The Columbus Blue Jackets played last night in a game that went to overtime with a sickness running through the locker room, and a goalie playing his second game in as many nights. If there ever was an opportunity to take advantage of a weakened team, this would be it. But these are the Seattle Kraken, and they are determined to never make things easy. For the 8th time this season, the Kraken played a game that went to overtime. They’ve only played 16 games! So if you tuned into a Kraken game, half of the time the game has been undecided in regulation.

And the Kraken decided that even after five minutes, they still weren’t done. Experience Kraken hockey! NO, I MEAN EXPERIENCE IT. THE EXPERIENCING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES.

Morale did not, in fact, improve when the Kraken lost in the shootout.

How did we get here?

It started off well. Ben Meyers set up Ryan Winterton with a filthy backhand pass for Winterton’s second goal of the season.

Seattle Kraken GOAL!!

Ben Meyers sets up Ryan Winterton with a beautiful sick little backhand pass and the #SeaKraken have taken a 1-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/wcS3T6JL2c

— 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨’ 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢 (@DavyJonesLR) November 12, 2025

“That’s his game,” Winterton said of Meyers. “He makes it easy on his wingers.”

But the game turned on a 5-on-3 in the second period on a kind of soft tripping call on Eeli Tolvanen followed by kind of a soft crosschecking call on Ryan Lindgren. And the 30th-ranked penalty kill of the Kraken could not hold.

Columbus scores on the 5-on-3. Crowd hates it, but Adam Fantilli does not care about their cries and #CBJ ties it. pic.twitter.com/8vbqaaU7wg

— 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨’ 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢 (@DavyJonesLR) November 12, 2025

“The 5 on 3 was a turning point,” Kraken goalie Matt Murray said. Ryan Winterton: “You give any team a 5-on-3 and the odds are probably not in your favor.”

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Coach Lambert said, “whether you agree with the penalties or disagree with the penalties.”

Columbus seemed like the more tired team, losing puck battles, ceding possession, and it looked like the Kraken would roll over the team and take over, but that didn’t happen. Columbus hung around and hung around and hung around and they got it to overtime, and then it’s really a coinflip at that point.

In the shootout, Jordan Eberle, Mason Marchment, Kaapo Kakko, and Eeli Tolvanen were sent out with only Tolvanen scoring. Kirill Marchenko and Charlie Coyle scored for the Kraken.

Perhaps this is recency bias, but this might be a bottom 5 loss for the team. Yes, they got a point and it wasn’t a blowout, but in the five years covering this team neither I nor my press compadres could remember a more favorable situation for the Kraken heading into this game.

A goalie on back-to-back starts on the road with a flu-like illness running through the locker room? The Kraken should have done better. But maybe starting goalies on a back-to-back is the right thing to do: the Seattle Kraken have now faced a goalie four times making his second consecutive start in two nights and they are now 0-4.

The Kraken stay at home on a three-game homestand, facing the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.