Sinking fast: Kraken drop their eighth-straight with shutout loss to Wild
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – With a shutout loss to the visiting Minnesota Wild, a team that had come into this game having lost their past two contests, the Seattle Kraken saw their losing streak push to eight games. The Kraken played a decent game in this one, generating a few quality opportunities throughout the course of the game but largely on the power play, yet couldn’t manage to beat Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson. Despite holding Minnesota to one goal for the first 52 minutes of the game, a Matt Boldy score that saw him get left all alone with Joey Daccord in the first period, Seattle failed to take advantage of a somewhat erratic squad that also heavily struggles on the power play, and the frustration only gets packed tighter and tighter as we approach the middle of the season.
Pregame player introduction photos, ahead of the Minnesota Wild’s 3-0 victory over the Seattle Kraken. (Photos taken by Liz Wolter)
Starting out with the deficit, for the eighth game in a row
Coming into this game, the Kraken had to be able to remain structured and smart defensively considering that the Wild lead the NHL in goals scored within the first two minutes of a game at this point in the season. Seattle has fared poorly in terms of starting off hot to begin games as of late, so it looked as though the perfect storm was brewing for Minnesota to be able to start this first period strong to give them an early advantage on the road. The Kraken were able to withstand any sort of early push from the Wild to begin the game, but Minnesota was able to get the first score of the game. Just over seven minutes in, the Wild caught Seattle somewhat flat footed and outnumbered, and forward Matt Boldy was able to skate right through the Kraken zone without any sort of resistance. Essentially left alone with Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord on a one-on-one with Kraken defensemen Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson occupied with two Wild skaters, Boldy deked out Daccord and was able to easily tuck home the game's opening goal.
After surrendering the first score of the game, the Kraken were able to go on the man advantage a little over a minute after the goal, and Seattle’s man advantage presented challenges for the Wild. Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand had three different attempts that were dangerous, one just missing the goal by inches, another hitting the post, and the last one getting caught in the side netting. Outside of Bjorkstrand’s attempts on net, Seattle tried to get a seemingly set play going through the crease, and they were getting the puck to get through but were failing to get the shot on the other end of it to either get executed or go past Gustavsson for the goal. The first period ended similar to how so many had for the Kraken this season: it wasn’t a bad first 20 minutes per say, but it should’ve been much better.
First period action saw the Kraken generate some power play chances, but fail to capitalize and it was Minnesota who scored the first goal of this game. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Chances sit in front of Seattle, but they fail to capitalize
The second period largely felt like both teams were going through the motions of an NHL game, with little actually being done to change the score on the board. A little under five minutes into the middle frame, Minnesota nearly doubled their lead as Pat Maroon’s initial shot on an open opportunity saw Joey Daccord make the stop, but the rebound came out to Marco Rossi who had a turnaround effort flung on net hit what appeared to be both posts of the goal but remain out. Seattle was given a gift with that puck finding a way to stay out of the goal, but they weren’t doing much to take advantage of the life that they’d been given by a somewhat dull Minnesota team. The door was wide open for the Kraken to tie this game up and take this contest away from the Wild, but it was almost as if Seattle was wary of even stepping inside that door.
The third period came around, and at first it looked like Minnesota was trying even harder to give the Kraken a lifeline to tie this game up. Joel Eriksson Ek was penalized for tripping, and the Seattle power play came back out once again to no avail. The Kraken got very close, and the effort was nearly a tap in on goal, but Jordan Eberle’s stick gotten tied up in the crease, so the puck nearly found it’s way in but painfully slid away and into the corner. It was the second time where Seattle had come so close and had a golden opportunity sitting there begging to be tapped home, the previous one was where Tye Kartye failed to get it to go, and the Kraken had failed to complete the job. Back in their defensive zone, Seattle netminder Joey Daccord was holding things down and ensuring that the Wild weren’t going to extend their lead as he had to make a breakaway save on Kirill Kaprizov and even stopped a puck by closing his legs as he had laid out during a Minnesota power play, but it was all for naught. The Wild eventually were able to double that lead, as Seattle’s Oliver Bjorkstrand was pickpocketed as he tried to weave through traffic in his own defensive zone, and Marco Rossi’s wrist shot in close range beat Daccord. A final push with Joey taken off the ice fell flat, Minnesota added an empty net goal, and the losing streak was extended to eight games.
“Just believe in what you’re doing, grind away. I mean, it’s gonna be a greasy one to turn this around, and it’s not going to be perfect at all. Those could be the turning points and that’s what we’re looking for, but obviously we’d like to find that complete 60-minute game that hasn’t been there for a while now.”
Seattle Kraken netminder Joey Daccord was strong in tonight’s game, keeping his team in it for as long as he could. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Another winnable game wasted
While all the losses for the Kraken on their current eight-game losing streak have obviously been frustrating, it’s almost as though Seattle is finding ways to make the defeats more and more infuriating. Getting shutout by Minnesota in your home barn is a bad result on its own, but considering the sort of looks that you were able to get on the power play (going scoreless on three of them), how well Joey Daccord played in net, and the pretty decent level of effort that was shown for Seattle, it’s easy to see why so much of the teams fanbase is calling for “extreme” measures that aren’t particularly looking so extreme anymore. It’s getting harder and harder, at least for us, to believe that there will eventually be a game where they’ll break through and find winning ways once again. It isn’t impossible, because the team truly is doing a lot of good at the current moment, but they aren’t checking enough boxes to get the wins, obviously.
“Maybe a little bit everything. I think we just need to be a few more percentages better in each area, I think that could help us. You can’t lose confidence, you gotta keep going. It’s a grind right now. We got to find a way to get out of it and take small steps.”
A physical game throughout, the Seattle Kraken didn’t back down from a larger Minnesota Wild team. (Photos by Liz Wolter)
If you want to be a pessimist, feel free to look at what I’m about to say here. The Kraken just can’t seem to become consistent at anything, no matter what they’re trying to improve upon: they’ll start to turn the corner on a respective issue, another problem will present itself that they’ll need to fix and once that next one is fixed, the prior problem has sprung up once again. The injuries are mounting, with the probability of a lengthy injury to starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer looming, and the call-ups from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley aren’t necessarily bringing a spark to the remaining group. Head coach Dave Hakstol doesn’t seem to be able to find the necessary spark to light this time and get them moving in the right direction, something certain fans think he should be able to do, especially as a finalist for the Jack Adams award last season. The team continues to keep the same sort of mindset about continuing to do what they’re currently doing, but that hasn’t exactly worked for them through 29 games, so why should they continue to do so?
If you want to remain optimistic, look at what I’m about to say here. The Kraken continue to believe that they’re doing all they can to get into a positive stretch, and they’ve maintained that sort of belief throughout this reason “beginning” of the season (As they’re now 29 games into the 2023-24 campaign) including amidst the current eight-game losing streak. The chances are being generated, as shown by the times that Oliver Bjorkstrand was mere inches off on the power play, the pucks that slid through Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson’s crease, and a few other instances that were so close it’s unbelievable that they didn’t find their way in. The goaltending continues to hold up, as Joey Daccord played well tonight, and Philipp Grubauer was yesterday before he had to leave with an injury. While yes, there is a lack of consistency with the effort that this team is showing, they continue to come to work and there are improvements here and there with the issues that they’re facing. This group (At least, a large majority of it) has faced adversity before and burst through the wall that’s held them back. I’d love to bet on them to do so again, especially when they’re able to get some of their players back from injury.
“Well, obviously there’s some parts of our game that’s not there. We’re kind of in a hole right now and it feels hard sometimes.... I don’t know. We’re doing a lot of good things, but the puck doesn’t seem to go into the net, so. Just gotta keep fighting. It’s not easy right now, but we’re gonna keep fighting.”
Quick notes
The three stars of the game tonight were
1: G Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota
2: F Matt Boldy, Minnesota
3: G Joey Daccord, Seattle
The Kraken have conceded the first goal in eight straight games.
This is the first of two times the Kraken will face Minnesota at Climate Pledge Arena this season. The team will close out the series in Minnesota on April 18th to end the 2023-24 regular season.
The Kraken have not allowed a power-play goal against in the last five games they have played at Climate Pledge Arena, going 11-for-11 on the penalty kill during that span.
Brandon Tanev's five blocked shots tonight are the highest among Kraken forwards this season.
Tonight, Brian Dumoulin blocked five shots, his highest in a single game as a member of the Kraken.
Tonight is the second time in franchise history that the Kraken have had two skaters record at least five blocked shots in the same game. Vince Dunn and Haydn Fleury previously did so on Jan. 23, 2022, against the Florida Panthers.
Matty Beniers went 13-for-18 at the faceoff dot tonight. His 13 wins set a single-game career high.
Vince Dunn had four takeaways tonight, to tie his career-high set on Oct. 27, 2017.
Tonight ends the only back-to-back set the Kraken will play this season in which both games will be played at home.
After 29 games this season and 29 games back in their inaugural season (2021-22), the Kraken have the same number of points.
What’s next?
Following tonight’s Seattle Kraken loss to the Minnesota Wild, in the second game of a back-to-back and the third contest in four days for the home side, the Kraken will continue a six-game homestand in two days when they host the Florida Panthers. The Kraken will battle the Panthers for the second time this season, as the first time was in Florida when Seattle fell by a goal that came off an unfortunate bounce off the boards as Joey Daccord when to preemptively play the puck, when they meet on Tuesday, December 12th with a puck drop time of 7PM PST. This game will be broadcast on Root Sports within the local range of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska while it’ll be on ESPN+ and NHLPP nationwide. Against a Panthers team that was in the Stanley Cup Final last season and that’s 5-1-1 in their last seven games played, the Kraken will look to snap their current eight-game losing streak.
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