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.
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.
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.
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.
