On Saturday, Dec. 6, the Seattle Kraken hosted the Detroit Red Wings for the final game in their season series. The Red Wings opened the scoring early with a power-play goal in the first half of the first period. Seattle managed to tie it up later in the first with a goal from Brandon Montour, bringing the score to 1-1. In the second, Andrew Copp scored first in the period, but the Kraken scored two in return. James van Riemsdyk tied it late in the second, and the score sat at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
Related: Red Wings Sweep Season Series in 4-3 Victory Over Kraken
The only team to score in the third was Detroit, when Patrick Kane scored another late goal, giving them a 4-3 victory and sweeping the season series.
Adam Larsson is a key member of the Kraken’s defense, but in this game, he became a strong offensive player.
The Seattle Kraken celebrate after a goal scored by defenseman Adam Larsson against the Detroit Red Wings (Steven Bisig-Imagn Images)
In the second period, Ryker Evans stole the puck from the Red Wings in their zone. He skated it through the neutral zone and sent the puck into the Kraken’s zone. Tye Kartye picked up the loose puck at the boards and sent it around for Vince Dunn at the blue line. He passed it across the ice to his defensive partner, Larsson, who was also waiting at the blue line. He skated it up and sent a shot through traffic to even the score.
About six minutes later, Larsson had a mirror-image chance. Eeli Tolvanen passed the puck to him at the blue line, and Larsson took the shot immediately. Again, the puck flew through traffic, but Chandler Stephenson got his stick on the puck and tipped it in. Since he got the last touch, the goal was credited to him.
This goal and assist marked Larsson’s first multi-point night of the season. In total, he has seven points in 26 games and a minus-2 rating. Larsson and Dunn make up Seattle’s first defensive pairing, so he plays a major role in the team’s defense. However, his offensive performance is what made the difference in this game, giving the Kraken a fighting chance.
Kraken Still Struggling on the Power Play
The Kraken had two extra-man advantages and still failed to score. Detroit made the most of its one power-play chance of the game and scored a power-play goal in the opening half of the first period. Not only did the Kraken not score on the power play, but their penalty kill also struggled.
The two teams opened the third period down a player each, so they played 4-on-4 for the first two minutes. Neither team scored.
The Kraken’s power-play percentage has once again dropped, now sitting at 16.9%. Their power play is ranked 22nd in the league. Their penalty kill is also weak; in fact, it is the weakest in the NHL. With a 64.8% penalty-kill percentage, Seattle is ranked 32nd.
If Seattle continues on this path with special teams, it will continue to struggle this season. The Kraken went from a playoff position around Thanksgiving to now losing their last four straight games, one ahead of the holiday and the three that followed. They are now sixth overall in the Pacific Division, and they are currently in sixth place in the hunt for a wild-card spot. They have dropped a substantial number of spots since the beginning of the season.
There is still plenty of time to correct course and get back in the postseason position they were in prior. However, their special teams need to get stronger if the Kraken want to have a fighting chance in their remaining 56 games in the regular season. Head coach Lane Lambert keeps changing the line combinations; it might be time to change the special teams units as well.Â
Kraken Remain at Home
The Kraken will stay in Seattle and host the Minnesota Wild on Monday, Dec. 8.
