Last rodeo: Kraken fail to generate enough offense in game seven loss to Stars
By Charles Hamaker
Dallas, TX – To end an almost storybook second season in franchise history, the Seattle Kraken fell in a tightly contested game seven in Dallas against the Stars. Game seven Grubauer made another appearance, keeping his team in the game with numerous big saves and denials. Unfortunately, like many great pitchers for our Mariners, Grubauer couldn’t get any support in terms of the offense in front of him and mistakes eventually were the downfall of the Kraken. Dallas took advantage of a turnover by Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and caught the Kraken defense playing aggressively to result in a two-goal hole that proved insurmountable. A magical season comes to an end for the second-year franchise, an incredible turnaround from being the third-lowest point team in all the NHL. With a largely in-tact core and a bright future in terms of draft capital and prospects in their system, Seattle will be primed to win for years to come.
“You draw a perspective after time, but you got a pretty clear perspective of this group of guys and the type of team and the type of teammates that they are. We pushed as hard as we could push tonight. We couldn’t find our Top Gear and give Dallas a lot of credit in that regard. I thought they answered to a certain degree. They answered the game that we played in Game six. They came home into their home building and put us under pressure. And as you got into that second period, that’s where they tilted the game, their direction.”
On their heels out of the gate
Unlike their games one, three, and six starts, the Kraken failed to get out on the front foot with pressure and physicality against the Stars in this series deciding game seven. Dallas brought the pressure early and often after a small initial surge from Seattle, forcing Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer to make numerous saves while the skaters sacrificed their bodies with numerous blocked shots. On the road, against a deep and talented team like the Stars, it makes sense that Seattle was going to get pushed a bit, but it was disappointing considering the capability of this team displayed throughout these Stanley Cup Playoffs. Although the shot total through the first 20 minutes was tied at nine, the Stars had generated far more dangerous opportunities than the Kraken had and were getting whatever looks that they wanted. It wasn’t at all how you wanted things to begin, but because of Grubauer, things remained scoreless.
Slipping when they needed to hold steady
Two critical mistakes resulted in goals for the Dallas Stars, and those mistakes ended up being the dagger driven into the Seattle Kraken season. The first of those two came as Dallas had been applying merciless pressure to Grubauer, as the goaltender was forced to make numerous big saves in different situations to keep things level as we approached second intermission. Stars defenseman Esa Lindell had cleared a puck from his own zone up the ice, where it found a retreating Jamie Oleksiak. The puck took on odd first bounce, dying upon impact and not sliding to the back-skating Oleksiak, catching the Kraken defenseman off guard. The ball of energy he’s been all series, Roope Hintz had kept an eye on the play and pursued, swooping the puck away from the stick of Oleksiak and wristing a shot past Grubauer all in a few quick motions. A quick play in only a matter of seconds, that unfortunate situation may could have broken the back of Seattle as the game was winding itself towards second intermission and the Kraken were frustrated to not have scored yet.
Seattle pressed on, getting some danger in their opportunities, but nothing was getting by Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger. Despite the goal against, Grubauer remained locked in as the Stars searched for the insurance goal that could get them into the Western Conference final. With seven minutes left, Dallas’ search was over, in a play that went the full length of the ice. Stars forward Evgenii Dadonov retrieved a puck that the Kraken had sent around the boards, finding a teammate down the ice and through a few Seattle skaters. The puck bounced cleanly off the boards to Dallas rookie Wyatt Johnston, who used a wicked backhand shot to sneak up the shoulder of Grubauer and in. Although Seattle forward Oliver Bjorkstrand found a goal with 17 seconds left, Johnston’s score had nailed Seattle into a coffin they couldn’t bust out of. The voyage had ended, running ashore in Big D.
“Yeah, two game sevens. I think we’ve done a great job. I don’t think we came out as good as we did in game six, but we found a way to battle back there. And, yeah, I’m really proud of this group and how we played the whole season and the playoffs and tough pill to swallow, for sure.. ”
Moneypuck.com and NaturalStattrick.com both display how Dallas had the more dangerous opportunities and were able to generate more pressure as opposed to Seattle.
Grubauer can’t generate offense, too
Like he’s been nearly all postseason, Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer did all that he could and more to keep Seattle in this game and give them a great opportunity to win and advance. Game seven Grubauer made his return to excellent form between the pipes, playing in “steal a game mode” like his performance in game seven of the first-round matchup against his former team. The Stars presented an early pressure like what we’ve seen in games four and five, applying heat to the Kraken defenseman pairs and challenging Grubauer often. The Seattle starting netminder did all he could with his glove, blocker, and poke-checking ability to keep the zero on the board while the Kraken attack sputtered out of the gate. Dallas was able to score on two one-on-one opportunities that would be tough for any goaltender to contest, and Seattle failed to respond back on the other end.
Going into year three, any sort of debate or thought about the level of play that Grubauer brings between the pipes for the Kraken needs to be shutdown. While yes, he isn’t the perfect goaltender, he’s been a rock and workhouse in net for Seattle through the first two years of his big contract. The general struggles of the team in year one were lumped into his play by many, which is unfair, but after returning from injury this past season he was fully up to the task. When the team needed him most down the stretch and as the goals dried up from their early season hot stretch, Grubauer delivered and found the next gear. Thoughts that Martin Jones was the starter during a mediocre stretch carried by the Seattle offense were silly, as his underlying numbers were nothing special and Jones was only ever meant to be a stopgap until Chris Driedger returned from injury. Philipp Grubauer, the German Gentleman, has proven he is the starter and fully capable goaltender of this Kraken team, and that’s a good thing.
A heartbreaking end to a hope-filled second season
It’s perfectly normal to feel sad or upset following this game seven loss. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are an incredibly tense, stressful, exhilarating ride and Kraken fans got to experience two full rounds of it in their teams second year of existence. Seattle was more than capable of the success that they achieved, and outside media needed to be shown numerous different ways in which the Kraken could achieve that success. Whether that be a historic sweep of a long road trip, depth that set records, career seasons for players like Vince Dunn, taking down the best teams in the league. Seattle earned the respect of the league repeatedly but was still somehow disrespected by the national media until the Stanley Cup Playoffs began, and even then, were still not treated with the same respect and devoted coverage as other teams. This franchise is trending upwards and was just minutes away from reaching the Western Conference final in only their second year. With that sort of trajectory, Seattle will be hoisting the cup much sooner rather than later.
“Super proud, honestly. We battled super hard all year long. We built something here this year, started last year, but think we took a lot of steps in the right direction this year. Obviously, that’s not the end result. The end result is a little bit further. But super proud of these guys. They battle hard the whole year, and every time we stepped up, we never quit. Young guys stepped up, older guys stepped up. Everyone did. And it’s been a lot of fun playing with these guys.”
“A lot. That’s the first time this group has been to the playoffs, and I think the group got tighter and tighter together. I think Matty said it, we play like a real team, and everybody’s playing for each other, and that’s what made it fun, and we enjoyed those moments. And game seven, even though there’s a lot on the line, we enjoy those, and that’s why we play. And unfortunately, we didn’t win that game today. But you need to go through those moments in order to get strong as a team, to feel their pain in the summer and get back at it for the next season.”
“You know what, had kind of a feeling about this group, really back in training camp, there was a different feel to it. You knew there was something there. Had no idea exactly how or when we’d be able to come together as a group, but absolutely did we grow over the last month? 100%. I guess what really stands out to me tonight, you look at the pain of the veteran guys in that room. One of the things that they have an understanding of, when you’ve got guys that have won Cups and you’ve got guys that have been on playoff runs before, they understand how difficult it is not only to get into the playoffs, but even to get to this point. We’re one win away from having an opportunity to be one of the final four teams playing. So you see that pain in guys, especially in the veteran guys, that really understand how hard it is to get here for the young guys. You mentioned Matty and a couple of the young guys on our roster. That realization is there as well. But you also see the growth in those guys and the importance of the experience that they just went through.”
What’s next?
Seattle heads into only their second offseason ever, with plenty to be happy about and numerous different angles to look at in a positive light. The first order of business that may come to mind could be upcoming free agents, most notable being Vince Dunn who had a career year for the Kraken. Some of the names that Seattle will have to make decisions on include Joonas Donskoi, Carson Soucy, Ryan Donato, Will Borgen, and Daniel Sprong the most likely to be pondered over the most. Awards season will come, with Matty Beniers likely taking home the Calder trophy, and then the NHL Draft will come around in a time that brings potential to add you with selections or the possibility to trade those picks for proven commodities. With mostly the same group coming back, draft capital, and exciting prospects; the future is bright for the Kraken as a franchise.