Kraken Blow Early Lead, Lose 4-2 To Predators

Predators 4, Kraken 2

Seattle dropped a biggee …

In the first period the Kraken played their best 20 minutes since the Winter Olympic break. They were in perfect position defensively, created gobs of high danger chances at the other end, and skated off with a two-nothing lead on goals from Kaapo Kakko and Matty Beniers.

Nashville looked as if they were handling a hot potato puck, while struggling to complete passes and looking discombobulated. It took them 9:01 into the first period to tally their first shot on goal.

In the second period the Predators flipped the script.

At the 4:14 mark, they jumped on the scoreboard when Fedor Svechkov weaved into the Seattle zone, sold a shot from the slot, and instead found Tyson Jost alone in the left circle. The Seattle lead was cut in half.

Six minutes later Reid Schaefer moved Seattle D-man Jamie Oleksiak aside and and scored with a tap in from the blue paint on a feed from Matthew Wood. 2-2.

Then, on a play that a Kraken employee in the press box described as “unfortunately gorgeous”, Nashville rookie D-man Ryan Ufko, off an O-zone face-off win, took a pass at the point and weaved his way through the Seattle zone, juked Daccord, and put the Predators up 3-2 at 14:25 of the 2nd period. Ufko shocked the building with his 1st NHL goal in his 4th ever game.

Both teams were disciplined throughout. The first power play wasn’t handed out until 1:38 into the 3rd period.

Seattle center Matty Beniers, taking exception to a cross check on his linemate Jared McCann by Nashville’s Justin Barron, dropped the mitts in the left wing corner. Barron picked up the extra two minutes for his hit on McCann.

The Kraken failed on the power play, as did the Predators on their lone chance a few minutes later.

Seattle outshot Nashville 45-27 for the game, with 19 of the Kraken shots coming in the 1st period. Finnish Olympic bronze medalist Juuse Saros was the star in net for the Predators.

The Kraken are tied with the LA Kings for the 2nd wild card spot in the Western Conference with 67 points. With the victory the Predators moved to within a point of those two, along with the San Jose Sharks.

The same two teams meet next Thursday in Nashville when Seattle begins a six-game road trip.