By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – The Seattle Kraken fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning by a score of one to four in their March 16th matchup. Pregame, the team honored defenseman and team captain Mark Giordano for playing in 1,000 games. Former Lightning player Yanni Gourde scored the game's first goal just three minutes in to the opening period. After that, it was all Tampa Bay as the Lightning scored four unanswered goals.  

One of the few positive notes to take from the game was captain Mark Giordano being honored for playing in 1,000 games. The first captain in Kraken franchise history was given a silver stick to commemorate the achievement, his teammates bought Giordano a Rolex, and his family was on hand to celebrate. Despite not putting up flashy numbers, Giordano has been a fan favorite ever since he was selected in the expansion draft. It was an interesting night for Giordano, as the morning before the game it was announced that he wouldn’t participate in the game. This comes as no surprise, as Giordano is extremely likely to be traded before the March 21st deadline.  

A glaring negative in this game was that Seattle gave the Lightning, the back-to-back defending champions, six power play opportunities. The Lightning power play has been together for years, winning those two Stanley cup titles in that span. Their chemistry makes the Lightning special teams' unit as dangerous as any in the NHL, and Seattle learned that the hard way. Seattle’s own power play suffered, as despite the Kraken drawing 5 penalties, only one resulted in a goal. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol reflected on the special teams play in the game. 

“Tampa’s gonna get their pushes. We took too many penalties in the first 40 minutes.... first four in the first couple of periods puts you in a tough spot. There was a lot of special teams both ways, so the flow was a little stop and go... that third goal thanks to some mass chaos created some separation for them,” Hakstol reflected.  

The Kraken sit at an awkward point in the season. A trade of captain Mark Giordano has been in the cards for a few months, and now the NHL trade deadline draws near. It was announced the morning of the game that Giordano was being held out of the lineup. No injury, no illness, just held out. Teammate Calle Jarnkrok was traded to Giordano’s former team, the Calgary Flames, just two hours prior to puck drop. With a quality forward being traded hours before a game and the team captain on the move next, the Kraken are in an odd position. Alternate captain Jordan Eberle spoke on the business of the NHL. 

“It’s part of the business. We understand the situation that we’re in, guys are gonna get traded. They're gonna do what's best for the organization. It happens every year, so it should really be no surprise... we’re big boys. It’s a league based on winning, a business based on winning. When you’re not doing that, changes have to be made and you have to do what is best for the organization... at the end of the day, we are still trying to be here. We have 20 games to see who wants to be here,” Eberle stated. 

What Eberle said at the end there should be important to Kraken fans. A player wearing an alternate captain patch, an All-Star this year, stated that he wants to be here and wants to see who else feels the same. Seattle should have a solid core heading into next year hopefully of McCann, Eberle, Gourde, Schwartz. The team will have Matty Beniers up next year and another high draft pick this season. In addition to all that, general manager Ron Francis said that the team expects to be aggressive in free agency. The tools for the Kraken to be successful next season are available. They just need to be used correctly. 

Seattle’s next matchup is March 19th against the Detroit Red Wings at Climate Pledge Arena, with a 7PM PST puck drop.  Detroit currently sits at a 24-29-7 record, sitting at fifth in the Atlantic division. While Dylan Larkin leads the Red Wings in points, rookie Moritz Seider is the player to watch. The rookie defenseman leads Detroit in assists and is the leading candidate for the NHL rookie of the year trophy, known as the Calder trophy.

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