RECAP: Kraken 6, Panthers 2

SEATTLE – The Florida Panthers saw their winning streak snapped at three games with a 6-2 loss to the playoff-hopeful Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Sunday.

Dropping the first game of their four-game road trip, the Panthers now sit at 33-30-3.

“We’ve got to own it and deal with it because it was no good,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the loss. “Coach was lousy; players were equal. We’ve got to be a better prepared hockey team [in our next game] in Vancouver.”

Despite getting Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe back after a one-game absence, the Panthers took the ice in Seattle with two other big pieces of their forward group missing as Sam Reinhart, who stayed back in South Florida, and Sam Bennett are dealing with injuries.

Prior to the game, Maurice said Bennett might return on Tuesday against the Canucks.

After the Panthers pinged a couple shots off the post, the Kraken opened the scoring when Ben Meyers had floating puck deflect off him and flutter into the net to make it 1-0 at 5:28.

Applying heavy pressure, the Kraken doubled their lead when – after two sprawling stops from Daniil Tarasov – Berkley Catton cashed in on the third attempt to make it 2-0 at 11:52.

Looking right at home after being acquired by the Panthers at the trade deadline, Vinnie Hinostroza responded just 15 seconds later when he took a cross-ice pass from Luke Kunin in transition and whipped a quick shot past Joey Daccord to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 12:07.

In three games as a Panther, Hinostroza has recorded three points (2G, 1A).

“I feel like he’s flying out there,” linemate Jesper Boqvist said. “A really good player.”

Regaining the two-goal cushion for the Kraken prior to the first intermission, Ryan Winterton went to the net and sent a rebound past Tarasov to make it 3-1 at 18:24.

Padding their lead early in the second period, Kaapo Kakko, left with far too much time and space around Florida’s net, tucked a shot around Tarasov’s right pad to make it 4-1 at 3:20.

Missing out on a golden opportunity to cut into their deficit, the Panthers came up empty on an extended trip to the man advantage, including 57 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play.

After two periods, the Panthers led 23-16 in scoring chances but weren’t rewarded.

Building off a three-point performance in his debut with the Kraken, Bobby McMann, who was picked up from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the deadline, extended Seattle’s lead to 5-1 with a sizzling top-shelf snipe from the slot on the power play at 10:07 of the third period.

At 14:37, Jamie Oleksiak tacked on another goal for the Kraken to make it 6-1.

Not packing it in, Eetu Luostarinen cut Florida’s deficit to 6-2 right before the final horn.

“I think we still tried, 100% obviously, even if we’re down,” Luostarinen said. “We’re just trying to keep the pace up at the end and just move on.”

THEY SAID IT

“He’s quick, he can move the puck, and he gets to the net. You don’t have to ask him twice to head to the net. He almost scored another one late in the game. He’s playing hard. We do have some players in our lineup that kind of playing for jobs.” – Paul Maurice on Vinnie Hinostroza

“I feel like the first little there, their goalie touched a lot of pucks and we couldn’t establish our game and our forecheck and stuff. We gave him a little too much time and space, and then they could play with the puck a lot.” – Jesper Boqvist on tonight’s loss

“They were fast, just faster. They won more battles. I think that’s what stood out more.” – Eetu Luostarinen on Seattle’ play

CATS STATS

- Anton Lundell won a team-high 12 faceoffs.

- Luke Kunin had a team-high four hits.

- The Panthers led 54-31 in shot attempts at 5-on-5.

- Florida led 20-5 in shot attempts at 5-on-5 when Carter Verhaeghe was deployed.

- Daniil Tarasov made four high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will head north of the border for the final three games of their trip.

On Tuesday, they’ll face the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place at 10 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch in South Florida, click HERE.