Kraken get huge bounce back 5-2 win over Capitals
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Kraken were finally able to snap their losing streak
after a rebound victory against the Washington Capitals. A strong
performance by the defensive units and Philipp Grubauer was aided
by a three goal second period, giving Seattle two points and their fifth
victory on the season.
Backed by the loud crowd within Climate Pledge arena, the Kraken
were able to overcome another first period goal, this time by Tom
Wilson. On a powerplay late in the opening period, Jaden Schwartz
would find Jared McCann to equalize the game at one goal apiece.
The Capitals would get a powerplay opportunity to start the second,
but the Seattle defense would stand tall and hold Washington off the
scoreboard. The Kraken response would be three goals in the span of
seven minutes and 34 seconds.
Marcus Johansson brings the puck along the boards (Photo by Megan Connelly)
The first of those three would be a Jaden Schwartz tap in on a
delayed penalty, with Philipp Grubauer pulled in exchange for another
skater. Adam Larsson would follow that goal up with a tap in courtesy
of the Yanni Gourde assist on a two on one situation. To add
insurance, Calle Jarnkrok would score his first goal as a member of
the Kraken with a blazing shot that would get past former Seattle
goaltender Vitek Vanecek in the top right corner of the net for a 4-1
lead.
Alex Ovechkin would score with 16:51 to go in the third, bringing the
game within two. Washington would get several opportunities to bring 2
themselves back, with icing calls and two power plays. The Seattle
defensive lines and goaltender Philipp Grubauer would hold strong
with several blocks from the defensemen and great saves by
Grubauer. Yanni Gourde would add the finishing touch with an empty
net goal as the clock went under 30 seconds, and the Kraken would
be able to celebrate a win for the first time in seven games.
Seattle’s Jeremy Lauzon looks on as Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin of Washington look for the puck (Photo by Megan Connelly)
The crowd was loud all night, supporting their team just like they had a
few nights ago when the score was seven to zero. Head coach Dave
Hakstol and several players spoke about the fans, as well as how it
felt to get the bounce back win in the post-game press conference.
“The atmosphere in our building also stays with you, how much
support we had two nights ago on a real crappy night and then to be
able to come out tonight and do what we could to try to reward the
people up there,” remarked Hakstol.
Starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer spoke about the support of the
fans in Climate pledge through the bad and good moments so far this
season, saying “We were down 7-0 and the fans cheered us on. And
it’s incredible, like, I’ve been in places where they throw beer cans at
you.”
Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak looks to clear the puck out of his own defensive zone (Photo by Megan Connelly)
“I think it was a team effort. We did a lot of things right that we haven’t
been doing, Grubi played unreal tonight, and we scored on our
chances. I thought that we were pretty solidly defensively, penalty kill
was good, we did a lot of good things today,” recalled defenseman
Adam Larsson.
It was a game that did not seem like bounce back material on paper
for the Kraken, playing the team with the third most points in the 3
league. A team that features Alex Ovechkin, a player that continues to
make history and who already is one of the greatest to ever put on a
pair of skates. Those factors, plus bringing a six-game losing streak to
try and beat that team did not give Seattle good odds. Seattle came
together as a group and took care of business, and this may be a win
that we look at down the line as a stepping stone for greater team
success.
Seattle’s Jaden Schwartz tries to track down the puck from Washington’s Martin Ferhervary (Photo by Megan Connelly)
Seattle’s next game is Wednesday, November 24th against the
Carolina Hurricanes at Climate Pledge arena with a 7PM PST puck
drop.