Playing Fast and Hard-Nosed Fuels Fast Start

From Day 1 of training camp, Coach Lane Lambert and his Kraken squad have focused on playing fast, hunting the puck in all zones and establishing net-front presence at the offensive end. Five games into the regular season, mission launched. Now comes 77 more games to confirm “mission accomplished.”

Seattle is off to its best start in five NHL seasons, securing eight out of 10 possible points the first five games with no regulation losses. Only four NHL teams are without a regulation loss and the other three franchises (Colorado, Carolina, Vegas) are perennial playoff contenders. With five games still to play, the Kraken are just four standings points shy of the 12 points achieved via a 6-4-0 record the first 10 games of the 2022-23 season. Kraken fans will no doubt recall how that season pushed to Game 7 in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Yes, it’s early. But there is no denying that opposing players and coaches are noticing this Kraken squad is hard to play against, which is hockey’s holy grail when it comes to reputation.

The latest example is Toronto’s No. 1 goalie, Alex Stolarz, who couldn’t hold back his unintentional esteem for the Kraken style under former Toronto associate coach Lambert while answering questions during a packed media conference after the hometown Maple Leafs lost 4-3 in overtime in front of a nationwide “Hockey Night In Canada” audience.

“I thought the first two periods we kinda let them walk all over us,” said Stolarz. “They outworked us in front of the net. They blocked shots, they beat us up and down the ice and the score was indicative of that. They just outworked us, plain and simple.”

Stolarz and his coach, Craig Berube, didn’t challenge the second-period Vince Dunn goal allowed despite Kraken stalwart forward Jaden Schwartz knocking over the goaltender in his own crease because a Toronto defenseman had shoved the stalwart veteran forward there. Schwartz is Exhibit A for Kraken GM Jason Botterill’s insistence that net-front presence requires willingness to battle for net-front ice rather than merely assigning such tough assignments to forwards with more size.

Just a few shifts later, Seattle newcomer (and, goodness, he is a welcome addition) Mason Marchment ran over Stolarz in pursuit of a scoring chance. The Toronto goaltender wasn’t angry at Marchment over what Berube called a hockey play. But Stolarz did call out his own teammates about playing more like the Kraken.

“I think we gotta start going to the cage a little harder, make it harder for their goalies,” Stolarz said. “It’s not fun — I don’t like having 225-pound guys laying on me. Hopefully we learn a lesson here.”

Kraken fans might recall in the 3-1 season opener home win that the visiting Ducks leveled Joey Daccord with several Seattle teammates jumping to goalie’s defense. Stolarz had to engage in his own scrap with Marchment (Toronto players said later they knew a Kraken penalty was going to called and didn’t want draw a two-minute roughing call). Stolarz equally envied Daccord for the Kraken’s success at protecting the net-front, high-danger area Saturday night.

“Their goalie, it’s like playing catch in the yard,” Stolarz said about a lack of Toronto net presence. “He’s seeing everything. We’re not making it difficult. We did make it difficult in the third [period] and look what happened. We came out, tied the game, got a point out of it, almost scored with five seconds left [in regulation, but prevented by a Grade-A Daccord save].”

Overtime with a Flair, Game-Winners

Seattle’s 3-0-2 record includes two overtime wins, Saturday against Toronto and the previous Saturday against another offensive juggernaut, Vegas. The Kraken’s overtime play has featured significant puck possession and player combinations creating impressive scoring opportunities. Fans no doubt are loving the high-octane overtimes, even if Lambert and his hard-working assistant coaches would prefer not to have played four straight games that were tied at regulation.

For his part, Toronto coach Craig Berube conceded the Kraken’s dominance in extra time despite the likes of stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander. In fact, Kraken D-man Josh Mahura, who scored his last NHL goal three years ago in the same arena, outraced Nylander to the puck for a breakaway and sweet move on Stolarz to cap the 4-3 OT win.

After the Vegas home win in overtime a week ago Saturday, VGK coach Bruce Cassidy said the Kraken’s control of play doomed his team’s effort to earn the extra standings point at stake: “You get into overtime, and anything can happen. We just didn't have the puck enough to generate at their end. Then we got a little bit fatigued and they buried one.”

‘Checking In’ Fore and Back

Veteran depth forward Colton Sissons, in his first season with Vegas after 11 years in Nashville, was also clear postgameabout the grit and never-quit forechecking and backchecking delivered by the winning Kraken. “They were making it hard on us,” said Sissons. “Obviously, teams are going to defend as hard with the firepower we got up front ... They checked well. They had a game plan that they weren't going to lose against our defensemen [skating] up the ice. They didn't allow our odd-man rushes to get through the neutral zone clean. It took us a while to figure that part out.” Cassidy seconded his player’s assessment, which in turn provides a sense of optimism the Kraken might top their 12 standings points amassed the first 10 games of the 2022-2023 season. “They were in forecheck mode,” said Cassidy. . “It wasn't going to be a neutral-zone turnover transition-type of game where you're giving up a lot off the rush. We had to go work for it...they didn’t want to give us any easy stuff.”