In the Seattle Kraken’s previous game against the Pittsburgh Penguins the team allowed three goals on the first four shots and suffered other defensive breakdowns in the contest. After two days of long practices, the Kraken tightened up their overall defensive game against the Winnipeg Jets last night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Unfortunately for the Kraken, the Jets’ stingy defense spearheaded by goaltender Connor Hellebuyck ‘pitched a shutout,’ handing Seattle its’ first whitewash at home, 3-0. (Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning blanked Seattle, 3-0, in a road game on Nov. 26). The Kraken drop to 9-15-2 while the suddenly hot Jets are 13-9-4.
While Hellebuyck turned aside 25 Kraken shots, leading scorer Kyle Connor notched his 16th and 17th goals of the season in the third period to ice the victory. Only 25, last night marked the third consecutive year that Connor’s scored at least one goal on his birthday.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Kraken was unable to capitalize on five power-play opportunities. After some early-season woes, Seattle started to cash in on power-play goals at a 61 percent clip.
“That was big, especially in the third period we needed to cash in a goal” admitted captain Mark Giordano, playing his first game since Nov. 24 as he missed six contests due to the league’s COVID protocols. “But they were very aggressive (killing penalties). They block shots and their goalie made some big saves. They play a playoff style. They’re big and they don’t give you much space.”
Winnipeg’s Dominic Toninato opened the scoring at 5:24 of the first period. While he wasn’t credited with an assist, the Jets’ Kristian Vesalainen set up the goal when he checked Will Borgen into the boards, dislodging the Kraken defenseman from the puck. Paul Stasney pounced on the loose puck and hit Toninato heading to the net.
“We made one turnover in the first 30 minutes of the game and it wound up in the back of the net,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “They carried the play early.”
A few minutes later, Hellebuyck stopped Mason Appleton – a former Winnipeg draft choice- on a breakaway. Hellebuyck also made a couple of big stops on Yanni Gourde in each of the first two periods. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer, who was pulled five minutes into the previous game against Pittsburgh, also had a good night turning aside 28 Winnipeg scoring bids.
“Obviously you’ve got to bounce back,” said Grubauer, who thought he got some “bad bounces” in the Pittsburgh game. “Have a good first period and build on that. (Winnipeg’s) four lines come at you in waves. Everybody contributes. They’re one of the best teams we’ve played this year.”
“We had a good second period but we couldn’t put it in the back of the net,” said Hakstol. “(A goal) would have set us up for the third period.”
But Connor had other ideas, celebrating his birthday with two goals – one on a centering pass from veteran center Mark Scheifele in the opening minute, and the other – a nice individual effort that saw him fight thru the Kraken defense.
The Kraken drop to 1-2 on their most recent homestand, but could earn a split tomorrow with a win over Columbus before a brief road trip to San Jose and Anaheim. Seattle lost its third game of the season in overtime to the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Oct. 16.
GAME NOTES
* When asked how he felt in his first game back, Giordano replied, “it felt pretty normal to be honest. We had a couple of hard skates (Tuesday and Wednesday practices) and I think that helped.” While Giordano was expected back soon, Calle Jarnkrok was a surprise addition to the Kraken lineup after being placed on Injured Reserve, Nov. 29. Jarnkrok was in the starting lineup playing on a line with Brandon Tanev – a former Jet – and Yanni Gourde.
* Winnipeg defensemen Brenden Dillon played four years for the Seattle Thunderbirds and was team captain in his final season with the team in 2011. That year he chalked up the second-most assists by a T-Birds’ defenseman in the team’s history. Dillon was acquired by the Jets from the Washington Capitals this past off-season. Dennis Beyak, the Jets’ longtime TV announcer, was the Thunderbirds play-by-play guy in the early `90’s.
* Philipp Grubauer and Connor Hellebucyk have been two of the league’s busiest goalies the last two seasons. Grubauer, then with Colorado, and Hellebucyk were two of only four goalies to play over 40 games last year. This season, both have already reached the 20-game mark.
* Devan Dubnyk recently signed an AHL professional tryout contract with the Charlotte Checkers. The 35-year-old played the part of last season on the Colorado Avalanche as Grubauer’s backup. Dubnyk did not sign with an NHL team during free agency but has played in the league since 2009.
The former number one draft pick of the Edmonton Oilers, he spent five years with the Oilers and six more with the Minnesota Wild mostly as their starting goaltender. He has not played since May 2, 2021, but has played over 500 games and eclipsed 250 wins in his career. There’s already speculation that if Dubnyk impresses in the AHL and Chris Driedger remains on the injured list, the Kraken might pick up Dubnyk which would allow young Joey Daccord to play regularly in Charlotte.
* Ville Ottavainen, the Seattle Kraken’s fourth-round pick in the 2021 entry draft (99th overall) has been selected to Finland’s 20-Under team at the upcoming World Junior Championship in Edmonton, which begins Dec. 26. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound defenseman has been competing in Finland’s top professional hockey league. Typical opponents are five to 10 years older.
“Ville is a big, strong kid,” said Troy Bodie, director of hockey and business operations for the Kraken’s Coachella Valley (CA) American Hockey League affiliate that starts play in 2022-23 and development staffer for Seattle’s current pool of prospects. “He is a fully developed man who doesn’t get pushed around. He does the pushing.”
Michigan’s Matty Benier, the Kraken’s top pick (second overall) was selected to the United States 20-Under team last week. Defenseman Ryker Evans, a second-round pick (35th overall) continues to lead the Western Hockey League Regina Pats team in scoring with four goals and 10 assists, Evans turns 20 on Monday (Dec. 13). Evans has a plus/minus rating of +10 (goals for, minus goals against).
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
W – Dominic Tonitaro (Paul Stasny) 5:25.
2nd Period
No scoring.
3rd Period
W – Kyle Connor (Mark Scheifele, Logan Stanley) :47.
W – Connor (Blake Wheeler) 14:54.
Goals/Saves – W: Connor Hellebuyck 0-25. S: Philipp Grubauer 3-28
Penalties – W: 5-10. S: 2-4.
Referee – Francois St. Laurent, Pierre Lambert. Linesmen – Ryan Daisey, Mark Shewchyk.
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