in front for the first time by deflecting a Larsson point shot with under seven minutes to play in the second period.

But right before the period’s end, in a rare defensive lapse by the Kraken at even strength, they surrendered a 2-on-1 break in which James van Riemsdyk beat goalie Joey Daccord with a shot to the far corner. The winning goal by Kane in the final frame came shortly after both teams played more than eight minutes without a whistle, the veteran forward taking a pass in the high slot and hoisting a shot up and over Daccord’s glove as he dropped to his knees.

It was a tough end for a Kraken team that collectively felt it had played well enough to win. Larsson, whose second period goal from the point through a Ryan Winterton screen tied the game 2-2, was pleased with the defense overall and its offensive contributions but would still like to see more than three total goals generated most nights.

“I mean, yeah it’s nice to create some offense but I think as a team we have to do a little bit better job offensively,” he said. "We’re creating chances, but we just have to put them in the net too.”

It would also help if the Kraken could kill off some penalties more effectively. They took only one penalty all game, but the Red Wings cashed in against the league’s lowest ranked penalty kill unit when Emmitt Finnie was left all alone in the right faceoff circle and one-timed a pass to open the scoring in the first.

Just prior to the goal, on the same penalty kill, the Red Wings also hit the post once and had a partial breakaway chance stopped by Daccord.

“There’s a variation of things contributing to it,” Kraken head coach Lane Lambert said of the penalty kill woes, which have seen the Kraken yield seven goals in eight man-disadvantage situations the last three games. “It starts faceoff wise. We’re not winning enough faceoffs. So, we start pretty much every penalty kill on our heels as opposed to getting pucks down the ice. It starts there, but we certainly haven’t done a very good job and we know this. Something’s got to be done about it and there’s only one way to go.”

Lambert felt his team otherwise played well as opposed to the horror show in Edmonton. He’d begun Saturday by making defenseman Jamie Oleksiak a healthy scratch in favor of Josh Mahura.

Oleksiak and defenseman Ryker Evans both struggled mightily against the Oilers, though Lambert kept the postgame focus on Mahura rather than the guy he replaced in the lineup when asked about any messaging intended by the move.

“It was time for him to get back into a game,” Lambert said of Mahura. “He was working hard and he played well when he was playing early on in the season.”

Lambert added that Mahura played well in this contest, as did the Kraken in general.

“I thought it was a good game,” Lambert said. “I thought our guys competed. It was a game, I guess you could say, that could have went either way. We had plenty of chances. We threw plenty of pucks at the net. We’ve been doing that a lot better lately.”

Montour made sure he threw a puck on net as he carried the puck over the line, one-on-one with a defender and beat Detroit goalie John Gibson for a tying first period goal.

“We have a tough time scoring goals,” Montour said. “Not that we can’t score goals. It’s just not going in or we’re not getting enough to the net or making it hard on their goalie, hard on their D. So, the best way to get out of that is to shoot more pucks at the net. And yeah, we’re trying to get them there.”

Montour felt the defense “needed a little reset” after the Edmonton game and largely got one, as did the team as a whole despite the result.

“We had a little bit more energy,” Montour said. “Got on the forecheck, had a little bit more O-zone time. The third period was a little boring, I think, on our side. But they’re a team that’s pressing to collect points as well and we found one late.”

And that’s why Larsson, an alternate captain forming a key part of the team’s leadership group, said there isn’t all that much that needs to be said ahead of the next attempt to end this skid Monday night at home against Minnesota.

“I thought we did a lot of good things today,” Larsson said. “Offensively, every team goes through tough stretches. It’s a long season. I mean, you lose one and then you can go on a heater too. So, we’re just going to stay positive. I thought today was a lot better than the last three. So, it’s definitely a step in the right direction. But we have to start stringing some games together.”