While the Seattle Kraken showed once again that they can be competitive in every game—even when the flow of the game is a little faster than others—they also showed that the Dallas Stars still have their number, losing 3-2 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thanksgiving Eve.

All-time, excluding the 2022-23 playoff series when Seattle won three games, the Kraken are now 2-9-2 against the Stars and have lost eight in a row. From the Dallas perspective, that’s a 12-1-1 record.

The Kraken looked good in this contest, and if they play like that every game, they’ll win most nights. But Casey DeSmith was sharp, the power play was atrocious, and two fluky goals cost the Kraken standings points.

Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken loss to the Stars.

Takeaway #1: Jared McCann in, Jaden Schwartz out

As the Kraken offense sputtered over the last few weeks, it became more and more clear how much they missed their purest goal scorer, Jared McCann, who was absent for a whopping 17 games with a lower-body injury. He finally returned to the lineup on Wednesday and registered an assist on Vince Dunn’s game-tying goal 18 seconds into the third period.

HE DUNN DID IT! 🚨

2-2. Vince Dunn with a simple play off a rush 18 seconds into the 3rd. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/gRse807Bse

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025

I liked McCann’s game. Though he only put two shots on net officially, I remember him buzzing around dangerous areas on several occasions during the contest.

“He had a couple good chances,” coach Lane Lambert said. “I thought he looked good. He hasn’t played for a long time; he hasn’t played much hockey this year at all. I think he’s gonna help us for sure.”

McCann did not exactly get to ease his way back into game action, though. Just 19 seconds into his very first shift since Oct. 18, Alex Petrovic caught him with a brutal high stick to the mouth, which sent McCann down the tunnel temporarily.

“Just tried to battle for a puck, and next thing you know, my tooth was in my throat,” McCann said. He also said he felt “better and better” as the game went on. It was good to see him back out there.

Hear from Jared McCann on his… painful… return to the lineup. “Next thing I know, my tooth is in my throat.” #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/7C807l6QDC

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025

On the flip side, though, just as McCann returned to the lineup, another key piece went out with a lower-body injury. Jaden Schwartz went to the goal crease and got tangled up with DeSmith and Vladislav Kolyachonok late in the second period. He hobbled to the bench and down the tunnel and did not return to the game.

Jaden Schwartz limped off and went down the tunnel after getting tangled in the crease with Kolyachonok. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/pI1uTN7ga5

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025

Lambert did not have an update on Schwartz after the game, saying he was still being evaluated.

Takeaway #2: The power play stunk

On a night when the Kraken were either tied or a goal away from being tied for the entire game, they really needed their power play to chip in at least once. Despite getting ample opportunity—Seattle had the manpower advantage five times in the game, in fact—the PP came up completely empty on the night.

There were two especially critical moments where Seattle could have used contributions from the power play: first, when McCann’s dental incident in the early stages of the game drew a four-minute power play but did not generate a goal; and later, when Petrovic hauled down Matty Beniers behind the net with just 3:35 left. Seattle showed a little more creativity on that last one, shifting their players all over the offensive zone to try to create different looks, but it never felt like they were all that close to scoring.

“Myself included, I definitely made some plays that I want back,” Dunn said. “[We need] to simplify, make plays under pressure, and we’re the guys that need to make those plays, and we didn’t do it tonight. I thought the PK was great, and then the PP lets the team down a little bit, so that’s frustrating.”

Added Lambert: “Entry-wise, I didn’t think we did a great job, as we strove to enter the zone. Give them credit. They’re a big team, they’ve got long guys and big defensemen, but we could have done a better job there… [The power play] was needed tonight, and it’s been good for us, and it’s been there when we’ve needed it in the past. Tonight wasn’t that night.”

Takeaway #3: Better shot generation

One big positive I saw in this one was more time spent in the offensive zone than in some recent past outings. Lambert has talked about more shot generation ad nauseam lately, and I chatted with a few players about this topic for my Kraken Notebook piece a couple days ago. The message seemed to get through, though, because there was clearly a concerted effort to get things going north more often and letting shots rip whenever there was an opportunity to do so.

Case in point: Brandon Montour gathered a puck in the corner after Shane Wright missed a wide-open net and didn’t hesitate to send it toward DeSmith from below the goal line. Montour got rewarded, as it banked off DeSmith’s right foot and into the net to make it 1-1 at 9:06 of the first period.

MONTY MONEY! 💰 🚨

Shane Wright misses a wide-open net, but Brandon Montour corrals it in the corner and scores from the goal line.

1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/UWv32rZXCw

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025

What was encouraging about this was that they put 28 shots on DeSmith (a high number by Seattle’s standards) but didn’t open themselves up defensively. Two of the goals against were somewhat fluky, with a high-tip play working perfectly to make it 1-0 and a floating wrist shot with five minutes left in the third on which Adam Larsson perfectly screened Joey Daccord and failed to get the block.

Kolyachonok scores to make it 3-2 with five minutes left.

Larsson set a perfect screen and didn’t get the block. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/hQfNdLniM0

— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) November 27, 2025

Again, if the Kraken can generate like that consistently without sacrificing much of their stout defensive structure, they’re going to remain a playoff competitor.

By the way, they did officially get to Thanksgiving in a playoff spot, although as Blaiz Grubic wrote a while back, losing on Wednesday and dropping to third place in the Pacific Division lowers their chances significantly. Roughly 89 percent of second-place teams at Thanksgiving make the playoffs, whereas about 63 percent of teams in third place at Thanksgiving qualify.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I’m thankful for our great readers, listeners, and followers.