By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – On Martin Luther King Jr Day 2023, the Seattle Kraken saw their historic winning streak end at eight games as the Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled the short homecoming. Following seven games over the course of 13 days and the pedigree of the opposition, Seattle was visibly slower and less explosive compared to the juggernaut we saw on the road trip. All things considered, the Kraken put up a solid fight against a Tampa Bay team that has won two of the last three Stanley Cups, but it was ultimately critical defensive issues that nailed Seattle’s coffin shut. One thing remains apparent for a Kraken team gunning to make a playoff appearance in the second year of their existence: they must find consistency defensively if they want to take things to another level.  

Kraken attack tries to wade through muddy waters, to no avail

Following an eight-game streak that saw Seattle’s attack score four or more goals in every outing but one, the Kraken simply looked like they ran out of juice against Tampa Bay. Seattle was held to 23 shots today, 11 of those coming in the final period when the Kraken were just trying to fling pucks on net. While playing against Vezina trophy winning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy certainly didn’t help, the Kraken had trouble breaking into Tampa Bay’s offensive zone and could not generate clean looks. The only score of the day for Seattle came off a bomb of a shot from the blue line that deflected off a Lightning defenseman. The scorer of that goal, Vince Dunn, discussed his team's offensive effort postgame.  

Wrong places at the wrong times

For most of this contest, the Kraken were able to make up for the occasional error that they made defensively, with effort and active sticks. But two key and untimely mistakes ended up dooming Seattle, as the other two Tampa Bay goals were empty netters with time ticking down. The first notable mistake was by Jamie Oleksiak, who was caught out in no-man's land as two Lightning skaters had free real estate in the Kraken high danger area. An Ian Cole puck from the blue line in period one was tipped in easily by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, who was left wide open as Oleksiak seemed to have forgotten his assignment. The second came a little under seven minutes into the third period, as Vince Dunn turned the puck over to Nicholas Paul right next to the Kraken goal, and Dunn even screened his own goaltender as Paul slotted the puck home. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol discussed his team's areas to improve. 

Seattle fails to contain Lightning in a bottle

While the Kraken had issues with zone entry throughout the vasty majority of the game, Seattle did have opportunities scattered throughout the 60 minutes that were just inches away from resulting in Lithium being played through Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken had three big rebound opportunities against Andrei Vasilevskiy, but outstanding saves by the Vezina trophy winning netminder denied Seattle the sweet sounds of their goal horn. Playing against a team with the caliber of talent and pedigree of winning such as Tampa Bay, scoring grimy, greasy goals is something that the Kraken would have had to accomplish in order to secure victory today.

Specialty teams show potential on both ends

In a somewhat promising display, the Kraken specialty teams units showed good things in the matchup against Tampa Bay. Going up against the Lightning’s second ranked power play and ninth ranked penalty kill, Seattle held their own. When you overlook the Kraken stats on specialty teams, their rankings could be far better and their certainly is work to do, but there has been a gradual improvement that’s been visibly noticeable. Another factor into this team growing and improving as a group is seeing improved specialty teams play for extended stretches of time, not just here and there.

The power play came out three times against the Lightning, and while it was disappointing that Seattle was not ultimately able to cash in, the Kraken had multiple good looks. It is still an area of improvement for Seattle, but seeing the looks and near misses that the Kraken have been getting it seems as though results are on the horizon. On the penalty kill, Seattle was able successfully shut down two opportunities for the Lightning with the man advantage. Active sticks, keeping their structure, and being in the right place at the right time helped keep one of the top power plays in the league off the board.

Grubauer does his part, but play in front of him again leaves him out to dry

Starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer, someone that we could’ve made an educated guess was starting but weren’t sure about until warmups because Dave Hakstol elected not to tell media, played another rock solid game. The Lightning gave the Kraken an early punch, pelting Seattle with shots. Grubauer saw a total of 15 shots in the period, many of them coming within the first few minutes. We’ve discussed how the two goals happened earlier, so there’s no need to re-hash them here. The point I am trying to make when I continue to bring up goaltender performances, whether it be Grubauer or Jones in net, is that outlets telling you that goaltending being this teams big issue are wrong.

The Kraken have gotten solid performances from Philipp Grubauer nearly every outing since his return from injury earlier in the season. Martin Jones, a rental while Chris Driedger returns to health after tearing his ACL back in June, has provided this team with incredible durability and performance over the span of his time with the team. Neither of those two, Grubauer or Jones, are what holds this team back from a greater potential as a group. Not getting consistent performances from the defensive pairings and even defensive play as a whole are what this team needs to correct. There’s been an obvious change in the effort that Seattle shows on a night to night basis in terms of blocking shots, keeping sticks active. But, lapses such as allowing free men in the crease and turning the puck over around your own net are one way tickets to instant consequence.

Reflection on the historic road trip

All things considered, the Kraken and their fans should be very proud of the run that the team just went on. There are a few factors that need to be remembered when thinking about this game including; Seattle’s lack of rest, Tampa Bay already being a tough team to play against, the Kraken potentially looking ahead to tomorrow’s game against the Oilers. It needs to be acknowledged that the win streak was going to end eventually, and having it end in this odd part of the schedule against a team that’s been champion of the Eastern Conference for the last three years. It’s tough to see the streak end, but this team is still in a good position going forward. What you should take from this game is this; the Kraken are a good hockey team, but they still have room to grow. The Kraken aren’t run ashore, they’ve just hit a tough wave after weathering a brutal storm at sea. They have a little under half their regular season voyage still to trek through, but their vessel seems well equipped to bring them to their destination.

Quick notes

• Vince Dunn’s third-period goal gives him points in seven consecutive games for the first time in his career. His seven-game point streak tied him with Jordan Eberle and Adam Larsson for the longest individual point streak in franchise history.

  • Dunn now has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his last 13 games dating back to Dec. 18 vs. Winnipeg.

  • According to NHL PR, he becomes the sixth defenseman this season with a point streak of at least seven games, joining five other skaters: Filip Hronek (11 GP), Erik Karlsson (10 GP), Josh Morrissey (10 GP), Oliver Ekman-Larsson (7 GP) and Adam Fox (7 GP).

• With his assist on Dunn's goal, Adam Larsson now has three points in as many games.

  • He has scored a point in 11 of the last 14 games, dating back to Dec. 18 against Winnipeg.

• Jared McCann's four takeaways set a career-high. Previously, his best was three takeaways in a game, which he reached on eight different occasions since 2015.

• Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 of 29 shots on goal, finishing the game with a 93.1% save percentage. 

What’s next?

Immediately following the loss to the Lightning, the Kraken had to get back on the road as they will play the second game of a home-away back-to-back. Seattle heads to Edmonton for a divisional battle against the Oilers at Rogers Place with a puck drop of 6PM PST. The Kraken will look to get back to their winning ways in another difficult contest, facing off against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

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