Final Buzzer: Streak Ends at 8

As if the Kraken didn't prove themselves enough as 2023 postseason contenders on the recent historic road trip, the Seattle squad returned home early morning Sunday to catch some sleep before skating against Tampa Bay Monday. The Lightning had won 12 of their last 16 games coming into Monday's matinee commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They upped it to 13 of 17 with a 4-1 victory to snap Seattle's eight-game winning streak.
When asked about his team's fatigue after the grueling road trip and a quick turnaround at home, Coach Dave Hakstol said, "that's part of the NHL schedule. That's not one that you look at on the schedule and think this is going to be an easy one but no, I felt like our group was ready to go. We're disappointed with the result but that's a tight hockey game."

But exactly four minutes later, fittingly enough for a defensive battle, Kraken D-man Vince Dunn took a cross-ice pass at the blue line from partner Adam Larsson. Dunn hammered a shot that threaded through several bodies net front and past a screened Vasilevskiy. It marked seven straight games with at least a point for Dunn, who notched his eighth goal of the season. The holiday crowd erupted.
Seattle applied more offensive-zone pressure, but the puck bounces didn't go their way. With a bit more than a minute left and a Kraken net empty, TBL forward Brandon Hagel scored to make it 3-1, then defenseman Victor Hedman made a close game seem lopsided when bagged an empty-net goal himself.
Dunn held himself accountable on the ultimate game-winning goal off the stick of Tampa Bay forward Nick Paul, who leveraged a wide-open look early in the third period.
"I let the second one get through me," said Dunn. "It's a disappointing loss for us. We were on a good run there and [Monday] we got a little bit away from our game."
Dunn didn't bite on the quick turnaround from a long road trip perhaps sapping some Kraken energy: "I don't think there's any excuses. We had a whole day yesterday and this morning off. We're at home we're in our beds. There's no excuse why we come out a little flat."

Championship Credentials

Tampa Bay has advanced to the last three Stanley Cup Finals, winning the coveted trophy in 2020 and 2021. The TBL squad showed why a fourth straight trip is not at all a stretch, peppering Kraken starting goalie Philipp with 15 shots on goal in the first period in the first period alone. Per Natural Stat Trick, seven of the Tampa Bay shots were Grade-A scoring chances. Grubauer finished with 27 saves.
The Kraken surrendered the game's first goal with one minute 17 seconds left in the first frame. Defenseman Ian Cole's shot was deflected net-front by 37-year-old veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.
Eleven seconds later, Tampa Bay star defenseman Victor Hedman looked to make it 2-0 with a signature slap shot, but Grubauer turned it aside. Then with just four seconds remaining in the opening frame, Hedman broke free on Grubauer, but was once again denied.

Kraken Shots at a Premium

The Kraken didn't notch their 10th shot on goal until there were eight-and-a-half minutes left in the second period. Thanks to high-quality work by teammate and goalie Philipp Grubauer, the score was a slim 1-0 in favor of the visiting Lightning.
A Seattle power play later second period generated two shots on goal and a rebound chance that rookie All-Star Matty Beniers released quick enough to beat all-world Tampa Bay goalie Vasilevskiy but the shot went wide. Not even a minute after the two-minute Kraken man advantage, Tampa Bay went on the power play for a second time Monday afternoon.
Per a long-held hockey theorem, Gurbauer proved the Kraken's "best penalty killer" during the first and second Tampa Bay power plays, making a half-dozen saves against a TBL first power-play unit featuring four legitimate All-Stars (and at least two, maybe three future Hall of Famers. But Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak, and former Lightning center Yanni Gourde all turned in solid PK work, especially when fellow penalty-kill regular Adam Larsson was whistled off in the opening period.