By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In much different fashion than their barn burner win on Tuesday that featured 17 combined goals, the Seattle Kraken grit out a low scoring affair against the Washington Capitals. After an ugly first 30 minutes that saw the Capitals score twice, Seattle managed to wake up thanks to a timely power play goal. The Kraken found momentum, and were able to ride that wave until overtime. Matty Beniers scored just seven seconds into the overtime period, and just like that Seattle had turned a frustrating contest into another victory.
Kraken players wore special Indigenous Peoples Night jerseys designed by Paige Pettibon during warmups (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
Just like the weather outside, Seattle starts out cold
The Kraken looked far worse offensively than they did in their nine-goal outing against the Kings on Tuesday throughout the first 30 minutes tonight. Seattle was failing to string passes together, properly clear the puck, and were consistently putting themselves in dangerous situations. The Capitals took advantage of the sloppy, unorganized plays as Washington scored twice. Both times, Capitals skaters were able to fire away with plenty of breathing room. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol discussed how the team had to be patient to withstand the early struggles.
“You need some patience, it’s not gonna be easy. The critical stretch in that game was halfway through the second period, being able to turn that period. There was a little frustration setting in, not a lot happening in the first ten minutes of that minute. We were able to take advantage of the great power play goal by Schwartzy. That pushed us through the end of the second period and set the table for the third period,” Hakstol reflected.
Grubauer settles in to deliver solid performance
Starting in net against the team that drafted him, Philipp Grubauer was able to shake off a bad read on a goal in the first period to deliver several great saves as the game progressed. That first goal, a slap shot from a wide open Martin Fehervary of Washington, was one that Grubauer likely wants back as he his view of the puck was clear all the way. The second goal by Washington was the fault of Seattle's penalty kill, which lost it's structure and left Capitals forward Conor Sheary with an open lane to score. Despite those early struggles through the first half hour, Grubauer remained focused and delivered several key saves that kept his team in the game. The German Gentlemen denied every shot he saw the rest of the way, including several from former teammate Alex Ovechkin. Grubauer stepped up when his team needed him, sprawling, diving, and doing the splits to make saves. Despite the perceived issues that some fans have with Grubauer, he has been rock solid in his last three starts for the Kraken. Grubauer discussed his thought process after the tough start.
"First period was a little bit tough there, two goals on three or four shots. That's not how you want to start things off. Second period went well, that's the period that I needed for myself to get back into it. It didn't feel like there was a period were there were too many shots or too many saves, the second period was nice," Grubauer stated.
Philipp Grubauer made numerous key saves to keep Seattle in the game (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Grinding out tough goals
On the offensive end, Seattle had to find “greasy” goals to get them to overtime. The aforementioned Jaden Schwartz goal was scored right in front of Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper, as Schwartz punched home a puck that had slammed off the glass behind net. To tie things up late in the third period, Seattle forward Yanni Gourde was able to take advantage of a juicy rebound off of the leg pad of Kuemper, flipping the puck into the net with ease. Neither goals were necessarily pretty, but they didn't need to be. Seattle had to withstand the crashing wave after wave of Capitals skaters that blocked a whopping 25 shots, as well as several pucks that were just inches off the mark. While the Kraken looked marooned at Sea through the early part of the matchup, their persistence helped them net a big catch in the two goals to tie things up. That persistence set the stage for the rookie Matty Beniers, who had just been snubbed for the rookie of the month honor, to finish the job and net the winner.
Yanni Gourde scored Seattle’s second goal of the night in the third period, effectively sending the game to overtime (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
Beniers battles back from prior mistake to seal it
Rookie forward Matty Beniers has been on a tear as of late, tallying twelve points in his last six games. Despite this, and the fact that Beniers leads all rookies in points this season, he was not selected as the leagues rookie of the month for November. The man out of Michigan has been huge for Seattle ever since he put on the jersey, and a big reason for that has been the young forwards hockey IQ. His intelligence on the ice helps this team day in and day out, but a mistake was made by Beniers that he hasn't had to worry about since his NHL career began. Matty took his first penalty of his career on a careless penalty, whacking a Capitals skaters stick clean out of his band, sending it high before eventually clattering against the glass. It was a dumb and careless penalty to take, especially considering who Washington has on it's power play, but Beniers was able to make up for it in overtime. Winning the initial faceoff to begin the period of free hockey, Beniers then pursued the loose puck in open space, allowing an easy shot in the bottom corner to beat Darcy Kuemper and win the game. Teammate Jaden Schwartz reflected on just how quickly things ended.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen that before, it happened quick. I think someone lost their stick, it happened so fast, I think I was actually grabbing water. I looked up, and he was on a breakaway. They were hungry off the faceoff, we were ready, and I’m super happy for him, that was a good finish,” Schwartz stated.
Quick notes
Matty Beniers' game-winning goal is his first career overtime goal and his second game-winning goal of the season. He now has four goals and six points in the last three games and leads all rookies in scoring.
His six-game point streak is the longest among rookies. He also has 12 points in his last six games (five goals, seven assists).
With his goal he ties Jared McCann for the team lead in goals (nine).
As per the NHL, Beniers scored the fastest goal by a rookie from the start of a regular-season overtime in NHL history (0:07), besting the previous mark held by Walter Jackson (0:08 on March 7, 1933).
He also set a new franchise record for fastest goal to start an overtime period (previously held by Adam Larsson at 1:17 on Jan. 27, 2021).
With a goal tonight, Jaden Schwartz now has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 15 career games against the Capitals. Washington is one of four teams (Buffalo, Edmonton, Toronto) that Schwartz has averaged a point per game or better against in his career.
With his second-period goal, he leads the team with five power play goals.
Andre Burakovsky extended his point streak to five games with two assists tonight and now has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during that span. With his two points tonight, the former Capital now leads the team in assists.
Another once-Capital, Daniel Sprong has two goals and three assists in the last three games. He also has seven points in his last six games (three goals, four assists).
Vince Dunn has five points (two goals, three assists) in his last five games.
This is the Kraken's second game this season in which they have overcome a multi-goal deficit, with the first occurring against Calgary on Nov. 1.
Seattle extends its winning streak to seven games. They are now 9-1-1 in the last 11 games, dating back to Nov. 5 at Pittsburgh.
Of games that have gone to overtime this season, the Kraken have won the last four in a row (New York and twice against Los Angeles).
Yanni Gourde throws hands with T.J. Oshie (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
What's next?
The Kraken will have a day off before they return to action for the second of a three game homestand. Seattle will host a struggling Florida Panthers team at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday, December 3rd with a puck drop of 7PM PST. The Panthers are looking to find their form this season, failing to regain their Presidents Trophy winning form from last season. On the flip side, Seattle aims to continue their franchise-long winning streak.
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