Kraken Film Room: Fourth Line Finish 

As the Kraken are off to their best start in franchise history, one of the key ingredients to their success has been the fourth line. Its current iteration of Ben Meyers centering Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton was put together in the season’s seventh game, (Oct. 21 vs. Washington), and it’s been an integral part of Seattle’s on-ice effectiveness.

“I think over the last four games they are like a dog on a bone,” head coach Lane Lambert said after the Oct. 25 game versus Edmonton. “(They are) creating a forecheck, getting bumps and going to the net.”

The trio has been doing a lot of good things that don’t always show up on a score sheet, so it was nice to see them ultimately rewarded with a goal in that game versus the Oilers that showcased the tenacity, speed, and skill that this line contains.

How did the goal come together?

Let’s dig in.

Just over five minutes into the second period, the Meyers line was out for its sixth shift of the game. Meyers, Kartye, and Winterton got right to work pestering for pucks.

After blocking a shot by Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm, Kartye lined up just seven seconds later to block another shot, this time from the Oilers’ Evan Bouchard (EDM2), who was ready to fire from the point.

Kartye successfully blocked the second of three shots he’d eliminate in the game, sending the puck towards the right boards.

But Kartye wasn’t done. Tracking the loose puck, he instantly turns and gets in a race with Bouchard to gain possession.

The Kraken forward gains position on the Oilers’ defender and is able to successfully prevent possession of the puck by Edmonton.

For sixteen more seconds, the Kraken battled for possession, and opportunity finally came sixteen seconds later after a shot attempt from Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Winterton corrals the rebound and sends a quick up along the boards as Meyers advances to engage in another battle for possession.

Meyers engages with Ekholm (EDM14) and Nugent-Hopkins (EDM93) and powers his way into gaining possession of the puck.

Now Meyers' quick thinking kicks in. Winterton has moved north in support of the play in case a loose puck comes his way. Meyers pivots and sends a quick chip to Winterton.

As the Edmonton players along the boards are looking to recover from the battle lost, they turn, and Adam Henrique (EDM19) also closes to apply pressure as Winterton gets the puck on his tape.

The two Edmonton wingers (Henrique and Nugent-Hopkins) are in good position to close off the open ice in front of Winterton and prevent the zone exit, but if there’s one thing to know about Ryan Winterton, it's that he can turn on the speed.

Within milliseconds, Winterton doesn’t just get between the Oilers players…

He’s off to the races, bursting past Nugent-Hopkins and then Henrique, leaving the responsibility to stop the rush to the last layer of defense, which just happens to be Bouchard.

What no one seems to be noticing (at least no one in an Oilers jersey) is that Kartye is charging through the center of the ice and joining the rush.

The good thing is the one player who does notice Kartye is his linemate, Winterton. With all eyes on him (including Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner), the 22-year-old tracks Kartye in open ice.

Winterton sends a pinpoint pass to Kartye in the high slot, shifting the focal point of play to a completely different part of the ice. Now the challenge is if Edmonton can recover to take away all the space – and the shooting lane – available to Kartye.

Spoiler alert – they could not. Quick lateral movement is one of the hardest to execute on skates – especially if you are a goaltender. It's why the cross-slot pass is one of the most dangerous in hockey. Now Bouchard has to try to move in between Kartye and the net while Skinner, who had rightly sealed the left post anticipating a shot from Winterton, now had to try to cover all the open space he’d left behind him based on that initial read.

While Kartye was able to block Bouchard’s earlier shot attempt, Bouchard is unable to return serve.

A desperation dive by Bouchard falls short as Skinner executes the same move to try to cover the net.

Kartye’s quick release beats the netminder and ends up in the net, advancing the score to 2-0 on the way to an important 3-2 Kraken win over a divisional opponent.

That’ll make everyone in Kraken Nation happy.

Now let’s watch it all come together at game speed:

The fourth line has been an integral part of building energy, sustaining momentum, and extending possession in the offensive zone thus far in this young season. As Lambert said, “it’s nice to see them get rewarded.”