Kraken outplay Blues, but lose in OT

The  Seattle Kraken played perhaps their best game of the season last night at Climate Pledge Arena. That’s the good news. The bad news is the Kraken lost in overtime to the St. Louis Blues, 4-3 on Blues’ defenseman Justin Faulk’s second goal of the night.

However, if you’re an optimist, the Kraken received a point for a regulation tie for the second time this season. And with one win, two losses, and two overtime losses Seattle actually resides in fourth place in the Pacific Division. The division hasn’t started in a blaze of glory as Edmonton and Anaheim have only one win (The Duck’s victory came against the Kraken in overtime) and Vancouver and San Jose are still looking for their first win.

The game itself also offered plenty of positives for the Kraken faithful. Shane Wright, the Kraken’s number-one draft choice picked up his first NHL assist and Ryan Donato, a healthy scratch in the previous game, scored a highlight goal to cut the lead to 3-2 in the second period. Brandon Tanev sent Donato in on a breakaway and Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington made the stop. But Donato and Binnington were both sprawled on the ice. Donato whacked at the puck and then whacked at it again, this time putting it into the net.

In two seasons with the Kraken, Donato has scored a goal in the next game after being a healthy scratch. He also scored two breakaway goals in the pre-season.

“When we blocked a shot at the other end I just took off and Turbo (Tanev) hit me with a pass,” said Donato. “The puck just lay there (after Bennington’s initial stop). Sometimes you can overthink it on a breakaway but I just kept hitting at the puck.”

Donato wasn’t pleased with sitting out the last game but noted, “we’re all professionals. You can’t linger on it (getting scratched).” Karson Kuhlman also a healthy scratch in the previous game had a good night also, killing penalties and having a couple of scoring chances.

The Kraken who trailed 3-1 early, tied the game on Adam Larsson’s shot from the point at 18:31 of the second period. The shot may have been deflected by defenseman Torey Krug who slammed his stick on the crossbar after the goal. As the team’s retired to their dressing rooms for the second intermission, the scoreboard read 3-3 and both teams had 22 shots.

That set the stage for the third period which saw Donato hit the post and Wright was stopped on a close-in shot at the net. St. Louis’ young star, Jake Neighbors got a breakaway, and Kraken goalie Martin Jones made the save. To make things worse, Neighbors also received a penalty for crashing into Jones and he and Will Borgen received two additional minutes for a brief scuffle behind the net.

St. Louis opened the scoring in the first period when Jordan Kyrou fired home a 25-footer seven minutes into the game. Borgen tied the game with his first goal of the season after Alex Wennberg intercepted a clearing pass. But two quick goals from Brayden Schenn and Faulk made it 3-1 and it was starting to look like another long night for the Kraken. But the team settled down after coach Dave Hakstol called a time-out.

“There was still 47, 48 minutes left in the game to right the ship,” said Hakstol.  “We just needed to take a deep breath and settle down We played a good game. This is our hockey team tonight. The way we battled competed and executed. The pace and tenacity we played with tonight is a good standard to continue to build from.”

Hakstol thought Jones played well, particularly on two St. Louis power plays. Donato also seemed to spark the Kraken after the Blues’ Ivan Barbashev took a run at Wright and caught the rookie with a high hit. Donato grabbed the bigger Barbashev and wrestled him to the ice.

“Donnie’s been awesome for me,” said Wright, who mostly centered a line between Donato and Tanev. “But that’s the culture on this team. Guys looking out for each other.”

Wright received his first assist on Donato’s goal. But it wasn’t announced until the start of the third period. The scoreboard screen was fixed on Wright and he seemed to be getting some good-natured ribbing from his teammates.

“I thought I could have got an assist originally but I didn’t know (it had been added) until they made the announcement,” said Wright. “Every game I feel more comfortable. You have to get used to the speed of the game at this level. I just try and do anything I can to help the team.”

“Wright getting his first point was awesome,” said Hakstol. “He deserved to get his first goal. Now, I’ve got to get him on the ice for a couple more minutes a night and just continue letting him grow”

The schedule makers didn’t do the Kraken any favors in the first full week of the season. After hosting Carolina and St. Louis, two of the better teams in the league, the Kraken travel to Colorado tomorrow night to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche.

Game Notes

• While the Kraken lost to an aggressively defensive Carolina team on Monday night, St. Louis is known for its offense. The Blues had eight players who scored 20 or more goals a year ago. David Perron signed with Detroit but the rest of the players return – RobThomas, Ryan O’Reilly, Brandon Saad, Pavel Buchnevich, Ivan Barbashev, and Brayden Schenn.
   
• The Coachella Valley Firebirds won their first two American Hockey League regular season games against the Calgary Wranglers last weekend. Kole Lind, who played 23 games with the Kraken a year ago, had the game winning goal in both contests. The Firebirds are playing four `home’ games in the Seattle area this month until their new arena in Palm Springs is completed.
• The Firebirds play the Abbotsford Canucks Friday and Sunday. Friday’s game takes place at the Kraken Practice Facility at Northgate begins at 3 PM but is a private event for specially invited guests. Sunday the teams move to Climate Pledge Arena beginning at 6 PM. 
• On a play late in the second period, Kraken’s forward Yanni Gourde broke his stick. But the veteran forward continued to skate down the right wing for about 25 feet to the delight of the crowd.
• The scoreboard ran a feature paying tribute to the Seattle Storm’s Sue Bird who was in attendance at last night’s game. A future WNBA Hall-of-Famer, the elite point guard led the Storm to three WNBA championships. Bird announced her retirement after 21 years with the Storm.

SCORING SUMMARY

First Period- STL Brandon Kyrou (Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy) 7:16. SEA  Will Borgen (Alex Wennberg, Oliver Bjorkstrand) 10:51. STL Brayden Schenn (Vladmir Tarasenko, Robert Thomas) 11:55. STL Justin Faulk (Schenn, Tarasenko) 12:13..

Second Period- SEA Ryan Donato (Brandon Tanev, Shane Wright) 10:44. SEA Adam Larsson, (Wennberg, Bjorkstrand) 15:31

Third Period- No scoring.

Overtime- Faulk (Tarasenko, Thomas) 2:10.

Shots on Goal- St. Louis 28, Seattle 35.

Penalty minutes- St. Louis 6, Seattle 10.

Referees- Trevor Hanson, Peter MacDougall. Linesmen- Kent Murchison, Brandon Gawryletz. .

Three stars- 1. STL Justin Faulk 2. SEA Will Borgen 3. SEA Ryan Donato