By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – For the second straight game, the Seattle Kraken would lose a frustrating, close contest. While the Kraken generated more dangerous opportunities and looked more like their better selves through most of the game, they still could not click on all cylinders. Seattle had this game in hand for most of the time on the clock, but everything changed when an ill-timed roughing call on Carson Soucy led to a game-tying goal for Winnipeg. The Kraken will get a few days of practice for their next matchup, and they will need it if they want to get back into the win column.
Vince Dunn brings the puck up the ice while an on-ice official dodges out of the way (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Specialty teams flip their form
The special teams play for Seattle has been a talking point this season, from the penalty kill struggling early to going 18 times without being scored on to some power play success until recently. The two specialty units flipped their recent form, as the power play finally broke through and the penalty kill saw their streak broken. The power play found the back of the net on a five on three situation, as Vince Dunn’s deflected shot was put home by Jordan Eberle net front. The penalty kill faced seven power plays, and even though they denied five of them, the Jets scored their first two goals with the man advantage. Alternate captain Jordan Eberle reflected on the special teams, postgame.
“We got a good start with the goal, I gotta go back and look, my mind is somewhere else right now, but I thought we created some good opportunities. Maybe, probably not enough. That’s what we have to find when things aren’t going well, bang it inside and try to find a greasy one,” Eberle reflected.
Oliver Bjorkstrand looks at the net as Jordan Eberle celebrates the power play goal that had just been scored (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Offense shows more life, but still not enough
The Kraken looked more dangerous tonight than they did back against the Minnesota Wild a few days ago but failed to find that final touch or lucky bounce to sound their goal horn more than they did. Brandon Tanev hit the crossbar of the goal before he scored for real in the third period. Jared McCann saw several near misses in the second period. While there were some bright spots, we weren’t able to see enough of the Kraken attack because of all the penalties the team had to serve. Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol had something to say about the that last issue, postgame.
“We didn’t see much of it, we had nearly 20 minutes in specialty teams tonight. We really didn’t get into any flow throughout the hockey game... We moved wingers on all three lines, Oliver Bjorkstrand had a really good fit. Once things go in for him, things will start going his way a little bit more. He’s got one goal now, but that next one is hard to come by,” Hakstol stated.
Brandon Tanev’s shot hit the crossbar of the goal in an unlucky turn of events, before his eventual goal in the third period (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Starting bad habits
While it may only be two games, it is starting to look like the Kraken are beginning some bad habits that may hold them back from the sort of potential that they were showing throughout their five-game winning streak. The penalties are beginning to become an issue for this team. Seattle is wasting great games in net by Martin Jones. The Kraken have to get back to slamming pucks towards the opposing goaltender, something they were doing to start the season. While some of these issues can be fixed when some players get healthy (Jamie Oleksiak going down isn’t ideal, as his presence and ability to bring the puck up the ice are missed), it can all be fixed with their own play. It starts by looking at the man in the mirror, something Brandon Tanev discussed postgame.
“As a group we need to regroup, that wasn’t the resulted that we wanted but we move forward, you learn from this, and get ready to work the next day... At the end of the day, it’s sticking to what we know and playing the right way. As a group, we get better from this.” Tanev said.
Martin Jones has played excellent in net for Seattle, and the Kraken have not been able to support him enough to get him more wins over these past two games (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Quick notes
Jordan Eberle's first-period goal was his first power-play goal of the season and 61st of his career.
With an assist on Eberle's goal, Andre Burakovsky now has seven points (two goals, five assists) in his last five games against Winnipeg dating back to Jan. 6, 2022.
Entering play tonight, the Jets and Kraken were the only two teams in the league with 100% on the penalty kill dating back to Oct. 28th and 29th, respectively.
Brandon Tanev's third-period goal was his third goal in his last four games.
Originally signed by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, this is Tanev's first goal against his former team. He is also the only Kraken player to have played for the Jets.
When Tanev and Yanni Gourde are on the ice together at five-on-five, the Kraken are outscoring their opponents 8-2 according to Natural Stat Trick.
Tonight, Martin Jones made the 400th start of his NHL career. He becomes the 13th active goaltender to start 400 NHL games.
With his assist, Andre Burakovsky extends his team lead in points at 14 (Photo by Liv Lyons)
What’s next?
After a few days of practice, the Kraken will battle the New York Rangers on November 17th at Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle will look to end their current losing streak as they take on a Rangers team that is coming off of an appearance in the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, as puck drop is at 7PM PST. The night is also Hockey Fights Cancer night for Seattle.
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