Kraken Bounce Back, Hold Off Blackhawks in 3-1 Win

SEATTLE, Wash. — For a moment, it looked like the Seattle Kraken missed an opportunity to bury the Chicago Blackhawks.

With a 2-0 lead in the third period at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday, the Kraken nearly increased their lead to three following a strong forechecking effort from Jaden Schwartz and Chandler Stephenson, which set up Kaapo Kakko for a chance on a tip-in and a follow-up wrister three seconds later at 11:23, but Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom stopped both.

Chicago’s Connor Bedard picked up the loose puck and started the other way, chipping the puck off the right wall to get around Seattle defenseman Vince Dunn, and reached it before Dunn’s partner, Adam Larsson.

With former Kraken Andre Burakovsky drifting into the slot all alone, Bedard centered a perfect pass and Burakovsky buried the shot to cut the deficit to 2-1 at 11:33. In a 10 second span, Seattle went from knocking on the door of a 3-0 lead to protecting a one-goal margin.

Those type of swing plays can shift momentum and change the outcome of games, but the Kraken put in the effort to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

Seattle skaters blocked three consecutive shot attempts from Chicago before Matty Beniers poked the puck away from Frank Nazar in the neutral zone and sent it up to Jordan Eberle, sparking a 2-on-1 with Eeli Tolvanen.

The captain called his own number and beat Soderblom to push it to 3-1 at 16:05. The score would hold through the final seconds, and the Kraken would come away with a bounce back victory.

“Just the last couple games, we haven’t really created as much as we want to,” Eberle said. “Trying to find ways to, obviously defend, but create off of it. I think the third goal was a perfect example of that. Just defending through the neutral zone and then countering.

“So yeah, we want to try and add more and more to our game. That’s the biggest thing. I think, obviously, we’re going to win by our defense and that’s kind of the backbone of our team, but you have to put the puck in the net to win hockey games, so we have to find ways to score more goals.”

After a 3-2 overtime loss against the New York Rangers on Saturday, during which Seattle put just 13 shots on goal, Kraken coach Lane Lambert emphasized a need for higher shot volume and less-picky shot selection.

So when Seattle jumped out to a 6-0 shots on goal advantage in the first 3:48 of the game, it was clear early on that the message had been received.

“I think it’s sometimes just a mentality thing,” Beniers said. “You put it in your brain that you’re going to shoot the puck and get to the net, you go and do it. Sometimes we get away from that, but I thought we did a much better job tonight.”

However, Seattle started to get sloppy exiting their own zone, and the Blackhawks started to fight back with their chances. By the end of the frame, each side had 10 shots on goal.

“We were a little loose on a couple of occasions,” Lambert said. “Certainly in the first period, we gave up a couple of good opportunities in the slot, which we haven’t really done and was uncharacteristic of us a little bit, but certainly, (Joey Daccord) made some good saves tonight and played well.”

The second period more closely resembled what Kraken hockey has looked like recently. However, despite being outshot 14-5 in the period, Seattle took a 2-0 lead with goals from Jamie Oleksiak and Beniers.

The Kraken were boosted by special teams, with Beniers’ goal coming from a great passing sequence on the power play and with the Seattle penalty kill perfect on both its assignments in the period.

“The second period was a little bit of a challenge because we took some penalties,” Lambert said. “So we were killing, so they had some shot attempts and shots on goal in those situations, so you can’t be overly– you got to keep everything into a little bit of perspective.”

Oleksiak gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 2:57 of the second period, pinching up to deflect a pass through the neutral zone and sending Seattle on a rush the other way. Tye Kartye and Berkly Catton won a puck battle along the end boards and sent it back out to Oleksiak, who fired a shot through traffic at the right point for the tally.

The power play stepped up to extend the lead at 7:36, with Dunn receiving the puck off the Stephenson faceoff win and sending it across to Tolvanen, who passed it up to Eberle. The Kraken captain took the puck behind the goal line, pulling Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier with him as Beniers sat wide open in front for a one-timer off a backhand pass.

Beniers committed a hooking penalty just 29 seconds after the goal to hand Chicago a power play of its own, and an Eberle trip at 15:32 put Seattle back on the kill. The Kraken blocked five shots on the first kill before Daccord made two close-range stops on the first kill, and the Blackhawks managed just one shot on goal on the second opportunity as Seattle entered the third period with a 2-0 lead.

“That’s part of the game,” Beniers said. “We’ve been on the opposite side of that when we feel like we’re playing good, and we let up a power-play goal and another one. So I thought it was a good job getting us two goals, putting them in the back of the net and then getting some momentum on our side, obviously, even when it might not have been.”

With some line shuffling from Lambert in the third period to put out better defensive looks, the Kraken took that momentum and responded much stronger, not buckling after Burakovsky cut it to 2-1 and ultimately turning defense into offense to pad the lead.

“Leading is always nice because then you can kind of dictate your game,” Daccord said. “It was a great effort in the first period to come out well and start well, and then obviously the boys capitalize (in) the second period and just build from there. … I thought it was a great response from our group.”

With Seattle protecting a two-goal lead as Chicago pulled Soderblom for an extra attacker in the final minutes, Daccord thought he had an opportunity to score the rare goalie goal. Settling a fast puck around the end boards with his stick, Daccord felt he had enough time and a clear lane to give it a shot.

The puck sailed right on course for the cage, and the 29-year-old netminder thought he had it, but he didn’t see Blackhawks defenseman Artyom Levshunov behind one of his teammates, and the puck was scooped off course before it could glide to the back of the net.

Daccord didn’t get a goal, but with 29 saves, he backstopped his team to a much-needed victory. It hasn’t always looked pretty, but sitting at 6-2-4, the Kraken are happy to have points in all but two games so far this season.

“I’m pumped. It’s fun,” Daccord said. “Winning is fun. Last two seasons, we haven’t won as much as we wanted to, so we’ve put ourselves in a good spot here to start the year, and we just need to keep growing and keep building our game.”