Final Buzzer: The Late Show

Quick hits:

Kraken fans haven't seen many games this season, home or away, that came down to play in the third period. Though Carolina pressured Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer early and often during the final 20 minutes, it was an unassisted turnaround shot by veteran forward Johansson with three minutes remaining that sealed a close and highly satisfying 2-1 win for the Kraken.
Johansson's goal was unassisted. He had his back to the net when gathering a loose puck on a scramble. He used a Carolina defenseman "who was giving me a screen" to add deception to the shot. He was aiming between goalie Frederik Andersen and the post and succeeded.
"I kinda saw it go in," said Johansson, who notched the 26th game-winning goal of his 12-season career. "It feels good to be back after [some injuries] the last two seasons."

Keeping It Close

While the Kraken controlled most of the offensive play in the first period, Carolina scored the lone goal.
The second period required early "response" shifts from Seattle to push back, not allow a second Hurricanes goal and, most importantly, find a way to tie the game. The referees helped the latter, whistling No. 1 Carolina defenseman Jaccob Slavin for holding three minutes into the period.
After deft work by second-unit power play quarterback Vince Dunn and high-energy center Yanni Gourde to keep the puck inside the Carolina blue line, Dunn located Kraken forward Jared McCann. The teammate they call "Canner" set up his own office (hey, Alex Ovechkin is not the only one) at the top of the left faceoff circle.
His laser shot, which he stays late at practices to perfect, flat-out beat Andersen. The shot was so quick it slammed into the back of the net and bounded out almost too fast for the goal judge to light the red lamp.
Fun fact: The Kraken game presentation crew cut to live footage of the Seattle Center campus with trees and the Pacific Science Center lighting up in celebration.

Mid-Third Period Check-in

At the exact 10-minute mark of the third period, Dunn and young Carolina superstar Andrei Svechnikov were penalized five minutes each for fighting. Dunn was laying a hit on Svechnikov, which the 21-year-old didn't like too much.
Svechnikov arguably won the scrap but lost the battle. The Carolina forward picked up an additional two minutes for instigating, as he dropped his gloves to signal a fight invitation.
In all, one of Carolina's most dangerous scorers and playmakers was off the ice for seven of the last 10 minutes. Between the assist on the power play and "being hard to play against," Dunn had a standout night.

That's Entertainment

The Kraken didn't connect on the power play but generated lots of oooohs from the crowd and some loud, spontaneous "Let's go Kraken" chants.
This a team that generates fan noise because they hang tough - playing defense-first to align with coach Dave Hakstol's systems. But when they play as a five-man unit - a frequent and consistent occurrence here on Thanksgiving Eve - they create chances too.
"We have to play defense first," said McCann, who now has eight goals in 14 games with a 10-day COVID-19 quarantine mixed in.
"Even when they scored the first goal," said Johansson, channeling his best akstol. "We can't get away from our game plan."
"Defense comes in different ways," said Hakstol, explaining the final push by Carolina with the goalie pulled was primarily neutralized by "good pressure by our guys up ice to keep the puck out of the 'defensive' zone."

'Geekie Squad' Alert

When center Morgan Geekie was mentioned during a question, Hakstol was happy to elaborate on the young former Hurricane before answering the question. He praised Geekie for competitiveness on the faceoff dot and strong plays on both ends of the ice.
"It's a good sign of his growth," Hakstol said.
Any Kraken who has attended practice will notice Geekie stays after to work on his shot variety and near-net moves and tips, plus he gets a regular dose of faceoff work. It appears to be paying off.

Kraken Power Play Ignites

McCann's goal marked the fifth straight game that the Kraken's first goal was proffered by the power play. It also notched the 7th man-advantage goal in the last 17 opportunities.

Hard to 'Ar-GRUUU'

A mid-second period tripping penalty on Geekie created several shot attempts by Carolina on the ensuing penalty. Grubauer make two huge saves that not only kept the score tied but displayed confident work by the Kraken goalie. These were shots that were going in during the recent losing streak.
It's hard to argue Grubauer, a Vezina Trophy candidate last season as a top goalie, hasn't found his Gruuuuuu-ve.
True to form, the crowd of 17,151 not only cheered Grubauer's saves, it went Seattle-worthy decibel level when the threatening two minutes of Hurricanes power play was fully snuffed out.
Gruuuuuu! cheers were loudest on two magnificent scoring chances by Carolina seven minutes into the third period. Grubauer made his 28th and 29th saves of the night. During the ice-cleaning break, the game presentation powers that be chose a Ted Lasso "Believe" mixed-tape with Kraken to rouse even more noise.
Grubauer came out to meet the media after the second straight win and joked that "I'm back." He was all smiles post-game and even grinned once or twice during frenzied play in the game's last two periods.
His big saves were multiple, perhaps most memorable was a point-blank save on Svechnikov on a second-period power play and sliding save on another frequent goal scorer, Carolina forward Teuvo Teravainen.
"The same as timely goals, you need timely saves," said Grubauer, who saved 34 of 35 shots, including 29 at even strength. "I've started making them the last two games."

Early Shift(s)

Hakstol and the team's veteran leadership have talked a lot about putting together consecutive good shifts at the start of games and periods. The first seven minutes of Wednesday's clash with Carolina provided just that.
Seattle controlled most of the offensive flow though Carolina's speed and stick work likely made more than a few fans nervous on a handful of shot attempts. Eight minutes in, the Kraken had four shots on goal compared to two for the Hurricanes.
Scoreless after 12 minutes, the Kraken were still keeping pressure on Carolina. There were no bad shifts for Seattle players, a couple of mistakes but teammates picked up the resulting loose pucks.
Carolina picked the shooting later first period. Most shots originated from the outer areas of the Kraken defensive zones, with clear sightlines for Grubauer.
But one Hurricanes shot eluded Grubauer, mostly because he didn't see it with lots of bodies in front of the Kraken goalie. Creating this sort of chaos net-front is how teams win close games in the NHL.
One shot, this one by journeyman defender Brendan Smith from the left point inside the blue line, with several seconds of traffic, turned a tight period into an upside one for the Hurricanes. Smith scored just his 31st goal in 600-plus NHL games.
Important to add: Carolina defenseman Tony DeAngelo's behind-the-back pass was as effective as it was pretty. It likely surprised Kraken defenders in that Smith got the puck sooner than anticipated.