> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Shane Wright, Kraken Searching For ‘Killer Instinct’ to Break Out of Slump - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/shane-wright-seattle-kraken-killer-instinct/ - Published: 2025-12-16T18:42:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:16:47.000Z - Author: Corbin Smith - Tags: Features, News, Kraken, Shane Wright, Chandler Stephenson, Lane Lambert, Jani Nyman, Ryan Winterton, Tye Kartye, Ben Meyers, Kaapo Kakko, Vince Dunn, Mason Marchment, Matt Murray, Jacob Melanson [Embed from Getty Images](https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/2249376635?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle Kraken are reeling. With just one win in their past nine games (1-7-1), the Kraken have lost all momentum from their best start in franchise history. It’s been a full month since Seattle last won a game by multiple goals (a 4-1 win vs. San Jose on Nov. 15), and 26 days since winning in regulation (3-2 win vs. Chicago on Nov. 20). Mistakes bit the Kraken in Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, after which coach Lane Lambert [declared the players needed to “do their job” to limit those costly errors](https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/home/seattle-kraken-buffalo-sabres-players-have-to-do-their-job) and get out of the slump. Lambert said he felt the team has not been making more mistakes than their strong start to the season, but that the lack of scoring production and recent losing have made it more apparent. “I think it’s just biting us a little more now,” Lambert said after the game Sunday. “It wasn’t like we were mistake-free, certainly, but right now, it’s magnified, right? Because you’re not winning and you’re having trouble scoring goals 5-on-5.” Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson, who scored Seattle’s lone goal on Sunday, lamented the state that the team is in. Despite receiving strong goaltending performances and most games remaining close, Seattle can’t seem to get results. “Kind of at a loss right now,” Stephenson said after the game Sunday. “Seems like kind of the same thing every game: Effort’s there, but not winning hockey games right now.” One of the few players Lambert saw making a positive impact on Sunday was Shane Wright. The 21-year-old forward did not get on the score sheet, but he drove his line with Ryan Winterton and Jani Nyman to a 78.57 Corsi For Percentage (11-3) in 6:19 of 5-on-5 ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick. With Wright on the ice in 13:43 of 5-on-5, Seattle outshot (9-4) and out-chanced (11-2) Buffalo by significant margins, including a 6-0 count in high-danger chances. “His compete level, yeah, it’s higher right now than it was earlier,” Lambert said about Wright on Monday. “Which stems from confidence, which is what we’ve talked about with him all the time. He’s a good hockey player who can own pucks, hold on to pucks and win battles to get pucks back, and I think he’s doing a better job of that.” As a result, when Lambert benched Nyman for most of the third period—which he clarified on Monday was due to some of his turnovers and the general growing pains of his development—he double-shifted Wright on lines with Winterton and Ben Meyers as well as Tye Kartye and Jacob Melanson. “You want to be out there on the ice as much as you can,” Wright told Emerald City Spectrum on Monday. “And you want your coach to trust you and to put you out there more. So yeah, it’s always nice being thrown out there a little more than usual, and just want to keep building off that and show that I deserve to be out there a little more.” Wright said that the biggest piece of feedback from the coaching staff was how much they liked his responsibility in the defensive zone, and that they can trust him to be out there against the opponent’s better players. In response to Stephenson’s assessment of the team’s struggles, Wright feels that since most games have a close scoring margin—taking away empty net goals that inflate the final score—some of these games come down to the Kraken not burying their scoring chances when they need to, be it a late power play or any other moment they can cling on to and build momentum off of. “We’re in a lot of games. We’re right there. It’s a lot of tight games,” Wright said. “I think just having that killer instinct and really taking over and step on the other team’s throats really, to put it bluntly, and just really finishing teams is the biggest thing. “I think we’re giving ourselves chances to win. I think just being able to cross that line and really turn these ‘almost wins’ into actual wins is key.” ### Kraken Injury Updates Both Kaapo Kakko and Vince Dunn were absent from practice at Kraken Community Iceplex on Monday, and Lambert revealed they were the latest ones struck with the illness going around the locker room. Kartye missed Seattle’s 3-2 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 10, and Mason Marchment missed Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Buffalo, each with illness. Marchment was a full participant in Monday’s practice. Lambert believes both Dunn and Kakko should be good to go for Tuesday’s home matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, but that the nature of the illness and its effect on the locker room makes it somewhat unpredictable. “I would expect them to be fine tomorrow,” Lambert said on Monday. “But you know, with what’s going on, you never know who’s next.” Additionally, goaltender Matt Murray practiced in full with the team on Monday after working his way back in limited capacities over the past couple morning skates. He has missed 12 games with a lower-body injury, and is not yet healthy enough to work back into the rotation, according to Lambert.