Kraken continue to show bad habits from inaugural season in 5-1 loss to Hurricanes
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Just a few days after their tough loss to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Seattle Kraken were drubbed again, but this time to the Carolina Hurricanes. The Kraken continue to struggle defensively, without much indication that those issues will be corrected in the immediate future. In the middle of a tough stretch, Seattle will need to find quick fixes in order to not get blown out in their upcoming games.
Carolina got to celebrate goals on five separate occasions (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Same old, same old
Outside of the 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, the Kraken have showed many similar defensive characteristics to their inaugural season. Bad habits linger, whether it’s getting lost in transition, bad turnovers, failing to get in proper lanes, amongst others. The Kraken could be a force if their defense put it together in addition to their newly acquired sharp shooters and power play. Seattle simply continues to show lack of consistent competence, and it will sink their ship if things don’t turn around. Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol discussed the difficulty of making mistakes against good teams like Carolina, postgame.
“You make mistakes against good teams, especially when they put you under pressure, and that’s gonna come back to haunt you, that happened to us tonight. There are several different points in the hockey game where that happened. We took three minor penalties in a row in the middle of the second, what lead to the first one though was a turnover... it’s little thing that got us tonight, against a good team,” Hakstol stated.
Andre Burakovsky leads Seattle in points tallied (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Burakovsky continues his hot start
Offseason signing Andre Burakovsky has already begun to pay dividends for Seattle, now firmly atop the teams point total at this time in the season. The two-time Stanley Cup Champion brings quality finishing and experience to the Kraken, and he has shown that early on, including his power play goal in this game. Just a few seconds into Seattle’s third power play, Jordan Eberle whipped a cross ice past in front of net to Andre Burakovsky. On Canes netminder Frederik Andersen’s weak side, Burakovsky wedged a shot into the small arm to blocker window to tally his 300th career point. Postgame, Burakovsky discussed his offensive contributions to the team.
“I want to make an impact all the time, scoresheet or not. I know that it’s coming on the score sheet, but I need to keep play better too. Handle pucks better, better plays, I think that reflects on everyone and the game today. Same as last game, I think we’re giving the puck away too easily. We gotta be better,” Burakovsky remarked.
Brandon Tanev tries to get around a defender (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Rough stretch ahead
This three game homestand for Seattle doesn’t get any easier as it finishes and then transitions into a road trip with a tough start. The Kraken welcome the St. Louis Blues to town for their next contest, a hockey team that made it to the second round of the playoffs this past year. To begin their road trip, Seattle heads to Colorado to take on the defending champion Avalanche. Things will not get easier for a team trying to figure things out, but the Kraken will have to find a way to piece things together if they want to stand a chance.
What’s next?
The Kraken will play the third and final game of their first homestand of the year on Wednesday, October 19th against the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop is at 7PM PST inside of Climate Pledge Arena, as the Kraken will play another good team. In addition to the game itself, Seattle will be honoring legendary Sue Bird throughout the entirety of the night.