Not a win, but another historic night for the Seattle Kraken.
The Kraken participated in their first-ever shootout (and new fans watching on TV in the Pacific Northwest may have gotten their first opportunity to see a shootout) and while the Detroit Red Wings outscored their guests 2-1 for an overall 4-3 victory, the good news was the Kraken picked up one point in the standings. Seattle, 8-13-2 overall, finishes its four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 slate, good for five points in the standings.
After Ryan Donato’s second goal of the game – in his 200th NHL contest – sent the game into extra minutes, the Kraken even made things interesting in the shootout. Each team is assigned three shooters and Detroit captain Dylan Larkin scored on a wrist shot as the second Red Wing shooter.
Since Donato and Jared McCann were stopped by Detroit goalie Thomas Griess and captain Dylan Larken scored for the Wings, it came down to Seattle’s Joonas Donskoi to keep the shootout going. Donskoi swooped down the left side, got Griess to commit, and then lifted the puck into the open net. Donskoi has yet to score in a regulation game but picked up his 11th assist last night,
Now in sudden death, the Wings’ Adam Erne went five-hole on Philipp Grubauer to give Detroit the lead. In the game’s closing minutes, Grubauer made one of the best saves of the year on Erne, when he slid completely across the crease and snared Erne’s slapshot with his glove hand.
Unfortunately for the Kraken, Alexander Wennberg couldn’t keep things going. His shot was deflected by Griess over the net to give Detroit (12-9-3) its fourth straight victory.
Seattle went into the game the most shorthanded it’s been all season. Already missing captain Mark Giordano due to COVID protocols and Calle Jarnkrok with an injury, they were joined in sickbay by leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle, leading assist man Jaden Schwartz, goaltender Chris Driedger, winner of the two previous Kraken games, and first-year defenseman Will Borgen, who garnered his first NHL point Monday night.
Goalie Joey Daccord and forward Kole Lind – who played one game with the parent club earlier this season – were recalled from Charlotte of the AHL. Lind joined Colin Blackwell and Jeremy Lauzon, healthy scratches the last two games, in the lineup while Daccord served as Grubauer’s backup.
Lauzon appeared to have scored his first goal of the season midway thru the first period. Lauzon’s drive was waved off as teammate Mason Appleton was called for interference on the goaltender. The call was questionable as replays showed that Appleton was pushed into Griess by defenseman Mo Sieder.
Ironically, the Red Wings also had a goal disallowed in the first period. Lucas Raymond, selected as the NHL `Rookie of the Month’ tallied the goal but the Kraken bench challenged that Larkin was offside. After looking at a replay, the linesmen agreed.
“[The offsides] was clear,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “Our guys in the back (video analysts Tim Ohashi and Brady Morgan) did a great job not only seeing it right away but getting the information and right picture to us on the bench It’s not always easy, when you have 20 to 30 seconds.”
Both teams scored two goals that counted in the second period. Detroit’s Robby Fabbri and Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn swapped power play goals and Ryan Donato gave the Kraken the lead at 16:04 on a pass from linemate Yanni Gourde. Donato’s goal was particularly impressive as the Kraken forward had hobbled off the ice a few minutes earlier after blocking a shot.
However, Seattle couldn’t take a lead to the second intermission as Vlad Namesintkov scored on a scramble in front of the net at 18:18. Raymond gave the Wings a 3-2 lead on a turnaround shot at 6:30.
Dunn, who had three good scoring chances in the game, hit the post at 10:30 but Donato tied the game four minutes later. Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak rushed up ice and then dropped a pass to Donato who fired home his fifth goal of the season.
“We’re missing three (Giordano, Eberle and Schwartz) of our leaders,” said Hakstol, “but we were competitive. I like that after we got down in the third, we pushed back and found a way to get a point. Disappointing that we couldn’t get an extra point but we earned that point tonight.”
“We respect our best players,” said Donato. “They make a lot of plays and are great leaders. But it’s next guy up. We know our system and know our roles. When we keep it simple there are a lot of teams we can beat.”
The Kraken begin on a four-game homestand tomorrow against the Pacific Division-leading Edmonton Oilers.
GAME NOTES
* The Kraken announced yesterday morning that goaltender Chris Driedger and forward Calle Jarnkrok are back on the injured list. Driedger missed significant time earlier season, returning to post the team’s two most recent victories against Florida and Buffalo. Since Eberle, Schwartz and Borgen weren’t put on IR that could mean they’ll be back soon. Teams are notoriously vague about injuries and all of the injuries were reported as lower body injuries. TV replays from Monday’s game in Buffalo caught Eberle falling awkwardly on his ankle and Borgen being hit in the foot while blocking a shot.
* The Kraken’s number-one pick in last summer’s entry draft (second overall) Matty Beniers was in attendance at last night’s game. The Michigan sophomore sat with Kraken GM Ron Francis. Beniers is one of the invitees to the Team USA training camp, which commences later this month. Team USA will compete in the 2022 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship slated to begin Dec. 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta. The gold-medal game slated for Jan. 5 at Rogers Place, home of the Edmonton Oilers. Beniers leads Michigan in scoring with11 goals. Beniers scored a goal and added two assists in seven games to help the Americans win the 2021 World Junior gold medal as a 17-year old. The World Junior tournament represents a strong indicator of a young players’ performance against world class competition.
* The Red Wings were playing their second game in two nights coming off a road win against the Boston Bruins (2-1). Boston had a wide territorial edge in that contest as Wings’ netminder Alex Nedejkovic stopped 40 out of 41 shots. Ironically, an opposing goal was disallowed in that contest for goalie interference as well when Boston’s Taylor Hall bumped Nedejkovic. If the NHL competes in the Olympics (still not a definite) last night’s goalies, Grubauer and Griess could play for the German Olympic team.
* Detroit’s Tyler Bertuzzi, who plays on the Wings top line, missed last night’s game due to COVID protocols. Bertuzzi’s the only player in the NHL not to be vaccinated (there were four at the start of the season) and isn’t allowed to play any games in Canada even when healthy.
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
No scoring.
2nd Period
D- Robby Fabbri (Dylan Larkin, Pius Suter) power play, 4:46.
S- Vince Dunn (Alex Wennberg, Marcus Johanson) power play, 10:44.
S- Ryan Donato (Joonas Donskoi, Yanni Gourde) 16:04.
D- Vlad Namestnikov (Mo Sieder, Jordan Oesterle) 18:18.
3rd Period
D- Lucas Raymond (Sieder, Dylan Larkin) 6:30.
S- Donato (Jamie Oleksiak) 14:16.
Overtime
No scoring.
Shootout- 1. D: Robby Fabbri, Miss. 2. S: Ryan Donato, Miss. 3. D: Dylan Larkin, Score. 4. S: Jared McCann, Miss. 5. D: Lucas Raymond, Miss. 6. S: Joonas Donskoi, Score. 7. D: Adam Erne, Score 8. S: Alex Wennberg, Miss.
Saves/Shots- S: Philipp Grubauer 23-26. D: Thomas Griess 21-24.
Penalties- S: 3-6. D: 3-6.
Referees- Graham Skilliter, Pierre Lambert. Linesmen- Ben O’Quinn, Ryan Daisy.
