By Charles Hamaker

Seattle, WA – Coming into tonight’s contest, the Seattle Kraken had never beaten their rivals to the North, the Vancouver Canucks, through six meetings in Seattle’s existence. A team that has seen vast change in numerous ways, the Kraken put their foot (or tentacle) down and annihilated the Canucks in a six goals to one performance. Seattle jumped out to a two-goal lead throughout the first frame, dominating possession and pinning Vancouver deep in their own zone. Seattle tacked on three more goals in period two, effectively putting the game to bed with 20 minutes still to play. With the win, the Kraken have climbed back into the first overall spot in the Pacific Division.

Oliver Bjorkstrand may be finding his groove

Oliver Bjorkstrand has had the “snake bitten” label all over him for the entirety of the 2022-23 season with Seattle, having near miss after near miss plague him. Underlying numbers have shown that the former Columbus Blue Jacket has still performed well for the Kraken, but he just might be turning a corner. Bjorkstrand was feeling his game early, scoring the first goal of the night on a juicy rebound thanks to a shot by Adam Larsson. Bjorkstrand, while falling backwards, fired away instantly and beat a sprawled-out Spencer Martin top shelf.  

Bjorkstrand’s second goal was one of a few examples of tremendous puck cycling by Seattle in this contest. The puck touched the defensemen pairing of Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson, went back to the blue line for Yanni Gourde, back to Larsson down low on the block to find a wide open Bjorkstrand. Excellent passes sliced through whatever semblance of structure that Vancouver had defensively without much resistance, and Bjorkstrand was left all alone to walk in and beat Canucks goaltender Spencer Martin far corner. Bjorkstrand celebrated with an emphatic fist pump after his second goal, as he likely had some sense of gratification for all of the hard work and near misses he had dealt with earlier in the season. Bjorkstrand discussed how he felt about his current run of form, postgame with the media.

Wave after wave of goals wash over the Canucks

The Kraken imposed their will against Vancouver, showering the Canucks with waves of goals, courtesy of their depth. Five Seattle skaters scored goals and ten of them recorded a point in a complete all-around effort. All six Kraken goals came from the two middle lines, as the entire second line and two thirds of the third line found the back of the net. It’s a point that has been hammered more than Vancouver’s Luke Schenn after his fight tonight with Seattle’s Jamie Oleksiak; Seattle’s depth throughout their lineup has been so key to their sustained success in their sophomore season. No goal scorer is too much like the other, each skater having a different way that they attack the net.

Ryan Donato used a filthy back hander tonight to continue his impressive run of the form towards the end of January. Alex Wennberg scored on a tap in off of some excellent passing and great usage of the bumper position on the power play. Eeli Tolvanen also benefited from excellent passing, but he clapped home a bomb to score, a signature for the Finnish forward. Oliver Bjorkstrand, mentioned earlier, benefited from that aforementioned passing but also had a nose for the puck tonight, cleaning up a rebound. Finding diversity in the way that they score is a critical objective for the Kraken, as in some of their losses they have seemed to stick to only a few ways to score and haven’t been able to take advantage of what the opposition gives them. Oliver Bjorkstrand discussed how key the teams depth is, postgame with the media.

Jared McCann scores the third goal of the night (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)

Specialty teams reach near perfection

If you’ve been following us on social media and have seen our specialty teams stats post on Kraken gamedays, you know that Seattle’s power play and penalty kill haven’t exactly seen sustained success this season. Both units have seen mixed success throughout the first half of the season, but neither has really been consistently good. Tonight, granted that they were playing the NHL’s worst penalty kill and a middling power play, Seattle was excellent on their specialty teams units. Nearly halfway through the first period, the Kraken headed to the power play and were able to show off a new tool. It isn’t new to the game of hockey, but rather new in the sense that finally Seattle is utilizing their bumper in more ways than one on the man advantage. Seattle saw high tip in attempts, passing to the flanks, and passing to a man down on the block all throughout the first two Kraken power play attempts. Seeing continued creativity and versatility out of the bumper position on the power play will be huge if the Kraken want to see their power play improve.

Seattle’s penalty kill was a sparkling five for five on the night, including killing off a double minor which was drawn by Brandon Tanev for roughing. The Kraken penalty kill ranks 31st worst in the NHL, but lately it doesn’t quite feel like that. A big reason for that has been Brandon Tanev, who I could argue has been Seattle’s most important penalty killer in the teams current month of January. Tanev has been praised by Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol for his effort, and that was shown tonight on multiple occasions. Timely poke checks, disruptions, and just general chaos causing by Tanev have been crucial towards Seattle wiping away the man advantage for their opposition. Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn discussed the penalty kill and why it’s in such good form lately, postgame.

Beating their boogeyman

For far too long (six games spanning over a season and a half), the Vancouver Canucks have been Seattle’s boogeyman. Even with how both teams were last season, you’d have thought that the Kraken would have gotten one win against the Canucks. In two games earlier this season, as Seattle has vastly improved from their inaugural season club, the Kraken could not solve Vancouver. It seemed that there was a curse on Seattle, or it was a really bad case of teams from this city playing down to their opponents which is something that happens far too often. With a perfect storm coming into town as the Canucks are in need of direction, especially so after firing Bruce Boudreau, the Kraken were finally able to get the deed done. Seattle played their game, using depth on all four forward lines, pushing the pace, rock solid defenseman play (especially from the Dunn-Larsson pairing), and keeping their goaltender active yet clean.

Beniers injury a negative in the win

One of the lone negatives in this game for the Kraken was young forward and Calder trophy favorite Matty Beniers having to leave due to a head injury. Although it is being listed as an “upper body” injury, the likelihood that Beniers suffered his current injury on a play in the second period. Vancouver’s Tyler Myers blindsided Beniers, drawing an interference penalty. The hit from the 6’8” Canucks defenseman sent Beniers flying, bouncing his head on the ice like a basketball. Beniers was somehow allowed to come back into the game just two minutes later, getting in a few more shifts before he was ultimately pulled from the game and did not participate in the third period. The hit was far away from the puck, reckless, and just downright unacceptable. Myers should be hit with some punishment by the league’s health and safety department, but considering that the department failed to punish Ryan Lomberg for a dirty hit on Seattle’s Justin Schultz, I have doubts. The injury has not been officially prescribed yet, but one has to think it’s a concussion. It comes at a poor time, as if there is any “good” time for an injury, as Beniers was set to participate in this years NHL All-Star game to represent the Kraken. Here’s to hoping that Matty heals up fast.

Back atop the Pacific Division

With the win and by way of a tiebreaker with Las Vegas, the Seattle Kraken are once again atop the Pacific Division. The win puts Seattle past both their point total for last season as well as number of wins from the inaugural year. The Kraken have shown that their red hot month of November was just a fluke stretch run. Many different things have transpired since that month, including several long road trips (historic ones, at that), player injuries and much more. Yet, Seattle pushes on with the depth that they have and they continue to play selfless hockey. While the current stretch has been somewhat rough with injuries to a few names, primarily sustained ailments to Jaden Schwartz and Justin Schultz, Seattle has still found a way to push on. The resiliency, ability and willingness to learn and adjust, and the chemistry of this team tell me that this group has building blocks in place to make noise in the NHL playoffs. We still have quite a ways ago, but these are characteristics and traits that are built upon during the regular season. Hockey is fun in Seattle, and we’re only in year two. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol discussed having “fun” as well as if he takes any pride in the milestone of surpassing last seasons win total at this point in the season.

Quick notes

• Tonight marks the Kraken's first franchise victory against the Canucks. With the win, Seattle surpassed their win (27) and point (60) totals from last season

• The Kraken have not allowed a power-play goal for five consecutive games going a perfect 11-for-11 during that span. Tonight marks the second time this season that they did not allow a power-play goal for five or more straight games. Seattle previously went six straight games from Oct. 29 to Nov. 11 without allowing a power-play goal.

  • This is also the fourth time this season the Kraken have converted on the power play at least twice in a game. The last time the Kraken scored at least two power-play goals was Nov. 29 against Los Angeles. 

• Tonight marks the fifth time this season the Kraken have scored six or more goals in a game. Seattle is 20-3-2 when scoring first this season.

• Jared McCann's second-period goal was his 50th goal as a Kraken player. He is the first player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

  • His three points tonight match his career-high for points in a game. According to NHL PR, this is his second three-point game of the season (first was on Jan. 14 at Chicago), trailing only Andre Burakovsky for most among all Kraken skaters.

  • With his goal and two assists, McCann notched his tenth point (four goals, six assists) in the last nine games against his former team. He has now scored at least a point in eight of the last nine games and continues a five-game point streak against Seattle's regional rival.

• Ryan Donato extends his goal streak to three games. He has recorded four goals in the last three games and seven points (four goals, three assists) in his last six games.

  • This is his third goal streak of the season that consists of at least two games.

• Vince Dunn's two assists, on Oliver Bjorkstrand's and Eeli Tolvanen's goals, mark his 36th point of the season. His 36 points set a new career high, exceeding the career high he set last season in 73 games.

  • He now has 17 points (five goals, 12 assists) since Jan. 1, which leads all NHL defensemen in points during that span.

  • According to NHL PR, with his assist, Dunn surpassed Andre Burakovsky (6-9—15 in November 2022) for the most points in a calendar month by a Kraken player.

• Oliver Bjorkstrand recorded his 15th career multi-goal game with two goals in tonight's game. This is his first multi-goal game as a Kraken skater.

• Alex Wennberg's goal was ninth of the year and first goal at home this season.

• Since making his Kraken debut on Jan. 1, 2023, Eeli Tolvanen has totaled eight points (six goals, two assists) in 13 games.

  • His six goals in that span are tied with Matty Beniers for the team lead, trailing only Jared McCann who has seven goals.

What’s next?

The Kraken will get a team day off following tonight’s beatdown of the Canucks, a well-earned one at that. The rest is a short one, though, as Seattle picks things up on Friday, January 27th against the Calgary Flames in the first game of a back-to-back. Puck drop for another divisional rivalry game is at 7PM PST, as the Flames will look to disrupt Seattle’s positive play heading into the All-Star break. The Kraken will need to find a way to pace themselves in a game that will prove to test their pace, as they will need to avoid a trap game the very next day against the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus is in the hunt for the top overall pick in the draft to use on highly-coveted Connor Bedard, sitting as the third worst team in the NHL.

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