Kraken Maintaining a Pulse With Three Points in Florida
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Seattle Kraken center Bobby McMann (74) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images [/caption]
The Stanley Cup playoffs begin in three weeks, and there’s an argument to be made that it’s the most exciting postseason in professional sports.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t just hockey, it’s a controlled detonation of chaos, pain tolerance, and pure will. Every shift feels like it weighs a pound more, every hit echoes through the arena a little more, and every goal is either ecstasy or heartbreak. The margins shrink until the game becomes survival. Legends are carved out in April through June. It’s hockey at its rawest, loudest, most unforgiving, and most beautiful state.
The big question is, will the Seattle Kraken get into that dance?
If you ask PuckMedia.com, the answer is no. They currently have the Kraken’s playoff chances at 24.3%. As of Friday afternoon, they sit just three points out of a Wild Card spot. That being with 11 games left in the regular season. Possible? Of course. Likely? No.
However, the Kraken have put the tourniquet on the bleeding… for now. Their tour through the state of Florida was quite fruitful. Trailing late in Sunrise against the Panthers, down 4-1 midway through the third period, the Kraken seemed destined for another gut-wrenching loss. Had they come away with zero points, that felt like the end of any playoff hopes. Instead, Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle, and Bobby McMann scored three goals in the span of four game minutes to tie it ahead of the buzzer in regulation.
Sending it to overtime and then a shootout was critical, as it gave the Kraken a point in the standings. Even after the Kraken lost the shootout, it felt like half of a win after Seattle trailed by three goals late in the game. In a way, it felt like they had saved their season. Or, at least, staved off elimination.
The task only got tougher, playing a much better Lightning team in their own building two days later. Facing a team that has legitimate Stanley Cup championship hopes is never easy. The Kraken led 3-1 at one point, before Tampa scored two goals to end the second period. Philipp Grubauer held strong in net for the third period, sending it to overtime.
Instead of the Kraken being complacent with getting a point in Tampa, Brandon Montour notched his 10th goal of the season to give the Kraken the huge win. Coming out of Florida with three points in those two games felt like a victory all its own.
The road only gets tougher from here. Seattle has one last game on a lengthy East Coast trip coming Saturday in Buffalo. The Sabres are currently the top team in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t made the playoffs in 15 years. Their fanbase can taste it. They will be motivated.
Coming away with, at worst, another point in that game would feel like another massive win. At this point, with so few games remaining, and the Kraken trailing still in the Wild Card standings, they frankly cannot go many, if any games at all, without at least one point.
Before heading back to Seattle, they face the Oilers on the road one more time in Edmonton. That has always been a tough matchup for Seattle traveling north of the bolder.
Can the Kraken still make the playoffs? Yes, and that’s the good news. However, that will come with them likely not being able to afford any more losses in regulation the rest of the way, putting an incredible amount of pressure on the team heading into the closing stretch.
