The Seattle Kraken closed out the 2023 part of the season with a 2-1 overtime win over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. It marked Seattle’s fourth consecutive win, its longest streak of the season, and improved the team to 14-14-9 heading into Monday’s Winter Classic against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Is a win ahead of a marquee NHL event impactful to players and their ability to enjoy the event with their families, friends and teammates?
“It is,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said after Friday’s game.
The third-year Kraken coach took a significant pause before continuing.
“[A] couple weeks ago, you look at the struggles we were going through as a group and you continually talk about doing the right things and continuing to do the right things and the results will come,” Hakstol added. “But until those results come, it’s tough to take a breath and really enjoy the process.”
Trying Times in Emerald City
Two weeks ago, the Seattle Kraken lost to the Los Angeles Kings in a nine-round shootout. The 3-2 loss brought the Kraken’s season record in shootouts to 1-4 and an overall record of 10-14-8. The Kraken would lose their next game to the Dallas Stars in overtime. To add injury to insult, so to speak, the Kraken were without five veterans, including top goaltender Philipp Grubauer. The Kraken would go on to lose veteran forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to injury on Dec. 21.
Seattle dropped seven-straight games from Nov. 27 to Dec. 7, the longest losing streak of the season and the second-longest in franchise history. And while the wins were absent, the Kraken felt they weren’t far off from better fate.
“Even though we didn’t have as much success early in the year, we still had a lot of good games,” Kraken forward André Burakovsky told CBS Sports ahead of Friday’s game against the Flyers. “When you look at most of the games, we’re losing by one goal.”
Burakovsky was removed from injured reserve and made his eighth appearance this season for Seattle in the 2-1 overtime win, the 21st one game-goal for the Kraken this season. Nearly 57 percent of the Kraken’s wins have been decided by a single goal.
“We’ve been in a lot of those, and we’ve talked about being comfortable in those situations. And tonight, we probably didn’t do it exactly the way we wanted,” Hakstol said Friday night. “We had to chase the game against a really good defensive team from there, but we stayed with it.”
The grit that defined the Kraken’s playoff run last year has returned for Hakstol’s squad. And as always, the results have come through navigating rough patches, along with stellar goaltending.
Cracking the Surface
Things began to turn around for the Kraken with a 2-1 win over the Kings on Dec. 20. Seattle bested its fellow Pacific Division franchise with a 42-save performance from goaltender Joey Daccord. That began a four-game winning streak for the Kraken, who also have secured a point in their last eight games of 2023.
“Throughout the whole season — we’re almost 40 games in — I think we can look back at so many losses already and say, ‘Hey, we we felt like we played a good game,'” Daccord told media after earning his eighth win of the season. “We’ve got to be right up there for top of the league in one-goal games. And it’s nice to see them go our way.”
Daccord’s points streak matches the longest in Kraken history recorded by Martin Jones last season.
In addition to goaltending, the Kraken have played defensively sound during their four-game winning streak. The best version of Kraken defense comes from aggressive forechecking and a commitment to winning puck battles in all three zones.
“I just think right now we’re playing very desperate. We know all these points really matter to us. And you know, just making sure we’re doing little things out there,” Kraken defenseman and leading scorer Vince Dunn told media after Friday’s win. “I think maybe the individual effort is a lot better and a lot more committed to a team game right now. And it really shows that everyone contributes in all of our wins.”
And a win, especially before a major league event, means the Kraken players can rest Saturday and spend time with their friends and family in town.
“Taking the day tomorrow to realize that it is a big game and there’s gonna be a lot of distractions. So, [we] just try to stay focused and try to tune those out as much as we can,” Dunn said Friday. “It’s going to be very special for both teams, and I think the whole city is really looking forward to it.”
The Task at Hand
In addition to the nostalgia of an outdoor game for some players — and the magnitude of a league event for all of them — Monday’s contest is also an afternoon in which three divisional points are on the line. Jan. 1 will be the second matchup of the season between the two newest franchises.
The Golden Knights hosted the Kraken on Oct.10 for their home and season opener. Seattle watched as Vegas hoisted its championship banner and was treated to a 4-1 loss at T-Mobile Arena. Seattle hopes to draw even at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners and the 2024 NHL Winter Classic.
The Kraken are 1-8 against the Golden Knights in their three seasons, and although Vegas was struggling earlier in December, they got back into the win column Thursday against the Kings. The Kraken have struggled to give Daccord and their other net minders adequate goal support throughout the season. The Kraken are 28th in the NHL with a 2.65 goals per game average.
It wont be an easy task for an already anemic Seattle offense. The Golden Knights are ninth in the NHL with an average of 2.76 goals against this season. Despite their goalie struggles, the Knights play a fast, physical and overall suffocating type of hockey. They will look to capitalize on their speed while also exposing the defensive errors of their opponent.
Why Not Seattle?
However, the Kraken are starting to feel as if they can turn a corner. Although the wins are now coming, the process has been the same, and that’s what continues to make Seattle confident they can be a contender. Although one-goal OT losses are particularly painful, earning the extra point has buoyed the Kraken.
Seattle sits fourth in the Pacific Division with 37 points, and nine of those points were awarded from OT losses. The Kraken are tied in points with St. Louis and sit only two points out of the second wild-card spot currently occupied by the Nashville Predators (19-16-1)
“You look at the West, it’s open,” Kraken forward and alternate captain Jordan Eberle told media during a visit to the Winter Classic rink on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of room for us to move up.
“Hopefully in 20 games we’ll see ourselves in the position that we’d like. I still think our game has some improving to do, but … it’s headed in the right direction, it’s positive, and sometimes a little adversity throughout the season is not a bad thing.”
The Kraken and Golden Knights will compete in the 2024 NHL Winter Classic on Monday, Jan. 1 at 3 p.m. ET on TNT.
