You just never know what’s going to happen when you go to the rink. The Seattle Kraken won 4-1 over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday, and they did so in a way that I certainly did not expect at the start of the game: by riding a dazzling Philipp Grubauer relief performance through a challenging second period and taking advantage of the few opportunities they got in the frame to ultimately cruise past a team that beat them up 10 days ago.

“Clearly, at that point, we rode off our goalie’s coattails to a certain degree, and then we were able to capitalize timely on a couple of our opportunities,” head coach Lane Lambert said. “We spent a little bit too much time in our zone, we all know that, at the start. But our goaltender played fantastic, and sometimes you need that.”

On Hockey Fights Cancer night, Jaden Schwartz—whose sister Mandi died of acute myeloid leukemia at age 23 in 2011—scored twice, Adam Larsson and Eeli Tolvanen each scored once, and Chandler Stephenson sent out a couple tasty dishes.

Here are Three Takeaways from a remarkable 4-1 Kraken win over the Sharks.

Takeaway #1: One of Grubi’s best games as a Kraken

There are nights as a goaltender when you start to sense that, for whatever reason, the puck is going to stay out of your net. You make a few big saves, the other team hits a post or flubs an open opportunity, and suddenly you get this clarity that you have better stuff in that particular game than the opposing shooters. The hockey gods are on your side, and even if you find yourself down and out, the puck will find a way to stay out of your goal.

Grubauer surely felt that on this night, although when I asked him about it after the game, he said he thinks about it a little differently. He pointed to a break early in the game, when Will Smith’s goal was waived off for a distinct kicking motion that easily could have been ruled a goal.

NO GOAL!

Grubauer robs Will Smith, but Smith’s foot drags it into the net.

Refs review and determine no goal due to kicking motion.

Still 1-1. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/SzsqzeM51P

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025

“I personally take it situation by situation,” Grubauer said. “Obviously, sometimes you get a little bit more lucky than other nights. I mean, that breakaway where they reviewed it, right? It could have gone one way or another. If there’s a slight push from the D, it’s a different story, and they score on the breakaway.

“They had a couple situations where they sling the puck right across, it hits a guy in the shim pads, or something like that, right? So, yeah, sometimes you’ve got to get lucky, and there’s not a moment, like, ‘Oh, wow!’ and now I feel it. It’s make the save, give the puck back, next shot is coming up.”

What made Grubauer’s showing even more impressive is that it came in relief of an injured Matt Murray, who played well in the first period but exited immediately after former Kraken Alex Wennberg tied the game 1-1 on a power-play goal with 18 seconds left. Grubauer came in to close the period and was then tested early and often to start the second.

NO GOAL!

Grubauer robs Will Smith, but Smith’s foot drags it into the net.

Refs review and determine no goal due to kicking motion.

Still 1-1. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/SzsqzeM51P

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025

“I think going into the second period there, right away, the way the first two minutes went were not ideal from a team perspective, but it got me into the game with a lot of shots early on,” Grubauer said. “And it’s always tough, right? If you’re not starting, it’s another situation where you don’t get too many shots in warm up, so it was helpful to get into the game right away.”

🗣️GRUUUUUUUUUUUU! pic.twitter.com/mbDFRzBia7

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025

It really was just the second period where Grubauer had to be stellar, but he made massive saves on plays that looked like they should absolutely be goals. He held Seattle in long enough for Larsson and Tolvanen to score 38 seconds apart at 16:05 and 16:43, respectively. From there, the Kraken—despite taking three penalties in the third period—kept things mostly locked down.

Takeaway #2: Great game for Chandler Stephenson

I know Chandler Stephenson has been polarizing among the Kraken fanbase, but I personally love what he brings. It’s interesting that in a game in which Alex Wennberg scored for the Sharks, Stephenson really stood out. I mention Wennberg because I view Stephenson as an upgraded version of what the Kraken used to get from Wennberg. He can play in all situations, he’s a great skater, and he has a pass-first approach—but he does all of it at a higher level.

In this game, Stephenson’s speed and passing created two of Seattle’s goals.

On the first, Jamie Oleksiak’s pass through the neutral zone missed the mark, but Stephenson caught up to it and made John Klingberg look foolish in creating a 2-on-1 with Schwartz. Then he threaded a pass between Macklin Celebrini’s stick and skate to Schwartz, who redirected it into a yawning cage.

THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨

Heckuva play by Chandler Stephenson to burn John Klingberg and find Schwartz crashing to the backdoor.

1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Ss38jSXMPS

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025

The second goal also came off a 2-on-1, this one with Tolvanen, who scored for the second game in a row.

“[Stephenson] is an awesome passer,” Tolvanen said. “Power play, 2-on-1’s, every time he has the puck, you have to be ready because you know it’s coming. He can make those passes that a lot of guys can’t.”

EELI GOALVANEN! 🚨

Another great pass off a 2-on-1 from Stephenson, and Tolvanen scores his second in as many games.

3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/FueoRAoZeE

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 16, 2025

The Kraken don’t win this game without Grubauer, but they also probably don’t win it without Stephenson, who finished the night plus-three with three assists.

Takeaway #3: Another game, another injury

It’s strange how things have been playing out lately for the Kraken and their injury situation. Last game, Kaapo Kakko went down with a lower-body injury that Lambert said will keep him out week to week—never a great designation. But his placement on injured reserve meant Seattle could activate Freddy Gaudreau for this game without sending somebody to Coachella Valley.

Now we wait to see what happens with the Kraken goalies. Lambert said after the game that Murray was still being evaluated. Joey Daccord is on IR but appears to be getting closer to a return based on recent practices. If Murray hadn’t gotten hurt Saturday, then Daccord returning would force a roster move. But if Murray also ends up on IR, no move would be required.

The plan may have been for Daccord to return next game anyway, but if I had to guess, I would surmise he could be ready to at least back up Grubauer when Seattle visits Detroit on Tuesday.

Also worth noting: Jared McCann was a full participant at Saturday’s morning skate, so we’re wondering how close he could be to game action. If he returns in the next couple games, that would most likely mean somebody is bound for CV, and I wouldn’t be shocked if that somebody is Jani Nyman, whose time on ice was limited to just 6:34 in his first game since the last time Seattle faced the Sharks on Nov. 5.

One last note on Murray: he’s had some serious injury woes in his career and told us during our Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview at training camp that he was feeling fully recovered from the double hip surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2023-24 season. Here’s hoping that whatever he injured on Saturday is both unrelated to that previous issue and minor.