Final Buzzer: Not the Kraken's Night

This is a night the Kraken will choose to mostly forget, watching the film for how to get better, then shaking off the 6-1 loss to Philadelphia. Short memories will be required because Seattle traveled to Newark after the game for a Tuesday matchup against the New Jersey Devils.

It will be the Kraken's fifth game in eight nights, compared to the Devils' second game of the year. They beat the Chicago Blackhawks in their home opener Friday, winning in overtime on a Jack Hughes highlight-reel goal. Let's roll through Game 4 observations.

First-Period Frustration

The first period in Philadelphia was not what Kraken coach Dave Hakstol had in mind for his return to the city of his first NHL head coaching job. The Flyers, sparked by 10-year captain Claude Giroux, who played a key role on two Hakstol playoff teams, scored the game's first goal at 9:18 on a give-and-go from Travis Konecny.
Giroux one-timed the return pass, beating Philipp Grubauer on the short side. It's his 275th goal in 945 NHL games, including a career-high 34 for Hakstol's 2017-18 playoff teams.
The Flyers followed three minutes later with Konecny taking a smart, accurate pass from veteran defenseman Keith Yandle. Konecny sped deeper into the Kraken zone, firing off a hard shot on Grubauer, who made the initial save but offered up a rebound that Konecny snatched up and shot past Grubauer.
Two minutes after Konecny connected - and looked like his 2019-20 self doing it - new Flyers forward Derick Brassard sent a puck to net front from the right corner behind the goal line. His intentional lob to see what might happen hit Carson Soucy's skate, deflecting past a nothing-he-could-do Grubauer to make it 3-0 during the 14-minute mark of the opening period.

What Happened on the Six PHI Goals

Hakstol started with the positive during his post-game meeting with the media, then quickly revealed his dissatisfaction with how the Flyers scored the half-dozen goals.
"We had a competitive first 10 minutes with good scoring opportunities," said Hakstol, who did not appear the least bit flustered as much as determined to not see that type of game again.
A question or two later, Hakstol went straight to it: "I look at the goals we gave up. Four goals began at least 150 feet away [from the Kraken net] by a turnover or other plays up ice. Those ended up in the back of net. Those are things that absolutely can't happen."
When a reporter asked if maybe the team experienced "a mental lapse" in this fourth game in seven nights, Hakstol replied, "I don't believe that's somewhere our group is ever gonna go," choosing to use [the schedule] as a crutch. He said he believes his team will be ready "when we drop the puck in about 20 hours."

Early Chances

Before Philly broke open the game, the Kraken worked three excellent chances to open the scoring. Forward Joonas Donskoi picked up a loose puck for a half-rink breakaway, stopped by Philly goalie Carter Hart's glove-high save.
A couple minutes later, Morgan Geekie, motoring into the left side of the Flyers defensive zone, swung a pass to linemate Ryan Donato in front of the net. Donato deftly redirected the pass on goal, but Hart was in ideal position to block the attempt.
Hart's best save of night was later when Jordan Eberle was camped at the right corner of the net, poised to score his first Kraken goal thanks to playmaking work by linemates Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg. But as Eberle sticked the puck to tuck it away, Hart dove crease-length to make a brilliant save.
Note: After center Jared McCann skated with usual linemates Schwartz and Eberle during warmups, he moved to join Donskoi and Donato on a second line. Wennberg moved to center Schwartz and Eberle.

Soucy Sees to It

In a tighter game, there might have been more smiles for Soucy's first goal for the Kraken, which doubles as the first goal for a Seattle defenseman. Soucy was likely not the first choice of any fan guessing which D-man would score for history.
Near the end of the second period, Soucy moved into the offensive rush by carrying the puck midway into the Philadelphia defensive zone, taking a high shot - a bit of a knuckler - that former Everett Silvertips star Hart had trouble handling after he made the save. Soucy followed the shot and put home the rebound to break Hart's shutout bid.

Flipping the Switch, Standing Up for Teammates

During a post-game media discussion, Soucy acknowledged a back-to-back game Tuesday night in Newark, facing a Devils team featuring big-name free-agent Dougie Hamilton, is preferred in some ways than getting a day or two break before the next square on the schedule.
"Definitely, our minds just switch to tomorrow's game," said Soucy.
Before leaving the podium, Soucy commented on forward Nathan Bastian getting into a scrap with Giroux ("Basty did a good job trying to create some energy"). He praised fellow defenseman Jamie Oleksiak for taking issue with a dangerous hit on defensive partner, Adam Larsson, dominating Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler in a bout that Soucy categorized as a working example of "sticking up for a teammate."

Checking the Analytics

While the final score is one to forget, colleague and analytics storyteller Alison Lukan contributes these nuggets for fans to consider as we look for the opening faceoff in New Jersey Tuesday:

Goalies Update

Grubauer was pulled from the game with 11:11 remaining in the second period. He finished his night with 15 saves.
With 11:11 left on the second-period clock, the score was up to 5-0 when Hakstol replaced Grubauer with Driedger, the free agent goalie selected from the Florida Panthers during this summer's expansion draft.
Driedger allowed a goal in his ice time, but it is fully expected he will start Tuesday at New Jersey.

News and Notes

• The Seattle power play was zero-for-3, managing two shots over the six minutes of man-advantage.
• The Kraken started the second period on the penalty kill. Standouts during a scoreless Philly power play included Seattle penalty killers Donskoi breaking up passes in the dangerous slot area and young D-man Haydn Fleury handcuffing and frustrating the imposing Flyers top defenseman Ivan Provorov.
• The Flyers held a 21-9 advantage in shots on goal at the mid-mark of the second period.
• Hart was stellar in all three periods, even if his workload was not super heavy. He wowed Philly fans during the 2019-20 regular season and playoffs, then suffered through an uneven season last year. The three-time WHL best goalie (twice CHL) likely reminded Everett Silvertips fans Monday night of how great he was in Everett.
• Philly defenseman Keith Yandle played his 924th straight game Monday. The Boston native is second only to the 964 played by Doug Jarvis back in the 1970s and 1980s. Third is another retired player, Gary Unger (914), followed by the still active Patrick Marleau (started the season at 910) and another active player, Phil Kessel (started season at 900).