Kraken dance with the Devil(s), escaping a cryptid clash with a 4-3 overtime victory
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – A battle between two teams that have impressed this season, and both named after cryptids, resulted in the Seattle Kraken emerging victorious once the ice had settled. Seattle opened the game with an energized effort as Ryan Donato led the way with two goals in the first two frames. New Jersey lurked around, as goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made numerous remarkable saves to keep the Devils within striking distance. A shorthanded goal, and score with their own net empty meant that the Kraken had demons to exercise in overtime. Seattle’s Andre Burakovsky seemed to break out of his current slump, as he slammed the game winning goal home through Blackwood’s five hole.
The Kraken celebrate the game winning goal by Andre Burakovsky (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Donato delivers a dandy
Tonight’s driving force out of the gate was winger Ryan Donato, who flirted with a hat trick as he scored two goals in the first two periods. The Massachusetts born man was on a mission against New Jersey, firing off a career high seven shots on the night. It’s been another “prove it” year for Donato, who is once again on a one-year deal with the Kraken, playing a vital role as one of Seattle’s bottom six forward. While the Kraken will have a key decision to make about the roster once the offseason comes, Donato continues to contribute in different ways and on different lines. But, for the five year veteran, none of that matters in the now. All he can do is go out and prove to the staff, brass, and fans that he belongs, and his scoring is a great way to do that.
Kraken winger Ryan Donato fires off a shot on Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
The veteran wing scored stellar two goals, jumpstarting the Seattle offensive attack after two losses in which they looked exhausted following their historic seven-game road trip. His first goal came on an absolutely laser from the faceoff circle, carrying the puck up from his own defensive zone. Donato gave just the slightest hint of hesitance, opening up some room for his shot to beat Blackwood in net for New Jersey. His second goal began in the neutral zone, as teammate Jared McCann brought the puck up as they had caught the Devils in a change. Donato noted that his passing lane back to McCann was gone, and his resulting shot was a missile past Blackwood’s shoulder. Donato’s excellent night was yet another example of Seattle’s depth, a key component to their success this season. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol discussed his team's depth, postgame.
“Donny, those two goals... that’s the story of our year, right? The story of our team, somebody stepping up and scoring goals at the right time. We had a ton of good opportunities at that point in time, both in tight and some different looks. That first goal was a big one in the hockey game in order to break through, it was a hell of a shot”
Seattle forwards Ryan Donato and Brandon Tanev celebrate after Donato assisted on Tanev’s goal (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Devils claw their way back by taking advantage of sloppiness in the neutral zone
A common theme for this years Kraken squad has been that they are generally solid defensively, but key mistakes here and there tend to allow their opponents back into games. Tonight, Seattle’s critical mistake was not being careful with the puck in the neutral zone. This is something that a team should always be mindful of, taking care of the puck throughout the middle area of the ice, but against a young and fast team like the Devils especially. Seattle played well in most facets on the defensive end, using selfless plays such as laying out to block shots, but the carelessness in the neutral zone is something that we shouldn’t even be having a discussion about.
Kraken forward Brandon Tanev gets down low to block a puck (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
New Jersey’s first goal came as Yanni Gourde failed to get a pass up the ice, Matty Beniers fell trying to push the puck up the boards, and Devils defensemen Damon Severson took advantage of tired legs. Severson practically walked up the ice and beat Seattle goaltender Martin Jones from a ways out, as a Kraken skater screened Jones. The second Devils goal was shorthanded, as Andre Burakovsky tried to get a pass back to Vince Dunn on the Kraken power play, but Dunn never properly received the puck. New Jersey’s Erik Haula took it the other way for an easy breakaway, beating Martin Jones at point blank range. Despite making those mistakes, the Kraken were able to remain resilient and battle back. Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol discussed his team’s character, postgame.
“That’s credit to these guys, the next group up has to go out and push back. To realize the moment of the game, and to be able to push back. We did that, when we gave up the shorthanded goal. In overtime, we had a little bit of patience. We got a good opportunity”
The Devils celebrate a goal as the Kraken look on (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Burakovsky blesses Kraken with a game winner after rough morning
Seattle forward Andre Burakovsky, a coveted free agent signing this past summer, has gone through somewhat of a slump over the course of the past two months. While the points numbers for Burakovsky remain (eleven points over those two months), his goal totals have taken a hit. The Austrian-born skater scored only once in the month of December, and only had two goals in the first month of 2023 heading into tonight. In addition to these subpar statistics, Burakovsky had a rough morning skate ahead of this game between New Jersey and Seattle. Burakovsky missed his placement when the team was working off of plays directly off of the faceoff, resulting in a coach to gesture at him and essentially go “What are you doing?” It was clear that Burakovsky was frustrated, as he was hunched over for most of the morning skate following that and he also had slammed his stick in frustration. Later that day, it seems that all of that frustration was taken out in one shot.
Prior to the overtime period, it wasn’t like Burakovsky had a great game. The top-liner amassed only two shots before overtime, while not producing any other statistics throughout the game vs New Jersey. Once overtime arrived, Burakovsky came on to the ice about a minute in as part of the “second” unit. Burakovsky received the puck back near the blue line, handling around the middle of the offensive zone before deciding that he wanted a better look. He circled back, heading towards the faceoff circle nearest his teams bench. Catching a bit of speed as Devils skater Jesper Bratt scrambled to catch up, Burakovsky slammed a shot off that actually deflected off of Bratt’s stick and through Blackwoods five-hole. Burakovsky pumped his fist in the air triumphantly, washing away any anger and frustration that had taken place earlier in the day. An offensive weapon that affects that game in a wide variety of ways, Burakovsky may be in a bit of a down stretch right now, but his value to the team remains ever present as the Kraken experience a complete turnaround in scoring production compared to last season. Burakovsky reflected on his game winning overtime goal, as he spoke to the media postgame.
“Whoever scores, I’m happy for them and I’m happy for the team. Tonight, I was the lucky guy that got it done in OT. For me, I don’t really focus on shooting mentality, passing mentality. I’m trying to read the game and see who has the best chance to score the goal when we’re on the ice”
Andre Burakovsky yeets a fish postgame (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Kraken have risen from the depths and sit atop (for now) the Pacific Division
It’s known that Seattle’s inaugural team had many flaws, finding different ways to lose games just about every night they hit the ice. The additions of Andre Burakovsky, Justin Schultz, and Martin Jones in free agency gave the Kraken proven veteran’s to add to three different positional areas. The trade for Oliver Bjorkstrand shortly after free agency was widely viewed as a shocker, as Seattle added a winger coming off of his best season with Columbus. The development of Matty Beniers seemed inevitable after his impressive stretch of games to end the season last year. Key contributions from the bottom forwards of Sprong, Geekie, Donato, and now Tolvanen coming from waivers all add to how deep this Kraken team is. While they have had their issues, the defensemen have all played well overall and seem to be improving as the season progresses. All of those storylines and a few more result in this teams dramatic turnaround in play and in the standings, as the Kraken sit atop the Pacific Division after the win over New Jersey. Because of their winning percentage, Seattle are the pride of their division for the first time in their existence.
In order for them to keep that positioning and or remain near the top of the pack, the Kraken will need to continue to get reliable performances from their depth, keep their structure defensively, improve their specialty teams play, and keep their top contributors active. All of that is possible, but it is a long season and anything can happen in our world of sports. With murmurs of the Kraken potentially interested in Canucks forward Bo Horvat and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart, it seems that Seattle general manager Ron Francis sees the teams success and wants to make sure that they ride this momentum into a postseason berth. Something I want Kraken fans to know going forward as we approach All-Star break: the Kraken are just getting started, and they’re going to be fun to watch for years to come.
Kraken forward Matty Beniers looks to win a faceoff against Devils forward Michael McLeod (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Quick notes
With their win tonight, the Kraken have now matched their total wins (27) from the 2021-22 season.
Vince Dunn extends his franchise record-setting point streak to nine games, dating back to Jan. 5 at Toronto. He now has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during that span.
His assist tonight, along with Jack Hughes' assist for New Jersey, leave them tied for league-wide scoring since Jan. 1 (Dunn with five goals, ten assists; Hughes with nine goals, six assists).
He also continues a four-game point streak against New Jersey, scoring one goal and adding three assists during that span (dating back to March 6, 2020).
Tonight marks Ryan Donato's first multi-goal game of the season and second multi-point game of the season.
This is also his fifth career multi-goal game and second as a Kraken (the first occurred on Feb. 11, 2022 at Anaheim).
His two goals give him four points in as many games. He also scored two assists against Chicago on Jan. 14.
Cale Fleury’s assist on Ryan Donato’s goal is the first assist of his career and his first point as a Kraken.
With his assist on Donato's goal, Jared McCann now has 12 points (four goals, eight assists) in his last 12 games played against the Devils. Since last season, he has had four points (one goal, three assists) in three games against New Jersey.
Brandon Tanev's third-period goal marks his ninth of the season. He now has five points in the last six home games and has scored four goals in that stretch, dating back to Dec. 20, 2022 against St. Louis.
With his overtime goal, Andre Burakovsky has ten points (three goals, seven assists) in his last nine games played.
This is his second overtime goal of the season and his first since Nov. 29 at Los Angeles.
He is one of 16 skaters in the league with two overtime goals this season.
Yanni Gourde's assist on Brandon Tanev's goal gets him 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his last 11 games.
The Kraken remain a perfect seven-for-seven on the power-play against New Jersey in the three meetings between the two teams.
Brandon Tanev just barely misses a tap-in goal off of a cross ice pass from Morgan Geekie (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
What’s next?
Seattle will get a day off prior to a Saturday, January 21st meeting with the Colorado Avalanche. The Kraken will host the Avalanche for the first time this season, having previously beaten the team in Colorado when the teams met back in October. Puck drop for this contest is at 7PM PST, as the defending Stanley Cup champions continue their pursuit to regain last season's form, while Seattle looks to take sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division. While the Avalanche are still loaded with talent, whether it be Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, or Mikko Rantanen, Colorado currently sits at fourth place in the Central Division.