Kraken Blow Lead, Allow Six Unanswered in Critical Loss to Utah
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Seattle Kraken center Matty Beniers (10) passes while defended by Utah Mammoth defenseman Ian Cole (28) in the third period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — Jacob Melanson was doing Jacob Melanson things.
Moments after beating out a potential icing for the Seattle Kraken, which faced the Utah Mammoth at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday, the 22-year-old forward redirected a Ryan Lindgren shot past Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka to extend Seattle’s lead to 3-1 early in the second period.
That kind of high-motor, physical play getting instantly rewarded is just what a Kraken team fighting for a Western Conference wild card spot needs. Instead, it was instantly stripped away.
The Mammoth successfully challenged for goaltender interference, bringing the score back to 2-1. Utah tied it four minutes later, erasing its 2-0 deficit and scoring four more unanswered goals to secure a 6-2 win.
“It’s disappointing, this point in the season where we’re at,” Kraken captain Jordan Eberle said. “It’s frustrating. I think you’re trying to fight for your lives and you’re getting beat and run out of your own rink. It’s just disappointing.”
Plenty of things worked against Seattle on Thursday, only some self-inflicted. In addition to Melanson’s goal getting taken off the board, Utah successfully challenged another play involving goaltender interference, which restored Dylan Guenther’s goal that pushed it to 5-2 at 7:27 of the third period.
Not to mention a separate Mammoth goal that got overturned for goaltender interference late in the game, but that actually went in the Kraken’s favor.
Seattle also committed a pair of double-minor penalties on high-sticking calls, and the Mammoth cashed in on both total three goals on the man-advantage. Meanwhile, the Kraken went 0-for-3 on their own opportunities.
Entering the third period trailing 3-2, Seattle was outshot 10-1 through the first 9:05 of the frame. Despite that disparity, Kraken coach Lane Lambert was satisfied with the level of urgency. A level of urgency the Kraken also displayed in a significant push after the Mammoth tied it 2-2.
Still, the Kraken came up short in every facet. Fighting for their playoff lives, they inch closer to death.
“We end up scoring a goal and it gets disallowed. They tie it, and I think that we had some chances,” Lambert said. “We certainly had some chances (from) Bobby McMann. We had a good push when the score was 2-2, and we just, for whatever reason, couldn’t find the back of the net.”
It appeared as if the pregame ceremony celebrating Adam Larsson’s 1,000th NHL game would give Seattle a much-needed boost out of the gate, as the 33-year-old defenseman’s shot rebounded off of Vejmelka’s pads and onto Eberle’s stick for an easy rebound just 41 seconds into the game.
McMann continued to validate his acquisition at the trade deadline with a backhanded rebound of his own shot to double the lead at 13:45. The winger leads the Kraken with eight goals and 12 points in the 10 games he’s played with the team.
Logan Cooley put the Mammoth on the board with a power-play goal at 16:27, but it appeared as if Melanson had regained control for Seattle at 6:11 of the second. Until it was ruled he did not.
“Rules are rules, but it’s a tough break,” Melanson said. “(Letting the lead slip) just can’t happen. We can’t have excuses like that. It doesn’t count, we get right back to it and get another one.”
Cooley tied it up with his second goal of the night at 10:05, finishing off a sequence after Utah started to regain momentum in the offensive zone, and after the Kraken failed to convert any of the following chances, Berkly Catton went to the box for a four-minute high-sticking penalty at 13:55. Nick Schmaltz scored with a one-timer off a pass from Clayton Keller to take the lead a minute later.
Taking their lead into the third period, the Mammoth strengthened their grip. Amid the 10-1 shot disparity, two went to the back of the net. First JJ Peterka ripped a shot just under the crossbar to push it to 4-2 at 4:39, and Guenther managed to push a rebound past Joey Daccord while falling to the ground at 7:27 to make it 5-2.
Guenther’s goal was originally called off for goaltender interference, but after another successful challenge from Utah, the goal stood. The night ended with another power-play goal — on another four-minute high stick, this time from Eberle — taking an odd bounce off Michael Carcone and flopping into the net off Daccord’s arm at 16:37.
“You can’t come through those types of careless plays with your stick,” Lambert said. “It’s very, very difficult to. You can’t give a team like that the amount of power plays that they had and expect to hold them off the board. So right now we’re hurting ourselves. …
“You can say what you want to say, I think there (were) some saves that we needed tonight that we didn’t get.”
With eight games left, the Kraken sit four spots out of the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. As of Thursday night, both the Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Kings are tied with the San Jose Sharks, who currently hold the last spot, with 79 points each.
Behind those three are the Winnipeg Jets with 76 points, and Seattle is just behind with 75. A lot would need to go their way for the Kraken to regain a playoff spot in time.
“We have to figure this out,” Eberle said. “It’s just that simple. We’re running out of time. At this point, it’s put your head down and work, and worry about the next game as hard as that is. You have to try and switch your mindset, but at the end of the day, this is just unacceptable.”
