Kraken beat Blackhawks in shootout to snap losing streak
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Seattle Kraken were able to snap their losing streak at nine games as they beat the Chicago Blackhawks in a shootout. The contest was tight throughout, but the Kraken were able to tie it up in the third period to send the game to overtime. In the shootout, Kraken goaltender Philip Grubauer made two huge saves to set up the winning goal, scored by Joonas Donskoi.
A positive from today’s game would be that the Kraken’s fight to stay in games paid off for the first time in ten contests, as Seattle was finally able to pull through and finish a team off. The win against the Blackhawks would be the first victory after trailing going into the third period this season. Ryan Donato would score the game tying goal with 2:02 left in the final period, setting up a dramatic finish. Donato would speak on the win, with a smile on his face.
“It’s very relieving. Sometimes when things get tough, you kinda forget what it’s like to have good things happen. Tonight, things are great, hopefully we can get some steam off of that and keep it rolling,” Donato would remark when asked about how it feels to not only win, but to also have a key impact on the win. In addition to the game tying goal, Donato would score one of the two Kraken penalty shots.
The other positive in this game would be an individual feat. Joonas Donskoi would finally break through and score for the first time this season, putting away the winning penalty in the shootout. Donskoi would score in his 38th appearance this season, but the timing of his first goal was impeccable. After the game, Donskoi would reflect on the moment.
“That felt really good. The will of this team, everybody wanted to win and now we’re trying to build a winning streak. It’s a massive win. When you keep losing games, it gets frustrating. At times during that streak, it felt like no matter how hard we tried, we weren’t able to get wins. It’s a little bit of a relief and I am sure that we are going to get some energy from this moving forward,” Donskoi would reflect.
As stated by Donskoi, this was a big win for the team. Already in a frustrating season, the Kraken losing streak only made matters even more difficult for a group that is still trying to figure things out. Similar to the loss to the Kings, this game was played tight with tough defense and limited offensive opportunities. These sorts of games are what was predicted for Seattle with the way that the roster was made up. Tough, gritty games that saw good defensive performances, good goaltending, and scoring with a little help. If the team keeps this formula going, with a consistently improving power play, the Kraken should see continued success.
The Kraken get their chance to build off their positive momentum in their next game on Thursday, January 20th against the San Jose Sharks with a 7PM PST puck drop.