Kraken losing streak extends to nine with tight loss to Kings

By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – The Kraken would see their losing streak extend to nine
games as the LA Kings would beat Seattle in a tight three to one
game. LA got their first two goals off of rebounds that Kraken
goaltender Chris Driedger got the initial save on, but the Kings had
someone in perfect position to tip in. Seattle would get a powerplay
opportunity in the final few minutes with an opportunity to tie, but the
Kraken could not put a real shot on Kings goaltender Cal Petersen.

A positive to take from this game would be the Kraken continuing their
positive momentum on the powerplay. The powerplay was a major
struggle for the Kraken earlier in the season, but since then the team
has crawled into 18th in the league in power play percentage. Seattle
was able to draw four power plays and get eight power play minutes
out of the Kings, converting once. Marcus Johansson would tap in a
rebound off of a slapshot by Calle Jarnkrok to put Seattle on the board
in the second period. That goal would mean that the Kraken have
scored a power play goal in four consecutive games.

The main negative to look at in the loss would be rebound control. If
the first two goals that LA scored had been controlled rebounds off of
saves, we may be looking at a Kraken win instead of a ninth straight
loss. On the other hand, Driedger made good efforts to make that
initial save on both shots. The Kraken defensemen need to be better
at denying opponents from having copious amounts of free space
around their goalie. Outside of the rebound control, the Kraken did a
great job of minimizing turnovers around the net and most of the2
defensive miscues that we have grown accustomed to seeing from
them. Goaltender Chris Driedger would talk about the loss.

“It’s really frustrating being in our situation right now, we’re trying to
get a win… I definitely thought that my game could have been better…
You can never be satisfied; we just need to get to work and get out of
this. Something’s gotta change here, it’s completely unacceptable to
drop nine in a row, there’s no other way to put it.”

The main takeaway from this game would be what captain Mark
Giordano said after the December 31st loss to the Calgary Flames:
This team continues to find new ways to lose. The majority of the
games that Seattle has lost have had bad turnovers, poor passing,
and poor defensive marking in addition to a few others here and there.
The Kraken were able to limit those factors to an extent, enough so
that this game was tight and close with the exception of those rebound
goals. The inaugural season woes roll on, and this group of players
continues to search for ways to right the proverbial ship.

“This is the kind of hockey game that we knew it would be… we
needed to be a little bit more consistent through our lineup. Frustration
isn’t a part of me. I see the areas where we could get a little bit more
out of our group, we could give a little bit more. Until things turn,
offense starts to come a lit bit easier, we’re gonna have to give a little
bit more. Find that extra puck, get that extra rebound.”

Seattle looks to end their nine-game losing streak in their next contest
on Monday, January 17th against the Chicago Blackhawks with a 2PM
puck drop at Climate Pledge arena.