Lightning McQueen

With the pressure to take down the only undefeated team in the league on their shoulders, the Kraken had to be prepared to meet their match tonight at Climate Pledge Arena. The energy from fans in the building was palpable, while on the ice, Seattle’s energy matched Winnipeg’s right out of the gate. The game started with a few short shifts, then led to both teams gaining momentum in some back-and-forth hockey.

The Kraken made some great passing plays, building on connections from the previous few games, picking up the pace, and sending Eberle on a breakout that almost got them on the board within the first two minutes. 

Knowing Winnipeg is a team that capitalizes on mistakes and thrives on defining weakness in a team, the Kraken had to be disciplined and careful not to show any holes in their play. In the 1st period, they were able to stick to this plan and limit mistakes leading to dangerous chances for the Jets.

However, despite limiting those mistakes, it became apparent around the halfway mark of the first that the Winnipeg defense is pesky, sticking close to the puck and eliminating pass options. The Kraken had to bring their focus to bursts of speed in an effort to avoid getting trapped in their own zone.

Though this meant puck control was not as sharp, the passes and zone entries were impeccable and set the tone for the rest of the game. 

The pressure at the net by the Kraken was very good, and they continued to build their habits in front of the goal. Faced with Hellebuyck, several high-danger chances were shut down by the elite goaltender and moved momentum back down the ice in the Jet’s favor. With this back-and-forth play style, it was only a matter of time before the speed of the Kraken would pay off.

At the 11:27 mark, that speedy breakout style won out as Matty Beniers slung a shot short side top shelf over Hellybyuck on a pass from McCann. A massive weight seemed to be lifted off of Beniers’ shoulders as his first goal of the season immediately impacted his play in this game. 

The rest of the period continued to fly past as the Kraken got the most opportunities and ended with 12 shots on goal compared to Winnipeg’s 7. 

The 2nd period started with the same vigor as the first and both teams were raring to go. This also meant the Jets were revived and understood the team that they were facing this time around. They came out hot and adjusted their style to match the Kraken’s. The Jets are like mockingbirds as they pick up on their opposition’s style and adapt it to be their own. 

The ice seemed extra short tonight as they ping-ponged back and forth across the sheet, trying to keep up with each other. This fast play led to an amazing, sprawling, glove-side save on Pionk by Joey Daccord just 3 minutes into the period. 

This invigorated both teams and the game only continued to pick up. 

The Jets used this momentum to their advantage and scored a goal by crashing the net and scoring behind Daccord off of Nino Niederreiter.

At this point it was apparent, the 1st period was the Jets calculating their attack, and the 2nd was them executing. The Kraken had to get off their heels and start pressing again with that same fervor that won them the 1st period. 

The pace continued through the 2nd period, manufacturing a few interesting situations: a bit of heat from Tanev on a missed interference call, a goal at 15:05 from Gabe Vilardi, which he snuck around Daccord’s skate, and a tripping call on Lowry, sending the Kraken to the power play.

The PP generated one good chance that left the puck in the crease without goalie coverage, but Pionk was able to sweep it out of the way before Eberle could capitalize. Unfortunately, the Jet’s shutdown defense kept Seattle off the shot counter during their PP campaign, and the period ended with some swift end-to-end exchanges, not leading to any change for the Kraken in the 1-2 score.  

The Jets 2nd period brought them and the Kraken to 22 SOG each, a strong switch in momentum for both teams. The Kraken need not burn out on the pressure, but play to win for the joy. 

At the start of the 3rd period, the Kraken’s goal was to set the tone just 1 goal down. They had good energy, but unfortunately, Kartye took a high-sticking penalty in the first few minutes. The Kraken PK was a battle well fought in the offensive zone, and though they weren’t able to completely shut down the Jets, they did stop the momentum and prevented a PP goal for the Canadian team…

Just when it seemed the pressure was off, Joey left his crease behind to challenge a pump fake, and a breakdown of the Kraken defense allowed an even-strength goal from Perfetti just one second after the powerplay ended. 

With a two-goal deficit, the Kraken needed to bring back their 1st period energy and grind out the last 15 minutes of the game.

The Mccann-Beniers-Eberle line has been on fire, and tonight was no exception, Matty set up a play to keep the puck in the zone before Eberle flipped the puck backhanded off of a pass from  Mccann at 11:01. Just like that, Seattle was back in the fight, withing one goal. 

5 minutes later, and with as aggressive a push as ever in this game, Beniers scored his second the game with a tip past Hellebuyck at 16:37. After McCann made another dig-in play to keep possession, Montour shot a rocket towards the net and Matty’s redirect brought it home. 

With a massive comeback in the 3rd, the Kraken force overtime. 

Eberle, McCann and Montour started Overtime against Ehlers, Lowry, and Morrissey. Seattle began with possession, snapping passes up the ice and getting a good shot on net. The Jets continued their pesky defense and were able to break up Montour’s opportunity and take the puck for themselves, gaining possession and mounting waves of offensive against the Kraken. The Jets were given a 4-on-3 delayed penalty opportunity on a trip from Stephenson, and they wasted no time to take the opportunity, Ehlers eeking a slow one past Daccord, ending Overtime 4-3. 

Despite the Kraken not breaking the Jet’s win streak, this 1-point effort is nothing to turn your nose up at. Seattle earned an important point and made a noble effort to come back against the hottest team in the league. This game was a character builder for the guys, and hopefully, after looking through the needed improvements in their net-front habit-building and power play strategies, they will be able to look at the massive positives in this game. The 19-10-7 line should also get their flowers, as they took the largest role in the comeback. Other notable players were Burakovsky, who upped his defensive play, Ryker Evans for his role at the point and keeping the Kraken’s cycles rolling, and no surprise, Montour with some great plays to keep Seattle in the fight. Each night, it gets harder to highlight players, because I could pinpoint huge contributions from each man on this team. What a privilege to have such a deep crew, willing to fight to the end. 

The truth is, the Kraken won their point tonight, even if they didn’t win the game, and we should be celebrating these types of games as the season progresses and the battles only get tougher.