Kraken Stumble Out of Olympic Break With 4-1 Loss to Stars
Coming off the extended Olympic break, the Seattle Kraken managed to put together the kind of start they wanted against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
Playing physical from the jump, Seattle did not allow a shot on goal from Dallas between 5:21 and 12:40 in the first period, and put together a productive power-play opportunity in that span, albeit without scoring.
However, the Stars picked up the pressure in the final minutes of the first, scoring just 1:19 before the intermission before taking a 2-0 lead 1:43 into the second. Before the second period was half over, the Kraken trailed 4-0 en route to a 4-1 loss.
“We were a little bit sloppy execution-wise. We weren’t making plays,” Kraken captain Jordan Eberle told reporters in Dallas after the game. “(...) They played simple, they played good. They defended the inside. I didn’t think we did a good job getting inside and getting greasy.”
Dallas did not skip a beat despite missing Mikko Rantanen (lower body) and Roope Hintz (illness), among others, as well as goalie Jake Oettinger, who served as the backup after returning from the Gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team.
Three of the four Dallas goals came off a tip-in or redirect, with the Stars putting plenty of traffic in front of Seattle goalie Joey Daccord while limiting scoring opportunities in their own end.
Despite the low shooting output, the Kraken had two opportunities to take the lead in the first period on the man advantage. While they established lengthy offensive zone possessions on both chances, the Dallas penalty kill protected the middle with three total blocked shots.
The Stars outshot Seattle 8-0 over the final 7:20 of the first period, taking a 1-0 lead after Wyatt Johnston wrapped into the slot from behind the net to tip in Esa Lindell’s shot from the point.
Matt Duchene quickly pushed it to 2-0 at 1:43 of the second period, winning an offensive zone faceoff before redirecting Thomas Harley’s shot through traffic past Daccord.
“The first goal, I thought, I mean if you could say, it was a bit of a turning point. You give up a goal late in the first period like that. You have to box out going to the net,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “Those shots, by the way, were going wide. And they’re throwing that puck to the net and tipping them. So that’s what we’re talking about with us. Shot-first mentality and they tip ‘em.
“The second goal they scored was a result of poor execution. We ice the puck. Faceoff, don’t maintain our assignment off the draw and it’s in the back of our net, so there’s little things that just kind of snowballed on us.”
The Stars struck again at 5:35, with Mavrik Bourque shooting the puck between Daccord’s pads off the rush before Sam Steel crashed in to poke it across the goal line. Lambert challenged the play for goaltender interference, but it was upheld after review.
“It’s 3-0. I didn’t think our team was doing anything at the time,” Lambert said. “We knew it was probably going to be about a 50/50 opportunity that they were going to call the goal back. But at that point in time, with our team and the way we were playing, we needed some sort of spark. We took the chance. I’d do it again.”
Dallas went on the power play as a result of the failed challenge, and cashed in with yet another tip-in from Johnston, this time off a shot from Miro Heiskanen at 6:14. After two periods, the Stars led 4-0 with a 26-9 shots on goal advantage.
“We failed to execute on a lot of different situations,” Lambert said. “For whatever reason, we had a– apparently we had a pass-first mentality instead of a shoot-first mentality. Just doesn’t work with our hockey team. There’s no excuse for it. There’s no reason for it. We got to be better.”
Evans spoiled Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith’s shutout at 6:41 of the third period, where the Kraken did not allow a shot on goal until 10:54, but it was too little, too late.
“We were just passing up shots,” Evans said. “We just need to get pucks towards the net, and get a greasy one. We were just trying to make a fancy play or just pass it, and we just need to get to the net.”
Ryan Lindgren exited the game following a big hit on Colin Blackwell just 4:38 into the game. He was ruled out early in the second period with an undisclosed injury, which reduced the Kraken to just five defensemen for the majority of the game. In the postgame media availability video released by the Kraken, Lambert was not asked about Lindgren’s status.
Seattle has a quick turnaround with a matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday before returning to Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday to kick off a six-game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks.
“As tough as that is, all these games are massively important,” Eberle said. “I don’t care if it’s after the break or what it may be, but we got to find a way to rebound tomorrow.”
