Not Their Night in Homestand Finale

The Kraken experienced their first regulation home loss of the season Wednesday night, falling to the visiting San Jose Sharks, 6-1. Seattle finished a five-game homestand with a 2-1-2 record for six of a possible 10 points. Collecting 60 percent of standings points would have earned a wild-card postseason bid last season.

A weekend back-to-back Central Division trip to scuffling St. Louis (4-8-2) and perennial contender Dallas (7-3-3) is next, followed by a three-game homestand next week with a finale game against these same Sharks. Payback will be in order.

Not too many things went right for the home squad, at least not after Ryan Winterton scored his first NHL goal to tie the game at 1-1 late in the first period. San Jose retrieved the lead a bit more than two minutes later, and before the first intermission. The Sharks added a power play goal in the second period, then two early third-period goals chased Kraken starting goalie Joey Daccord, with Matt Murray replacing him. Murray didn’t catch much luck, as San Jose’s Tyler Toffoli beat him on a breakaway just 30 seconds into his stint in goal, boosting the score to 6-1. On the other end, Seattle’s power play was zero for six tries.

The Kraken finished with 29 shots on goal, roughly half in the final period. But 23-year-old Russian-born Yaroslav Askarov showed why San Jose acquired the goaltender from Nashville when the Predators stuck with Juuse Saros as their clear-cut No. 1 goalie. Daccord will have better nights ahead, likely as soon as this weekend.

‘Loose’ Leads to Loss

Both head coach Lane Lambert and defenseman Josh Mahura referred to the Kraken playing too “loose” against a Sharks club that is more freewheeling than structured.

“We were disconnected in a bunch of different areas,” said a composed Lambert in the media briefing room. “The first goal of the game, we turned the puck over on the wall early on. And we're not in position to help with that. “Our structure wasn't good enough tonight. We gave up the goal in the first shift of the game. We gave up a goal right at the end of the first period, after I thought we had battled back and tied the score and had some good opportunities in the first period. Those are killers. Give them credit. They played well. So I'm not going to take that away from them at all. But I didn't like our game ... I thought we were too loose. We did not play to our identity.” Ten minutes earlier, Mahura was at his locker with a similar mindset about the game, that he and his teammates should be angry with themselves and figure out what needs to change before the weekend set in St. Louis and Dallas. “We were getting a little bit loose,” said Mahura. “I don’t think it's intentional by anyone. Everything's been going pretty good for the most part. Obviously, we need to try to use this as a kick in the [butt] to regroup and get going.”

Three’s a Quorum

Proving the team leadership is on the same page, captain Jordan Eberle filled in TV viewers in an interview with Kraken Hockey Network personality Piper Shaw.

“The first period I thought we played well for the most part,” said Eberle. “Then we played their game. We decided to get into a track meet. We can’t play that way, that’s not our identity. We we down 3-1 after the second period, but it could have been 5-1 or 6-1. We weren’t there on the power play or penalty kill. You do that in this league, and you get humbled pretty quickly. Maybe we needed that.”

Winterton’s Path to Goal No. 1

The bright spot for Seattle in the loss was Ryan Winterton‘s first NHL goal in his 34^th appearance. He played nine games with the Kraken in 2023-24 and another dozen last year (notching his first assist). Wednesday’s score won’t be his last. The feeling here is that he is just getting started. Winterton’s trajectory jumped a couple three moves on the prospect chessboard this summer and fall.

Winterton just turned 22 in September. He is an even-keeled player, a trait clear since he was one of the youngest players selected in the 2021 NHL Draft. He was the Kraken’s third-round pick, and this reporter’s first conversation with the Kraken winger was impressively mature while showing his ambition to do all necessary to make the NHL. Winterton had a quiet but confident presence even then, and he has found ways to improve each season, whether still in juniors (leading a team to the Memorial Cup), then with AHL affiliate Coachella Valley and now this year making the Kraken squad out of training camp.

With the Firebirds, he rose from an occasional penalty killer to “first forward off the bench” in the 2023-24 season when CVF won a second straight Western Conference championship. Winterton was a reliable, clutch scorer in the AHL, especially in the playoffs. A couple of summers ago, Winterton committed to an aggressive training regimen while skating with a Toronto pro group. At subsequent development and training camps, other Kraken prospects asked whether they could get involved in a similar program to Winterton.

This fall, Winterton impressed Lane Lambert and the coaching staff with his speed on offense, responsible defensive instincts in all zones, and stellar work on the PK during preseason games. It led to Winterton earning a fourth-line assignment with former Firebirds teammate Tye Kartye on the other wing and various centers (the now-injured Freddy Gaudreau, Ben Meyers, and 19-year-old Berkly Catton). Wednesday’s goal actually started with Winterton zipping into the zone to challenge San Jose's young goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. The Kraken maintained offensive-zone possession long enough for Winterton to pounce on a loose puck in the high slot and roof it past Askarov. D-man Ryan Lindgren and center Shane Wright picked up the assists, a nice touch on the latter since Winterton and Wright were frequent linemates in the AHL.

“He's been playing well all year,” said Lambert about Winterton. “He's had some opportunities to get it prior to now as well. So nice to see him rewarded. And it came at a very important time in the game for us.”

Winterton said he will likely send the puck home to his parents. He said teammates and coaches reassured him that the first score was coming.

“It’s a long time coming,” said Winterton. “It feels good to get that one out of the way and kind of get the money monkey off my back ... I just tried to keep a good mindset. That's all you can really do.”

San Jose’s One-Two Punch

San Jose opened the scoring here on Wednesday, and it can’t be surprising that second-year forward Macklin Celebrini was the goal scorer. It’s his eighth score of the young season, tying him with productive veterans such as David Pastrnak (Boston), John Tavares (Toronto) and Mikko Rantanen (Dallas). After a Seattle failed attempt to exit the defensive zone, Sharks forward Tyler Tofolli corralled the puck along the right side wall, waiting an extra beat before centering a pass to a wide-open Celebrini in the high slot. The result was a clear example of scoring from a high-danger chance.

Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, was one of two 19-year-old 2024 first-rounders on the ice for the division rival Sharks. Sam Dickinson, No. 11 overall, worked on the third pair with veteran John Klingberg, while 20-year-old Will Smith (No. 4 overall in 2023) recorded the primary assist (Celebrini got the secondary) on a Klingberg power-play goal to put the Sharks ahead 3-1 after two periods. Smith scored in the final period and finished with a goal and an assist. Celebrini notched a goal and two assists.