It’s a safe bet that many long-time hockey fans – and certainly those who were around when the NHL was a six-team league and teams traveled by train – have never heard the term `response goals.’
As the calendar turns to 2022, the Seattle Kraken have made ‘response goals’ a thing. Last night at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken allowed an opposing goal for the third consecutive game less than a minute after recording a goal that appeared to give the Kraken momentum.
Last night it was rookie defenseman Will Borgen tallying a goal midway thru the third period to cut the Vancouver Canuck lead to 3-2. Borgen’s first NHL goal had the `joint jumpin’,’ but 46 seconds later, Conor Garland responded with a back-breaking goal to put the Canucks back up by two. Tanner Pearson added an empty-netter at 17:23 to give the visitors a 5-2 victory.
The Kraken have now given up ten `response goals’ this season, That’s a goal scored by the opposition in less than two minutes after a Kraken score. In three games since the NHL started up again after the Christmas break, opponents have scored a late goal on the first shot after a Seattle score which also tends to deflate the usually raucous Climate Pledge fans. (Surprisingly there are three teams that have allowed more `response goals’ than the Kraken this season).
“”Trust me, we’re trying not to get scored on,” said defenseman Adam Larsson. “It’s been an issue for us. We have talked about it. We expect a push. It’s how you respond and I think we’ll work our way through it.”
Seattle coach Dave Hakstol was upset with the defensive plays that led to the Vancouver goals. We put two pucks directly on their [stick blade] tape in scoring areas” on the first and third Vancouver goals, “Those can’t happen,” Hakstol said. “They are really tough plays to put on your goaltender.”
After the first period, the concern was that last night’s contest might turn into a blowout. The Canucks outshot their hosts, 14-6, and took a 2-0 lead to the intermission. But the Kraken got on the scoreboard thanks to a set play. Yanni Gourde won a faceoff in the Seattle offensive zone, and dropped a pass to defenseman Carson Soucy. Soucy pushed the puck ahead to Calle Jarnkrok, who fired home a shot from the left wing boards. It was Jarnkrok’s second goal in two games.
Goalie Thatcher Damko was also strong in the nets for the Canucks. His best save came in the third period when Ryan Donato, back from COVID, took the puck from out of the corner and made a power move to the net. More impressive than Damko’s initial save, Seattle’s Morgan Geekie tried to send home the rebound from the right side but the sprawled Damko was able to knock the puck away.
Vancouver improves to 16-16-3 on the season while Seattle drops to 10-19-4. More importantly, the Canucks are a stellar 8-0-1 since longtime NHL coach Bruce Boudreau left the NHL Network studios to take over as Vancouver coach. Before Boudreau’s arrival, the Canucks were battling the Kraken for last place in the Pacific Division. Last night’s win gives them an 11-point lead in the standings.
Thanks to COVID, Seattle will have a lull in the schedule. Tuesday night’s game against the Islanders has been postponed and the scheduled start of a road trip at Winnipeg scheduled for Saturday, – like a lot of games in Canada has been moved to later in the season. Seattle’s lone game this week will be a home game with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night. The contest marks the Senator’s only trip to Seattle this season. Like the Kraken, Ottawa resides in last place in their division.
GAME NOTES
* The Canucks traveled to Seattle yesterday morning, and several players returned positive COVID-19 tests. After a series of retests, it was determined they were false positives and those players were cleared for last night’s game.
* Vancouver won the first-ever regular-season game at Climate Pledge Arena back on Oct. 23. The Canucks scored on three of their final-four shots to post the 4-3 victory. Conor Garland had the game-winner in that contest.
* The Kraken’s COVID merry-go-round continues. Ryan Donato was back in the lineup after protocols but Jeremy Lauzon went on the COVID list. Riley Sheahan, who had COVID returned to the lineup, but he also missed a game because his wife was giving birth to their first child. Seattle hopes to have Vince Dunn and Mason Appleton back in the lineup for Thursday’s game against Ottawa.
* By now, many people have heard the story of Nadia Popovichi and Brian Hamilton. But if you haven’t…
Between periods of the Kraken’s home opener against the Vancouver Canucks back on Oct. 23, Canucks’ assistant equipment manager Brian “Red” Hamilton was tidying up around the bench. Hamilton turned and saw a young woman (Popovichi) holding her phone up to the glass with a message – the mole on the back of your neck could be malignant melanoma. Hamilton read it, nodded and returned to his job.
But he started to think about the message later on, and when he went to see doctors they confirmed Popovichi’s diagnosis. Hamilton had the mole removed and is currently cancer-free. Returning to Seattle yesterday, Hamilton went on social media hoping to find `the good Samaritan.’ Popovichi’s mother saw the post and she and Hamilton were reunited last night.
Popovichi is about to start medical school in 2022. She has been accepted by several medical schools and volunteers in oncology wards, which is how she correctly identified Hamilton’s cancerous mole. It was also announced at last night’s game that the Kraken and the Canucks were rewarding Popovichi with a $10,000 scholarship for medical school.
* Last night also marked the debut of Rod Masters as the Kraken’s house organist. The 66-year-old Masters who lives in Edmonds, portrayed the organist in the quintessential hockey movie `Slap Shot’ with Paul Newman. Ironically, Masters had never actually played the organ at an actual hockey game until last night. He performed the Canadien and American National Anthems at the start of the game.
1st Period
V – Vasily Podkolzin (unassisted) 8:53.
V – Nils Hoglander (Brad Hunt, Oliver Ekman-Larsson) power play, 11:49.
2nd Period
S – Calle Jarnkrok (Carson Soucy, Yanni Gourde) 9:10.
3rd Period
V – Tyler Motte (Matt Highmore, Juno Lammikko) 1:46.
S – Will Borgen (Alex Wennberg) 10:43.
V – Conor Garland (Tanner Pearson, Quinn Hughes) 11:29.
V – Pearson (JT Miller, Tyler Myers) 17:43.
Goals/Saves – V: Thatcher Demko 2-30. P: Philipp Grubauer 4-30.
Penalties – Vancouver; 3-9. Seattle 3-9.
Referees – Tom Chmielewski, Furman South. Linesmen – Steve Barton, Vaughan Rody.
