Not bad for a guy who had spent 10 days isolated in a Tampa Bay hotel in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol. Giordano had tested positive the morning of the Kraken game on Nov. 25 against the Lightning. He lost his sense of taste and smell and had to rely on his iPad to communicate with team doctors and his family.
The defenseman was happy to be back at Kraken practice Tuesday to get ready for Thursday's game.
"A couple of really good days of practice helped me," he said after a tough
3-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets
. "A couple of hard skates and physically I felt pretty normal, to be honest."
Giordano was a welcome return for Seattle both on the ice and off.
"It's his presence, that strong, steady leadership that he continually provides," Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said. "Obviously, as a player on the ice, he's very important for us."
During his first game back, he not only was among the leaders in ice time, but he was on the ice for eight Seattle scoring chances to only three against and three of those scoring chances were of the high-danger variety.
He was in the Kraken's top defensive pairing that was not on the ice for a goal against.
After the loss, he reminded why he is such a strong leader in the Kraken dressing room with a frank assessment of how the game progressed.
"I didn't think we had a great start, to be honest," Giordano said. "I thought we were a little tentative out there, sitting and watching a bit but as the period went on, we got going and generated more. When you're playing that team, I played them a lot in my career, it's the same story every time. You've got to win battles on the wall. Their defense basically don't give up the blue line, offensive line or the defensive line, so it's on us to make good, hard plays."
When he's in the lineup, Giordano has been a mainstay on the Kraken power play.
He mans the point, helps get the puck into scoring areas or takes shots himself. Giordano has a couple of assists on the power play this season and his return should make what has been a successful unit, better.
Thursday was frustrating as the Kraken were 0-for-5 on the power play - although two of those chances were truncated due to overlapping penalties - and only generated two shots on goal.
"It was obviously a big part of the game when you get five, especially ones in the third," he said. "They were aggressive, and they were blocking shots. It's usually a key to success and when they didn't, their goalie made some big saves, so we just have to sharpen up. I think when teams are aggressive, you gotta be really sharp."
While the Kraken didn't convert on the power play Thursday, Giordano was active. He kept the puck in the zone and got it deep where his teammates were able to keep plays alive.
He knows what he's talking about when it comes to the power play. Giordano has played nearly 1,000 NHL games - when the Kraken play Columbus on Saturday, he'll be suiting up for game 970 in his career -- and he's scored 52 power-play goals and 183 power-play points.
Giordano is a workhorse and only Adam Larsson has logged more ice time per game for the Kraken this season. Playing nearly 1,000 NHL games, Giordano has seen it all.
He's seen teams lose games and go through the highs and lows of a long 82-game season. Being relied on as a leader is nothing new to Giordano, either. He was captain of the Calgary Flames before being selected by Seattle in July's NHL Expansion Draft and in 2020 he won the NHL's Mark Messier Leadership Award.
Who else would you want to lean on to bounce back after a tough loss like the one on Thursday?
"You should be a little bit frustrated when you lose games," Giordano said. "I think guys are upset in there right now, but I think it's on each of us. You should look at yourself individually. Look at what you can do better and then, tomorrow, I'm sure we'll come in and go over stuff as a team.
"There's no lack of effort or work on our team. I think there's certain situations where you have to be aggressive and there's other situations when you have to be smart and manage the game."
The Kraken get a chance to overcome and rebound Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets and you can bet Giordano will be at the forefront.
