After picking up points in six of their last seven games, the Seattle Kraken reverted to some old, bad habits in a 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night at Climate Pledge Arena. Seattle falls to 9-14-2 and Pittsburgh improves to 12-8-5.
“It was all mistakes,” said Jordan Eberle, who returned to the lineup last night along with linemate Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Will Borgen, who have all been sidelined with “lower body injuries” since last Monday night’s win at Buffalo. “They’re a tough team to get behind. We had a chance to make it 3-2, but then we got sloppy. We made faceoff mistakes and (the defense) pinching in.”
Instead of being bolstered by the return of injured players, the Kraken came out flat, allowing three goals in the first 5:07 of the game. The start brought back memories of the early season when the Kraken would invariably allow an early goal (or two) and seemed to be constantly playing catchup. Then the Penguins had another spurt late in the second period when they recorded two goals in 23 seconds.
“Teams like this get chances, they capitalize on them,” said Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, who played for the Penguins, 2017-2019. “Starts are big in this league. You build the momentum.”
Pittsburgh built the momentum with three goals from Jeff Carter, future Hall-of-Famer Sidney Crosby and Danton Heinen. When Heinen beat goalie Philipp Grubauer with a slap shot, the Penguins had three goals on four shots barely over four minutes into the game.
At this point, Grubauer got the hook in favor of Joey Daccord. It was Daccord’s first appearance between the pipes since being recalled from Charlotte of the AHL last week. Goalie Chris Driedger, after posting two consecutive victories, was placed on injured reserve last Tuesday.
“We gave up three goals on the first four shots of the game,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “And that was indicative of the way we played.”
When asked about Grubauer, Hakstol noted, “I won’t speak to one individual performance, We weren’t sharp to start the hockey game. It’s disappointing to come off arguably our most complete performance a couple nights ago (Friday’s 4-3 win over Edmonton). Joey played well. He battled and kept us in the game.”
With Daccord looking sharper than Grubauer, the Kraken tried to dig themselves out of a hole, and by the end of the period Seattle had outshot the visitors, 10-8. However, the Kraken would only light the lamp once against Penguin goalkeeper Casey DeSmith.
Schwartz was tripped up at the blue line but passed the puck ahead to Alex Wennberg while down on his knees. With a delayed penalty coming up on the Pens, Eberle scored his team leading 12th goal of the season.
Guentzel, who has points in 13 straight games, and Carter each recorded two goals for the Penguins. Heinen, who was selected the `number one star, had a goal and two assists.
“We’ve had tough stretches before, this season,” said Oleksiak. “But we’ve scratched our way back.”
The Kraken has the opportunity to get back into the victory column on Thursday night when they host the Winnipeg Jets at Climate Pledge.
GAME NOTES
* Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak saw his four-game point scoring streak end last night. Oleksiak set up Alex Wennberg’s game-winning goal against Edmonton on Friday night. Oleksiak has stepped up his game in the absence of Kraken captain Mark Giordano, who last played in Seattle’s 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 24 due to COVID-19 protocols. Prior to last night, Oleksiak had five points (one goals, four assists) in four games. Giordano was playing approximately 20 minutes a game, Oleksiak has averaged about 19 in Giordano’s absence.
* Seattle forwards Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev were regulars on the Penguins a year ago. McCann was fifth on the team in scoring with 14 goals and 18 assists for 32 points in 43 games. Tanev only suited up for 32 games but had seven goals (one short-handed) and nine assists for 16 points. Evgeny Malkin, the Penguins’ other superstar (along with Sidney Crosby) is out indefinitely after off-season knee surgery.
* The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Los Angeles Kings last night, 4-0, and are tied in points again with the Kraken (the Canucks have one more loss). Last night’s game was the debut of new head coach Bruce Boudreau, who was a commentator on the NHL TV network until two days ago. Boudreau previously coached Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota.
*The Kraken celebrated Indigenous Peoples Night last night and the first period intermission featured a performance by the Muckleshoot Canoe Family. This was one of five Hockey is for Everyone (HIFE) games where the Kraken are working with a local artist to create specialty warmup jerseys, and a line of merchandise to benefit the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena’s foundation, One Roof Foundation. Each jersey will be signed by individual players and actioned by One Roof Foundation’s Anchor Auction. Last night’s artist was Fox Spears, a Karuk tribal member whose design was inspired by traditional Karuk basketry and patterns.
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
P – Jeff Carter (Danton Heinen, Jason Zucker) 1:47.
P – Sidney Crosby (Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin) 4:42.
P – Heinen (John Marino, Marcus Petterson) 5:07
2nd Period
S – Jordan Eberle (Jaden Schwartz, Alex Wennberg) 3:43.
P – Guentzel (Evan Rodrigues, Crosby) 18:31.
P – Carter (Kris Letang, Heinen) 18:54.
3rd Period
P – Guentzel (Rodrigues, Dumoulin), 8:29.
Goals/Shots – S: Philipp Grubauer 3-4. Joey Daccord 2-27. P: Casey DeSmith 1-29.
Penalties – Pittsburg 1-2. Seattle 0-0.
Referees – Eric Furlatt, Peter MacDougall. Linesmen – Travis Gawryletz, Trent Knorr.
