After handing the Boston Bruins their only shutout of the year, 3-0, last month in Boston, there was plenty of anticipation for last night’s game between the Kraken and the best team in hockey. The game lived up to its advanced billing, old-time, in-your-face hockey, the kind of game that Kraken veterans Yanni Gourde and Jamie Oleksiak admit they love to play. The only downer was the two late goals by the Bruins, gave Boston a 6-5 victory.
“It was a fun game, “ said Gourde, who scored his ninth goal of the year in the contest and seemed to be jostling with Bruin players all night long. “The hitting and the one-on-one battles. “It was a pretty even game.”
It was also the kind of game where the Bruins showed why they have the best record in the league (44-8-5). When Jaden Schwartz tipped in Will Borgen’s drive from the point at 15:50 of the third period to give the Kraken a 5-4 lead, the Kraken were in good position to sweep the season series against the Bruins. But not surprisingly, Boston had a response, only 29 seconds later. Defenseman Brandon Carlo got behind the Kraken defense and his D partner, Hampus Lindholm found Carlo to the right of the net. From there he tapped home his fourth goal of the season.
“That’s the one that was a little bit too easy,” said Seattle coach Hakstol. “We didn’t make them work for that one.”
That set the stage for the game-winner. Jake DeBrusk, had a quiet night, but the Bruins forward made an outstanding play. With his back to the net, and Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn on his back, DeBrusk deflected defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s shot into the net.
Those were the third-period scores, but the second-period may have been the most exciting 20 minutes of the season. Dunn started things with a drive from the point to break a 1-1 tie at 1:17. Dunn became the 12th Kraken this season to reach double figures in goal scoring, most in the league.
Goals from David Pastrnak (his 42nd of the year) and Brad Marchand gave the Bruins their first lead. Then Oleksiak scored his seventh goal of the season, a new high for the defensive-minded defenseman, off a centering pass from Morgan Geekie. Jesper Froden, a former Bruin in his first game with the Kraken, picked up the secondary assist.
The second period, which included six goals, ended with a shorthanded goal and a power play goal on the same penalty. The shorthanded score involved Patrice Bergeron and Marchand, who’ve been linemates since dinosaurs roamed the earth (well, over a decade). Bergeron broke up Dunn at the blue line and shoveled the puck ahead to Marchand. Bergeron, the game’s number-one star, got the puck back from Marchand and he fired the puck past the Kraken’s Philip Grubauer.
The Kraken then got a big break. Gourde tried to send a cross ice pass to Jordan Eberle, but the puck hit the stick of Boston’s top defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and went into the net.
The game couldn’t have started any better for the Kraken. Matty Beniers took a drop pass from Jared McCann and slid it past Bruins’ goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman for his 19th goal of the season on the first shot of the game. The tally came 40 seconds into the contest. David Krejci, returning to the Bruins this season after a year in Sweden, made it 1-1 before the intermission.
“It was great to score a goal against them they’re a great team,” said Beniers, who was born in Higham, Mass., only five miles from Boston. “It just stinks that we weren’t able to get the win.”
The Kraken fall to 32-20-6 after their second consecutive loss, and into fourth place in the Pacific Division. Seattle’s two points behind Edmonton and Los Angeles in the standings but has played one fewer game than those teams. The Oilers defeated Pittsburgh, 7-2, while the Kings lost to New Jersey last night, 4-3.
.”I’m not disappointed in the effort,” said Hakstol. “We have to clean up some detail. When you’re in that spot, especially late in the game when you fight that hard to put yourself in a position to win a hockey game, you’re going to feel pretty disappointed with the outcome.”
The Kraken have another tough game Sunday afternoon when they play the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4 PM matinee tilt.
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GAME NOTES
- There were four sets of response goals in the game (a fifth was missed by just two seconds). That’s when a team scores less than two minutes after being scored upon. Two times the Kraken scored within two minutes after a Boston goal and the Bruins returned the favor twice as well. Actually, goaltenders Philipp Grubauer and Jeremy Swayman made nice saves- there were 70 shots on goal. Grubauer in particular stopped Pastrnak on a breakaway and robbed Marchard point blank in front of the net.
- Jesper Froden made his Kraken debut playing on a line with Alex Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz. Froden, who started his career in the Boston Bruins’ organization, played for the Coachella Valley Firebirds notching 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points in 44 games this season. Froden had one goal in seven games for the Boston Bruins.
- The Kraken placed goaltender Chris Driedger on waivers for the purpose of sending him down to the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds. Driedger has missed the entire season with a torn right ACL that he suffered during the gold medal game of the 2022 World Hockey Championship with Canada. The 28-year-old had a 9-14-1 record with a .899 save percentage last season with the Kraken. Driedger has a 30-23-5 record with five shutouts in 65 NHL games.
- Vince Dunn became the 12th Kraken to score ten goals this season. The other 11 skaters to score at least ten goals this season include Jared McCann (26), Matty Beniers (18), Daniel Sprong (15), Andre Burakovsky (13), Ryan Donato (12), Jaden Schwartz (12), Jordan Eberle (13), Oliver Bjorkstrand (11), Brandon Tanev (10), Eeli Tolvanen (10) and Alex Wennberg (10).
- The Boston Bruins made some new acquisitions before last night’s game. The B’s acquired defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals in exchange for forward Craig Smith, a 2023 first-round draft pick, a 2025 second-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick. Washington will retain 50 percent of Orlov’s salary. The Minnesota Wild will also send the rights to forward AndreiSvetlakov to Boston for the Bruins’ 2023 fifth-round draft pick.
- The Bruins didn’t seem to have quite as many fans as the Detroit Red Wings had last Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena. But they were very loud. Bruins’ team president Cam Meely, a Hall of Fame player with the Boston, was in attendance at last night’s game.
SCORING SUMMARY
First Period
S- Matty Beniers 19 (Jared McCann, Vince Dunn) :40. B- David Krejci (Paval Zacha, David Pastrnak) 11:38.
Second Period
S- Vince Dunn (Alex Wennberg) 1:17. B- Pastrnak (David Krejci, Hampus Lindholm) 2:23. B- Brad Marchand (Patrice Bergeron, Charlie McAvoy) 8:49 S- Jamie Oleksiak7 (Morgan Geekie, Jesper Froden) 9:47. B- Patrice Bergeron (Marchand) SH 16:37. S- Yanni Gourde 9 (Beniers, Jordan Eberle) PPG 17:51.
Third Period
S- Jadan Schwartz 13 (Will Borgen, Jamie Oleksiak) 15:50. B- Brandon Carlo (Hamphus Lindholm, Charlie Coyle) 16:19. B- Jake DeBrusk (Charlie McAvoy) 19:22.
Shots On Goal- Boston 39, Seattle 41.
Penalty Minutes- Boston 12, Seattle 6.
Referees- Trevor Hansen, Chris Schlenker. Linesmen- Trent Knorr, Tommy Hughes
Three Stars- 1. Patrice Bergeron, B. 2. Matty Beniers, S. 3. Yanni Gourde, S.
