Kraken fall victim to bad bounce, lose to Winnipeg in final minute
The Kraken managed to keep pace Thursday night against the best in the West, the Winnipeg Jets. Seattle watched the clock tick down, almost assured of at least one standings point.
Then a stroke of luck and quick reaction 27 seconds before overtime secured the Jets a regulation win, 2-1.
A routine Adam Larsson clear up the boards hit something and the puck jumped out toward center ice, and Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. Pass recipient Dylan DeMelo’s shot made its way through a thick screen and past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord (34 saves).
“It sucks. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Kraken center Matty Beniers said. “But you’ve got to forget about it and move on. You’ve got to build off the way you were playing.”
That included a better-than-usual start, where the Kraken actually outshot the Jets 11-8, followed by a less satisfactory second period and a perfectly fine third. It was almost great. Ninety-nine times out of 100, Larsson’s clear continues up the boards.
“I thought we battled with them tooth and nail,” coach Dan Bylsma said.
Daccord appeared in all five games of the Kraken’s 2-3 road trip. He started three, including both victories.
“Probably doesn’t have a chance on the last one, because he can’t see it,” Bylsma said. “Pretty much everything else, he turned to the side. He was real strong in there.”
Due in part to where the Kraken (19-24-3) are in the standings, they don’t get every team’s marquee goaltender. The Jets (31-12-3) are happy to let defending Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck handle an old-school workload, however. Hellebuyck had played the most games in the league as of Thursday with 35. He led the league in the three biggies — goals-against average (1.99), save percentage (.929) and shutouts (six).
It took a special sequence from the Kraken’s hottest line to beat him. Jaden Schwartz chipped a puck, with impressive accuracy and hang time, up the ice to linemate Kaapo Kakko, who in turn put a precise pass onto Beniers’ stick. Just shy of the goal line, Beniers elevated the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Kakko picked up the primary assist, his 10th point (four goals, six assists) in 13 Kraken games since he was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers. In more than twice as many games with the Rangers earlier this season, he had the same number of goals and just four more helpers.
He’s playing on Seattle’s top line and averaging more than three additional minutes of ice time per game.
“I like to play with those two guys. It’s been good to be playing a lot,” Kakko said. “I feel pretty good right now. Just need to keep going and hopefully get a couple wins.”
The potential winning goal was on Andre Burakovsky’s stick after he was sprung on a breakaway by Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn. He tried to squeeze the puck past Hellebuyck’s glove but the shot was saved.
The Kraken looked to be carefully staying on the straight and narrow Thursday. A lazy swat or stick between the legs could summon the Jets’ power play, which was a distant first in the league at 32.3% efficiency. That unit finally got to go out midway through the second period and Mark Scheifele scored 30 seconds into the man advantage to tie the game at 1.
It was a bad night for Seattle to be missing a top penalty killer. Winger Brandon Tanev was ruled out due to illness. Tye Kartye, who was scratched in favor of John Hayden during the Kraken’s last game in Pittsburgh, went back in for Tanev.
The Kraken took the Jets to overtime in their only other meeting this season Oct. 24 at Climate Pledge Arena. Beniers scored twice in that one, but the Kraken fell 4-3.
Nine of the Kraken’s next 10 games are Climate Pledge Arena, starting Saturday when the Los Angeles Kings are in town.
Note
It’s just over four hours from first-year Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell’s Saskatchewan hometown, but Winnipeg has the closest NHL team. Dozens of Campbell’s friends and family were in attendance. She told KHN it was her nephews’ first NHL game.