Thrice is Nice: Kraken Win Third Straight at Home

The last time the Kraken racked up 12 standings points this early in the hockey year was at the start of the 2022-23 season, which of course led to a first-round playoff series win over defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado and just one victory short of reaching the Western Conference. With Saturday’s tight, boisterous 3-2 win over an Edmonton team that has advanced to the Stanley Cup the last two springs, the Kraken record stands at 5-2-2 for 12 points in nine games.

That qualifies as the franchise’s best start in the first five seasons. The 2022-23 Kraken squad hit the dozen mark in 10 games. Wednesday’s home showdown with Montreal presents a chance to up the best start to 14 points in the first 10 games.

The Kraken style of play under new coach Lane Lambert continues to look like the perfect fit to post the 3-0 perfect record at home. Seattle has doused two of the Western Conference’s best teams and offenses in the last three nights with Joey Daccord and relentless forechecking. Here in a decibel-laden Climate Pledge Arena, two game-turning goals from captain Jordan Eberle, along with a fourth-line score, held up for the victory that had fans holding their collective breath right to the final buzzer, including one last faceoff in the Seattle zone with 3.3 seconds left.

Eberle now has four goals on the season, with linemate Matty Beniers picking up the primary assists on both scores to make it five assists on the year. Both Eberle goals were evidence of his underrated pinpoint shooting skills, while Beniers simply looks faster than most opponents this season.

Lambert’s plan was to put Beniers on the ice when Connor McDavid was centering a line. He liked the results.

“I thought Matty had a heck of a game,” said Lambert. “He and his line were responsible defensively. And that turned into odd man rushes, and Ebs did a great job finishing.”

Rookie Berkly Catton had a solid night as the third man on the Seattle first line, picking up an assist early in the period and flashing several slick offensive moves, one that could have fueled an Eberle hat trick.

Rather than focus on his own achievements, the Kraken captain was happy to talk about how much this Kraken team is jelling.

“We're playing a little bit more structured,” said Eberle, who sat at his locker with the traditional Hockey Night in Canada interview towel at his side. “We're a little more detailed. The biggest thing is there's no gray area [from Lambert and the coaching staff]. We know exactly what we need to do. I still think there's another level that we can get to. I feel like there are times I see it, we're like, wow, we're a really, really good team. I just want to see that for a full 60 minutes. For the most part, we've grown. We’ve got to keep growing... We've had some guys get hurt, and we're still winning games. It shows the depth of this organization."

Key Goal from Kartye

Forward Tye Kartye’s game has been trending up in recent games with a strong two-way, all-zones output in Thursday’s road at Winnipeg. In the second period here Saturday, Kartye was reward in the scoring column with his first goal of the season. The fourth-liner finished off speedy rush up with Ryan Winterton, who laced a perfect lead pass to Kartye. Veteran center Ben Meyers, effectively filling the role of sidelined Freddy Gaudreau, picked up the secondary assist. The fourth-liners made the most of their time on ice, getting a little more than six minutes of playing time in the first two periods.

Kartye praised his linemate and former AHL Coachella Valley teammate Winterton: “He is really easy to play with. You saw him on the goal. His speed is something he uses a lot... his speed was a huge part of the goal. Benny made a really nice wall play to him, then “Wints” just beat a couple of guys, and we were able to capitalize.”

“Over the last few games here, I think that fourth line's been like a dog on bone,” said Lambert. “They're hounding, they're creating, they're getting in, they're creating off the fore check, they're getting bumps, and they're going to the net. It’s really, really nice to see them get rewarded [with the Kartye goal].”

Joey Daccord did his part again early in the middle period, handling a couple of Oilers Grade-A scoring chances early in the frame. The Kraken No. 1 goalie had racked up four and two-thirds scoreless periods (154:21 total) Thursday and Saturday before Edmonton, and star defenseman Evan Bouchard cashed in on a power play goal to make it 2-1 at the end of 40 minutes.

“Joey was great,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert. “He was great early, and we needed him to be.”

Cranking Up the Decibels for Monty

The noise started minutes before this game started at raucous (let’s make that with a capital R) Climate Pledge Arena when returning Seattle defenseman Brandon Montour was introduced as part of the starting lineup. Fans flexed their lungs and hearts for the Kraken favorite, who revealed Saturday morning that his week and four games away from the team were due to his brother, Cameron, losing his “battle” with ALS last Monday after four years of keeping his spirits up while the nervous-system disease progressively robbed him of muscle control.

The decibels revved up even higher when captain Jordan Eberle took a pass from linemate Matty Beniers before wristing a rising shot past Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner to make it 1-0 Good Guys. The goal was registered on the 83^rd second of this divisional matchup. Bedlam ensued, and fans were equally happy to cheer 19-year-old Berkly Catton’s assist on the goal, the 2024 first-rounder’s second point on the season in four games.

The rest of the period featured several clutch saves from Kraken goalie Joey Daccord, with the Kraken generating scoring chances of their own, albeit not many dangerous ones, during two full-fledged power plays. Natural Stat Trick registered nine scoring chances for the visitors and eight for the Kraken, who created five “high-danger” chances compared to one for Edmonton. Daccord benefited from a late-period Edmonton three-on-one rush, finishing with a clanged goal post—shots on goals finished with the Oilers at 13 and Seattle with 11.

Speaking of good-noisy ovations, the crowd cheered heartily during a first-period timeout introduction for seven PWHL players about to suit up the first season of the Seattle franchise (news alert: the franchise plans to announce its “brand” Nov. 6). Future Hockey of Famer Hilary Knight got the crowd going before puck drop and earned high decibels herself.

During the second period, the crowd gushed over Seattle Storm teammates on hand, then later same frame got mega-loud for many Mariners players still in town and attending the game. Julio Rodriguez prompted a prolonged “Juuu-Lee-Oh, Juuu-Lee-Oh” chant.

Montour Back – and Back in Regular Season Form

As a high-energy player who is fastidious about his training routine, Brandon Montour's heavy-hearted week didn’t curb his physicality and speed here Saturday. He was creating and pushing the puck up the ice early and regularly. After two periods, he officially notched three shots and flung another four to six pucks toward the net. He added two blocked shots and was part of preventing a Connor McDavid breakaway chance in the opening period.

“In my mind, he didn't miss a beat,” said Lambert. “Full credit to him for what he's doing and how he played. We obviously were all with him and feeling for him.”