Kraken Fall Back Into Bad Habits, Suffer 6-2 Loss to Lightning
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Seattle Kraken forward Ryan Winterton (26) skates with the puck during the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. - It started with Jared McCann.
The Seattle Kraken forward said as much, referring to his turnover to Tampa Bay Lightning forward Gage Concalves on a hit along the boards that ultimately led to the latter giving his side a 1-0 lead just 5:45 into Tuesday’s game at Climate Pledge Arena, but it didn’t end there.
Between Tampa’s relentless forecheck and a couple of crucial mistakes on Seattle’s end, the Lightning stormed to a 3-0 lead. The Kraken managed to cut it to 3-2 midway through the second period, but more mistakes doomed them to a 6-2 loss.
“It started with me, obviously, the first goal there,” McCann said. “I turn the puck over at the blue line, and you know, they scored. So (that’s) on me, but I thought we had a good effort in the second period. Obviously, came back and kind of made it a game, but at the end of the day, yeah, tough turnovers.”
Seattle generated just one shot at 5-on-5 through the first period, and after fighting back in the second period, let the game slip away in the final period. Despite that, Kraken coach Lane Lambert was satisfied with the team’s overall performances – except for the mistakes the ultimately decided the game.
“For the most part, it was a fairly even game,” Lambert said. “Our mistakes were really catastrophic, obviously. Some really, really poor decisions. … We’re making some mistakes here that you can’t make. I’m not going to say they’re uncharacteristic because apparently they are at the moment, but you can’t make these mistakes.”
The Lightning set the tone early, not allowing Seattle to record a shot on goal until 10:41 of the first period — Chandler Stephenson from 88 feet away — or any within 33 feet on four shots through 20 minutes.
“They do a good job at the neutral zone,” said new Kraken forward Bobby McMann, who faced Tampa Bay as a division opponent while with the Toronto Maple Leafs. “They make it hard to enter the zone and get possession or establish a forecheck. I think that’s probably the biggest strength of their game.
“And then if you’re not diligent with the puck and you turn it over, I think they go the other way pretty good, and they have the skill to make it count.”
Nearing the first intermission, the heads-up play from Goncalves was the only thing separating the two teams, but Nikita Kucherov turned it into a 3-0 abyss with goals on either side of the break.
First, the star Russian forward swooped in on Ben Meyers in Seattle’s zone, where the Kraken fourth-liner loosely handled a pass from Brandon Montour and turned it over to give Tampa Bay an instant 2-on-1 at the circles.
Two passes, and Kucherov tucked the puck into a gaping net at 18:49 of the first period.
“Just got off to a bad start,” Meyers said. “Had a great second period to get us back into it, but just kind of gave them the first three goals. And yeah, just got behind against a really good team.”
It took just 57 seconds into the second period for Kucherov to strike again, as an ill-timed Kraken line change allowed the Lightning to get three skaters behind, and a quick passing sequence turned it into a 3-0 lead.
Before things completely spiraled out of control, McMann continued his scoring streak in a Seattle uniform just 10 seconds later. After Matty Beniers leapt to keep a lobbed puck in the Tampa Bay zone, he dished it to McMann in space on the left to set up his fourth goal in three games with the Kraken.
The Lightning continued to dominate possession, but Seattle successfully clogged up the middle to limit their chances reaching Philipp Grubauer in net. That held up long enough for McCann to cut it to 3-2 at 9:46, just four seconds after a power play expired.
Ryan Winterton drew another penalty just seven seconds after McCann’s goal, the Kraken maintaining possession for 35 more seconds on a delay before receiving another power-play opportunity. Although they couldn’t tie the game, the signs of life were encouraging compared to the previous period.
“I think it shows some resiliency for this group, and we’re able to claw back in games against good teams that are pressing hard,” McMann said. “And then also proud of this group for the way we did alter our game and kind of changed things up to try and generate more offense because that’s not always easy to do.”
With new life, the Kraken fumbled it away in the third period as the same costly mistakes came back to bite them.
A Beniers turnover behind the net to Brandon Hagel led to a goal in front by Anthony Cirelli at 4:35 of the third, and Hagel himself put the game away for good by finishing off a tic-tac-toe sequence on the power play at 16:54.
Kucherov added an empty-net goal at 17:16 to complete his hat trick and finish the night with five points in the 6-2 Lightning victory.
Seattle heads out on a six-game road trip to close out the month of March, which includes a rematch in Tampa on March 26. For a team clinging onto a wild card spot, the message is clear.
“We need to just have a full team effort here, and get on the road in the Nashville, and put our best foot forward,” Lambert said. “We have to cut down on our mistakes. We have to understand that.”
