When the Seattle Kraken faces the San Jose Sharks, they can employ a strategy that they can’t against any other National Hockey League team. Last night, the Kraken started a forward line against the Sharks at the SAP Center, better known as the Shark Tank that featured three former San Jose players.
Ryan Donato and Alexander True, recalled on Saturday from the American Hockey League, were members of the Sharks a year ago. The third member of the line – Joonas Donskoi – was a mainstay in San Jose for four seasons. Donskoi, in fact, scored one of the most iconic goals in Shark history, an overtime goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals back in 2016.
It took until the third period, but that line broke a scoreless tie when Donskoi found Donato in front of the net. SJ goaltender James Reimer stopped the original shot but then Donato wristed home his own rebound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at 6:23. Brandon Tanev and Calle Jarnkrok added third-period goals as Seattle (10-15-3) posted a 3-1 victory. The Sharks who weren’t rated highly in pre-season prognostications still have a fairly respectable 15-13-1 record.
The Sharks’ Logan Couture made things interesting with a goal at 17:53 and San Jose would pull Reimer in the final two minutes. But Jarnkrok, who has had his battles with COVID this season, fired into the empty net with just under six seconds remaining to seal the win.
Last night’s game also marked the return of goalie Chris Driedger, playing his first game since returning from his second lower-body injury of the year. Driedger allowed only one goal on 34 shots and was selected the game’s number-three star (Donato returning to San Jose was number one). However, after the game, he did receive the `Davy Jones Hat’ as the game MVP from his teammates in the locker room, a Kraken tradition after victories. Despite injuries, Driedger has been the winning goalie in three of Seattle’s ten wins.
“Driedger got some good looks at the puck,” said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol. “And the defense did a good job making sure he got good looks.”
The contest also featured one of the best individual plays of the year by defenseman Adam Larsson. Three minutes into the second period, Driedger made the save on Nick Bonino’s shot, but the puck trickled through his pads. Larsson cut in behind Driedger and not only made a stick save but calmly tucked the disc under Driedger’s body to draw a whistle.
The Swedish-born defenseman also saved a goal Saturday night in the overtime loss to Columbus. While he doesn’t have gaudy goal and assist numbers a case could be made for Larsson as the Kraken representative on the All-Star team (and yes, with the Olympics there will still be an All-Star game this year).
Larsson drew a big laugh in a between periods interview when he called his `save’ “no big deal.” He then added, “I didn’t anticipate it, I just wanted to get my stick in there, get some kind of save in there for Driedger.”
Driedger got a lot of help from his friends as defenseman Jamie Oleksiak also cleared a puck from in front of the net later in the period.
The Kraken complete a brief two-game Pacific Division road trip tonight when they travel down the coast to face the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks defeated Seattle, 7-4, at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 11. Hakstol noted that Philipp Grubauer would probably be in the nets for the Kraken tonight.
Seattle has several Pacific Division games coming up, including Saturday night when they host the Edmonton Oilers at Climate Pledge Arena. In hockey parlance, divisional games are referred to as four-point games. For example, last night’s game moved the eighth-place Kraken to eight points (31 to 23) behind the fifth-place Sharks in the standings. A loss would have dropped Seattle 12 points behind the Sharks – a swing of four points.
GAME NOTES
*Alexander True, a former Seattle Thunderbird Western Hockey League star, joined the Kraken on Saturday night when three players – Yanni Gourde, Riley Sheahan and Colin Blackwell (who can all play center, True’s natural position) were sidelined due to COVID protocols. Donato (left wing) and Doonskoi (right wing) have played together a lot this season, and True didn’t look out of place centering that line. The combination looked good especially considering True played a game Friday night in Charlotte, then hopped a 6 a.m. flight (3 a.m. PT) to suit up for the Kraken. Seattle also recalled Max McCormick from Charlotte, who was a healthy scratch last night
* Joonas Donskoi picked up his 14th assist last night and he’s second in the league behind Florida’s MacKenzie Weeger (15) for most assists without scoring a goal. Donskoi thought he had a goal on Saturday against Columbus but the puck hit teammate Jaden Schwartz before heading into the net. “In the past, I would be beating myself up,” Donskoi said. “Now I don’t think about scoring. I’m only thinking about practicing hard and doing the small things. I hope the goals come.”
“He is helping this team in so many ways,” said Donato said about Donskoi. “He might not have a goal (this season) but generates offense for us.
* Another noteworthy event came in the first period of last night’s game. The teams went 12:07 without a play stoppage – no offsides, no penalties, no goalies freezing the puck. The period took barely a half hour to complete.
* COVID continues to be a nasty word in the NHL. Last night two games were postponed – Calgary at Nashville and Carolina at Minnesota. The Kraken have two games coming up with the Calgary Flames, Dec. 23 on the road, Dec. 30 at home, but the Flames have now missed three consecutive games and Anaheim has moved past them back into first place in the Pacific Division. The NHL is scheduled to have a conference call to discuss COVID protocols today.
GAME SUMMARY
1ST Period
No scoring.
2nd Period
No scoring.
3rd Period
S – Ryan Donato (Joonas Donskoi, Carson Soucy) 6:23.
S – Brandon Tanev (Calle Jarnkrok, Morgan Geekie) 14:18.
SJ – Logan Couture (Tomas Hertl, Brett Burns) 17:53.
S – Jarnkrok (Alexander Wennberg, Mason Applegate) empty net, 19:54.
Goals/Shots – S: Chris Driedger 1-34. SJ: James Reimer 3-30.
Penalties – S: 1-2. SJ 0-0.
Referees – Kyle Rehman, Conor O’Donnell. Linesman – Ryan Galloway, Bevan Mills.
