Seattle Kraken fall in overtime to slumping New Jersey Devils
The Kraken could only shake a single standings point out of the slumping New Jersey Devils, falling 3-2 in overtime at Prudential Center on Wednesday night. Seattle is 1-1-1 so far on a five-game road trip.
The score remained 2-all, from early in the second period until 3-on-3 overtime. That’s when New Jersey took over and Nico Hischier scored his second of the night.
He took advantage of a Kraken player swap and sped down the ice along the benches with Matty Beniers hurrying to cut him off. Beniers got there, but couldn’t stop Hischier from maneuvering the puck around goaltender Philipp Grubauer (22 saves).
“Not to be negative, but I don’t think we really even deserved to win that game,” Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn said. “We came out hard in the third and played a little bit better, but honestly, we kind of let them come at us. And that’s not what we need to do, trying to get wins right now.”
The Devils’ .800 win percentage in post-regulation games is the best in the NHL. The Kraken fell to 5-5 in games decided in overtime this season, and have dropped two in a week. They’re 1-4 in shootouts.
It was a close game, but not an intense one by any means. Dunn thought the Kraken’s defensive zone play was “pretty decent.” But the offense lacked punch.
“Over the first 40 minutes, I thought we were slow,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “I can probably count at least six or seven times when we passed the puck into our own zone instead of driving into their zone with it.”
Fifty-four seconds into the game, New Jersey’s Cody Glass won a faceoff and went to the Kraken net to wait for Dougie Hamilton’s rebound to roll off Grubauer’s leg pad. Glass made it 1-0.
Eight minutes later, Seattle winger Jared McCann slowed down after crossing the New Jersey blue line and surveyed his options. The first pass attempt didn’t make it through, but defenseman Adam Larsson was pinching in behind him and eager to sling a shot into the net of the team that drafted him fourth overall in 2011.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period, a minute and a half apart. Devils leading goal-scorer Hischier made it 2-1 on a slap shot from well out, 23 seconds into a Ben Meyers holding call.
Glass was then whistled for roughing up birthday boy Berkly Catton — the Kraken rookie turned 20 on Wednesday. Just five seconds into that Seattle power play, Dunn’s stick shattered in his hand as he fired on net. Dunn got enough on it, though, and McCann made quick work of the rebound.
The teams only meet a couple of times per season, but when they do, the Devils have enjoyed consistent success. New Jersey has won six straight games against the Kraken dating back to the 2022-23 season, and the Devils have still never lost to the Kraken in regulation (7-0-2). The Devils remained perfect at home against Seattle, as both post-regulation losses came at Climate Pledge Arena.
According to the league, heading into the game, the Devils owned an all-time points percentage of .875 against the Kraken. That was the third best among all franchises, behind only the Tampa Bay Lightning (.937; 7-0-1) and the Dallas Stars (.892; 12-1-1).
This looked like Seattle’s night to check Prudential Center off the list, as the Devils are in a lengthy slump. The win over the Kraken was their eighth in 23 games since Nov. 29.
“They were a little better than we were, but they weren’t significantly better,” Lambert said. “We potentially left something on the table in that hockey game.”
That said, Seattle bagged at least one standings point again, something they’ve done in 12 of 13 games dating to Dec. 20.
Grubauer made 20 saves in a 4-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Monday. He became the first Kraken goalie to earn back-to-back starts since before Christmas. The Kraken kicked off another back-to-back in New Jersey, though, and Joey Daccord will almost certainly start Thursday against the Boston Bruins.
Grubauer might have earned the nod due to his much longer resume against the Devils. He was 5-4-0 in nine games with a .916 save percentage, while Daccord has absorbed two of those aforementioned Kraken road losses, and that’s it. Boston native Daccord has a 2-1-0 record with a save percentage of .934 against the Bruins.
It will be an emotionally charged night at TD Garden, as the Bruins will retire Zdeno Chara’s No. 33 before the game. The 6-foot-9 Slovak defenseman won the Norris Trophy in 2009 and captained Boston to its most recent Stanley Cup in 2011.