Kraken Fall Out of Playoff Spot as Skid Continues in 5-1 Loss to Avalanche
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4595"]
Seattle Kraken forward Berkly Catton (27), center, skates against Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nick Blankenburg (37), left, and forward Nathan MacKinnon (29) during the third period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. - The difference between the first and second period was night and day for the Seattle Kraken against the Colorado Avalanche at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.
A lethargic effort from Seattle and a three-point period from Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon put the Kraken in a 3-0 hole through 20 minutes, but the home side came out of the gates swinging in the second period.
Despite building up a 10-0 shots on goal advantage through 10:25, Seattle could not manage to get on the board before Adam Larsson committed a tripping penalty to put the Kraken on the penalty kill.
What should have been a momentum killer was the exact opposite. Chandler Stephenson set up Ryker Evans for a short-handed goal, and Seattle was back in business.
For less than four minutes.
A Nazem Kadri redirect at 17:11 of the second put Colorado back ahead by three, and the Avalanche scored again in the third to secure a 5-1 victory. The Kraken have lost four straight, and six of eight coming out of the Olympic break.
Any push back was too little, too late. Seattle coach Lane Lambert made that much clear.
“Can’t explain it. Unacceptable,” Lambert said. “We played well in the second and third period, but you can’t spot that team that many goals. We got to wake up.”
It took just 3:45 for Colorado to get on the board, as Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Nazem Kadri and the defensive pair of Cale Makar and Devon Toews picked apart the Kraken defensive zone, with MacKinnon and Toews ultimately setting up Necas for his 30th goal of the season.
MacKinnon pushed it to 2-0 on a similar cross-crease pass from Necas, and after an Eberle high-sticking penalty late in the first put Seattle on a four-minute penalty kill, Nicolas Roy scored off a rebound at 18:48 to make it 3-0.
“My biggest issue with the first period is the goals they scored are just (systematic) breakdowns,” Lambert said. “We played over 60 games this year. We need to have poise and composure. We’re doing things that are absolutely mind-boggling to me. It’s got to stop.”
Lambert replaced starter Joey Daccord (12 saves on 15 shots) with Philipp Grubauer to begin the second period. Lambert insisted the short leash was not a reflection on Daccord, who made his third straight start on Thursday, but rather a wake-up call for the rest of the team.
Whether or not the switch had any real impact on the skaters, the Kraken did get their act together in the second period — not allowing a shot from the Avalanche until more than halfway through — but they couldn’t manage to get past Scott Wedgewood (28 saves). At least not at even strength.
Stephenson forced a turnover in the neutral zone and positioned himself to set up Evans trailing in behind to cut it to 3-1 with a short-handed goal at 13:36, putting the home side back in the mix based on how the entire period went to that point. It would still be a tall hill to climb.
“Bit of a roller coaster,” Stephenson said. “You play pretty good for two periods of that game, and when you play a team like that, you can’t take any time off, or that’s what the outcome will be.”
It took all of 3:35 for Colorado to reclaim control, when Kadri tipped a shot from Sam Malinski in at 17:11. With the secondary assist, MacKinnon tallied his fourth point of the night to reach 64 assists and 108 points on the season, which ranks second in the NHL behind Connor McDavid (110).
Seattle outshot the Avalanche 14-4 in the second period, but ultimately had no progress on the scoreboard margin to show for it.
Jordan Eberle opened the third period with a breakaway opportunity just 52 seconds in, and Ryan Winterton got into space for a point-blank chance at 2:03, but Wedgewood stopped both to keep Colorado ahead.
“That’s a game where you score the next goal, all of a sudden you’re back in it,” Eberle said. “And that (goal from Kadri) kills your momentum. … Not only that, but the fifth one, too. That kind of kills it even more.”
Before Seattle could trim the deficit any more, Joel Kiviranta redirected Josh Manson’s shot through traffic past Grubauer to make it 5-1 at 12:41, sealing a game that already felt over.
With the loss, the Kraken fell out of the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. They now sit one point behind the San Jose Sharks, who also hold fourth place in the Pacific Division. Seattle is five points behind Edmonton in third, albeit with two games in hand.
For the first time since Jan. 28, the Kraken are outside the Stanley Cup playoff picture. Trade deadline acquisition Bobby McMann has yet to debut due to delays with his work visa processing, which Lambert provided no update on despite obvious frustration at the situation.
With 18 games left, the season is slipping from Seattle’s grasp. Lambert has no answers for the team’s lack of motivation, but the players put on a hopeful front.
“We wake up tomorrow, we’re out of the playoffs. Maybe we’ll get a little bit of urgency here,” Eberle said. “(We) understand the situation, and like I said, this team’s dug ourselves out of a hole already this year a couple times. There’s a lot of character in here. I know a lot of guys care. There’s no reason we can’t do it again.”
Come Saturday’s road matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, we’ll see if the current losing streak sparks meaningful change, or if the same words will be echoed following yet another missed opportunity to gain playoff positioning.
