This was not the home opener coach Dave Hakstol and his squad imagined after a successful two-game road trip to start the season. But the best news is that it represents just one game and two points in the standings.
There are 79 more games and 158 more standings points on the docket. The 5-2 loss evens the Kraken’s record to 1-1-1, which projects to 82 standings points to stretch the hockey math. Monday’s a new game.
“We’re not going to forget this game,” said coach Dave Hakstol when asked how best to shake off a tough night. “There are specific things we have to clean up. It’s not that we were slow or sluggish [in the game’s first 10 minutes]. We’ll address that.
It’s the execution and the mentality of our play with the puck that we have to fix. We can do that right away, looking at it tomorrow. It’s not all done by video. Guys know what we did.”
Alternate captain Jordan Eberle concurred in his post-game comments: “I think it’s important to go over things and address what needs to be addressed. The first thing that comes to mind for me is, we have to have O-zone [puck] possession.
We’re maybe getting a little too cute and fancy, then we turn the puck over and they have chances, breakaways, and two-on-ones [rushes] or three-on-ones or whatever it may be. Jonesy made some key saves.”
Hakstol called it possible Jones could have helped Seattle “steal the game” if the Kraken had cut the lead to 2-1 before the goal onslaught from Vegas.
Taking A Longer View
Watching a game that not a single Seattle player or coach will deny was a clunker, an early training camp conversation with alternate captain and defenseman Adam Larson comes to mind. Larsson was talking about the season ahead and staying in playoff contention all season.
“We really have to emphasize the beginning, the first two months,” said Larsson. “Getting off to just a good start, not necessarily fantastic, but just a start where we feel like, OK, we’re in the mix. That would be big. We want to play games that matter late in the season.”
Just Sayin’ – and Yellin’
When new defenseman Justin Schultz broke the shutout late third period, the Climate Pledge Arena crowd roared as per the usual Seattle-brand noise. Big decibels. Andrey Burakovsky and Matty Beniers Notched assists, making it 13 points in 13 NHL games for Beniers.
The decibels and Big Noise erupted a few shifts later Jaden Schwartz nabbed his second goal of the year, redirecting a laser pass from Burakovsky. It’s small consolation but those Burakovsky passes will pay off on future nights.
Sluggish’ Start
The Kraken dug a hole 12 seconds into this home opener Yanni Gourde didn’t get all of a puck he was trying to clear from the defensive zone. Vegas forward William Carrier gathered the loose puck, sent it to former WHL Seattle Thunderbirds star Keegan Kolesar to fire a wrist shot that beat Martin Jones‘far side.
For his part, Gourde was glum about his miscue after the game, but also stood up as usual when he made a mistake. It’s the stuff of an alternate captain.
“I’m supposed to be on the ice to bring energy to this team and make the right play,” said Gourde. “This can’t happen on the first shift. I’ve got to be better.”
Less than three minutes later, Vegas forward Nicolas Roy (drafted by Kraken GM Ron Francis in Carolina) sent a cross-ice pass to Jonathan Marchessault, who was uncovered and took advantage by one-timing a shot into a wide-open back-door. side of the net. It was a power-play goal, the third in eight tries against Seattle penalty killers.
To their credit, the Kraken shook off a 5-0 shots-on-goal advantage for Vegas in the first five minutes to finish the period with seven scoring chances and nine shots on goal compared to Vegas notching nine scoring attempts and 11 SOG. Jones fended off three high-quality scoring chances in the final 15 minutes of the frame to keep matters close.
Bottom line: The Kraken’s first dozen or so shifts did not resemble any of the five-and-a-half strong periods played on the first 2022-23 road trip. Alternate captain Jordan Eberle called it a “sluggish” start when speaking to ROOT SPORTS’ Piper Shaw during the first intermission. No argument here.
Tight Game Unravels
Five-and-a-half minutes into the second period, Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn was called for hooking Vegas center Chandler Stephenson on a clear breakaway scoring chance. Stephenson was awarded a penalty shot (in lieu of a two-minute penalty) but Jones made a clean stop to keep it 2-0. Within a minute of game action, Jones made two more point-blank stops to keep that margin.
Later in the period, the wheels fell off for Jones and his teammates. Vegas scored three goals in the last six minutes, including a second Marchessault goal on an extreme or “bad” angle that squeezed between Jones’ hip and glove. When VGK defenseman Shea Theodore made it 5-0 late in the second period, it prompted Hakstol to give the third-period net to Philipp Grubauer. The first “Gruuuuuuu” cheer of the season came on an outstanding save on a Vegas odd-man rush with seven minutes left in the game.
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