The Good, the bad, and the ugly: Notes from Kraken at Predators, October 12th, 2023
By Charles Hamaker
Nashville, TN – The Seattle Kraken have started out the season with back-to-back losses, and there are obvious good and bad notes to take away from those two games. While not off to quite the hot start the fanbase may have hoped for given last season's success and the subsequent hype that’s built around the team this offseason, the Kraken have shown positive characteristics through these first two contests. Unfortunately, and largely by their own fault, though, the issues that Seattle has had outweigh any of the positive signs of progress that they’ve shown. It is still early in the 2023-24 NHL season, but if the issues that the Kraken are struggling with aren’t corrected, Seattle is in for a disappointing third season.
The good: Philipp Grubauer and the penalty kill
Starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer has been excellent for the Kraken in these first two games of the season, amassing 3.1 goals saved above expected (good for second in the NHL) and a WAR (Wins above replacement) of 0.52 (also good for second in the NHL.), showing his incredible play on the stats. Seattle’s poor defensive play, largely mistakes that they’ve made as opposed to overall bad play, have left Grubauer out to dry in Vegas and on the two goals that the Predators scored tonight. The German Gentleman has been able to keep his team in these two games to the best of his ability, but it’s been hard considering the lack of offensive production that the Kraken have seen through these two games. Hopefully Grubauer isn’t given too big of a workload and his offense is able to give him some support so that his stellar play can continue.
The team's penalty kill has been excellent through two games, going against two different power plays in these first two contests of the season. Vegas’ has some history to it and proven success, and Seattle was able to take care of that onslaught and deny the Golden Knights on four different occasions with a man advantage. The Predators power play wasn’t great last season and is different this year, but no less the Kraken kill took care of business. Special teams is obviously going to be critical if this team wants to go further than it did last season, and the way that this kill is playing so far is a good sign. The other special team unit could learn a thing or to, but that’s a different story we’ll talk about in a little bit.
The bad: Seattle gets shut out
It was noted last loss, just two days ago, but the Kraken’s struggles to get on the board is a tad bit concerning. The only difference in tonight’s effort was that the team got shutout here in Nashville, as opposed to getting on the board thanks to Jared McCann’s top shelf goal in Las Vegas. Some on social media have said things along the lines of this team being a different team than the one that beat the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, and that’s just a silly statement due to the fact that this is early season and that was the postseason, so don’t be that fan. The Kraken have generated some strong chances in both of their first two losses but have fallen apart somewhat as the games have gone on. Things especially went downhill in this loss to the Predators, after that shorthanded goal by Nashville, as the team itself fell apart like a Nature Valley bar. We’ll note it again because it feels like the team is on the cusp, veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare has stated that the team needs to trust in its system and things will come to them. We’re going to agree with the savvy veteran, because the Kraken have shown positive offensive signs.
And, the ugly: All but one power play, and undisciplined play
Plain and simple, this team is bad on the power play right now. Seattle only had two opportunities with the man advantage in this loss to the Predators, and they looked vastly different, but the bottom line is that the Kraken have struggled mightily in that situation. This isn’t something new, it dates all the way back to year one, and while the common talk around the power play is that those units develop with time, how bad the Seattle man advantage has been is concerning. The first power play that the Kraken got, in the second period, saw the Predators dominate the puck and clear it at will, and then the eventual short-handed goal. The second and last power play of the night saw Seattle dominate and pepper Nashville with shots, but Saros continued to make great saves while the killers blocked numerous shots. There was some definite positive in that second power play, and here is to hoping that the Kraken carry that into their next man advantage.
The Kraken have never really been a team to lose its composure or fall apart because of something that took place in the game. That changed tonight, as Seattle couldn’t seem to lock back in after that short-handed goal. The Kraken had the ability to come back into this game considering the play of their goaltender, but the offense struggled to get anything past Saros in net despite hemming in the Nashville skaters in their own zone on multiple occasions. It seemed a bit as though Seattle seemed distracted or more focused on the officials after Adam Larsson was hit in the face in the third period that eventually led to the delayed penalty and second goal for the Predators. They didn’t seem like the team that had relentless waves of depth last season, and again that is in part due to the fact that it’s early in the season. But, seeing them not keep composure was different and not something that can continue.
What’s next?
Following a second consecutive loss to open up the 2023-24 season, the Kraken will finish off a three-game road trip when they battle the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, October 14th. That game will be available to watch on Root Sports, with a puck drop of 5PM PST as Seattle is looking to spoil at least one of the three home openers that they will participate in on this road trip, as St. Louis returns to their home of the Enterprise Center having lost their first game of the season, a shootout in Dallas tonight. One of these teams will have to get its first win of the season, and obviously we’re hoping that it’s the Kraken, looking to put the positives that they have displayed in these first two games and execute them fully to produce a victory. It will be interesting to see if Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol will run goaltender Philipp Grubauer out for a third straight game to open the season, or if Joey Daccord will get the net in St. Louis.
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Check out our previous Seattle Kraken articles here
Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here
Thumbnail photo by George Walker IV