The Kraken played in another tight game Wednesday, facing the New York Islanders at the brand-new UBS Arena. Also brand-new on this trip was the Kraken scoring the first and second goals to take a lead in the game.
The scoring breakthrough was 46 minutes into the game, but proved just the tonic to complete a challenging week on the road with two wins and two losses and the valid statement Seattle could have swept the four games.
Video: SEA@NYI: Grubauer earns 1st shutout in Kraken history
McCann Ties Career High in Goals
The first goal, six minutes into third period, started with a strong, physical forecheck by veteran Marcus Johansson, loosening the puck, which the ex-Islander Jordan Eberle pulled from down in his skates and fed to Jared McCann, who buried his shot from a deep angle past NYI goalie Semyon Varlamov.
There's hockey karma in there considering it was a Boston bad-angle goal that beat the Kraken Tuesday night. It ties a career high for McCann, who leads the team with 19 goals.
Two and a half minutes later, Vince Dunn padded the lead with a shot of the year candidate in which the young D-man showed his offensive skill with a toe-drag and backhanded wrister past Varlamov. Forward Mason Appleton set up the play, winning a puck battle and passing to Dunn. Let's agree NYI fans were not happy after the second score.
The Kraken kept the pressure on after both goals. Calle Jarnkrok followed with a laser on the next shift after the first goal, stopped by Varlamov. After the second goal, Colin Blackwell set up Riley Sheahan twice with scoring chances that required big saves from Varlamov.
Philipp Grubauer finished with 19 saves and the first shutout in Kraken history. It is Grubauer's 19th career shutout. Appleton bagged an empty-net goal to make it a 3-0 happy ending to the road odyssey.
Video: SEA@NYI: McCann buries Eberle's backdoor pass
Road Trip Redux: Good Things, Stranger Things
Some good things happened on this road trip: Adam Larsson scored the first overtime winning goal in Kraken history last Thursday. Joonas Donskoi, who so deserved it, scored his first goal in a Seattle jersey Tuesday in Boston. Grubauer notched the first shutout by a Kraken goaltender.
The Fleury brothers, Haydn, 25, and Cale, 23, lived out a dream that became imaginable when they were the first siblings to be drafted by the same expansion team. Tuesday night, they played about 10 minutes of ice time together and turned in a solid performance, as per Hakstol's evaluation. The Brothers Fleury turned in another stellar outing Wednesday in Long Island.
There were stranger occurrences, too: A canceled Saturday game. No, not because of COVID-19 effects, but due to a blizzard that prompted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare a state of emergency throughout southern New York. That game was played here on Long Island Wednesday, pushing back an already shorter All-Star break/former Olympics break than most NHL teams.
Sunday at Madison Square Garden, the Kraken roared back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game on a dramatic Yanni Gourde one-timer (perfect feed from captain Mark Giordano) with just 68 seconds left. But 34 seconds later, the promise of overtime and at least one standings point vanished in part due to a questionable non-call of interference that allowed K'Andre Miller to break hearts of Kraken viewers and listeners back in the Pacific Northwest. "Definitely a penalty," said ROOT SPORTS TV analyst JT Brown.
By Wednesday night, the Kraken arrived at this arena next to Belmont Park to even a road trip with a respectable 2-2 record. But it literally took a while, a long, strange trip you might say. Kraken players and coaches endured a two-hour bus from a Manhattan hotel to the arena, some players not showing up until about an hour before game time. The norm is two to two-and-a-half hours.
"I don't know if the bus trip helped or not," said Grubauer, smiling at his own remark during the post-game media meetup.
McCann brought up the commute when asked if he was happy for linemate Eberle, who got to enjoy a revenge win just like ex-Penguin McCann on the opening game of this trip in Pittsburgh.
"[Eberle] is a great mentor to a lot of guys on this team," McCann said. "We had a little bit of a bus ride to think about it [winning for the former Islander]."
"Everybody in this locker room is going to play hard for him tonight," Hakstol said before the game. "He's such a good team guy and true leader."
Hakstol was noticeably in a good mood during the pre-game media scrum even with the long ride. It was easy to surmise he views his team as having found the consistent, hard-to-play-against-them game he and his coaching staff seek.
Both Hakstol and Grubauer said the extended break from games due to COVID postponements and the winter holiday pause offered a chance to cinch down systems of play.
"We didn't have the consistency level we wanted there before the break," said Hakstol, adding the Kraken are better prepared and, yes, for emphasis, more consistent to win their share of tight, one-goal games that are the norm "this time of year" as the second half of the NHL regular season rolls out.
How about that bus trip?
"Just an everyday, normal bus trip," Hakstol deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure half the fans beat us here tonight."
Like Boston, Like NYI
Before Wednesday's game, Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said the host Islanders play a similar style of game to Boston, Tuesday night's road foe. Both teams "make it tough to get to the net."
Fitting, then, the first period here at UBS Arena played out as a tight, scoreless opening 20 minutes. The Kraken fired 11 shots on goal, but most from the outside lanes of the offensive zone rather than managing to get net-front for first shots, plus possible rebounds and what hockey types like to call "chaos" in front of the other team's goal.
New York managed only five shots on net, but two late-period chances in close by Oliver Wahlstrom and, especially, Casey Cizikas with just over a minute remaining threatened to make it a clean sweep of opponents scoring the first goal of the games on this just-completed road trip.
Video: SEA@NYI: Dunn doubles lead for his 5th
Kraken Power Play Struggles
During a first-period power play, Seattle did not register a shot on goal. The Kraken got a second chance after former Seattle Thunderbirds star Mathew Barzal was whistled for hooking an onrushing Ryan Donato.
During the two-minute minor, Seattle's Alex Wennberg did get off a shot, but there was also two blocked shots and a miss wide that caromed off the boards and all the way back into the Kraken end.
The Kraken are now 3 of 37 on power plays in the last 10 games.
Grubauer's Night
Nearly 35 minutes into this tight contest, the Islanders still had single-digit shots on goal. But the ninth shot on Grubauer was the most dangerous to that juncture of the game. Zach Parise, the long-time Minnesota Wild figure now wearing NYI blue and orange, exploded with a one-timer from the near-faceoff circle. Grubauer made the clutch save, apparently not bothered by sporadic work during the first two periods.
Grubauer turned in a quality save on a "look out!" shot close-in from Jean-Gabriel Pageau 70 seconds into the third period. Kraken fans know all too well the multiple goals scored by foes in the opening minute or two of periods. Same for the final minutes of periods. Grubauer handled those dangerous timeframes Wednesday night.
Video: Grubauer records 1st shutout with Kraken in win
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