A postgame meet-cute on the ice? Between the guy who scored an overtime game-winner and the goalie who gave it up?
Strange as it sounds, that’s exactly what happened right after the Seattle Kraken upset the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Thursday at Benchmark International Arena. Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour had just performed a Houdini-like misdirection, feigning pass and firing his second goal of the game past Andrei Vasilevskiy, 2:47 into OT.
Following victory hugs, Kraken players formed a handshake line at the other end of the ice for referee Chris Lee. The 27-year veteran is hanging up his striped shirt and orange armbands.
As it happened, Montour was last in line. Before he could stretch out his hand, Montour felt a playful nudge in the back. Vasilevskiy had beaten his Lightning teammates to referee Lee, making sure he could wrap an arm around Montour’s waist before the Kraken departed for their dressing room.
The goalie and the goal-scorer exchanged a handshake, smiles, and friendly banter. Why not? Game knows game. Montour has won a Stanley Cup. Vasilevskiy’s won two. This is one of the sweet sides to an often brutal sport; furious foes during a game putting that aside to resume friendships, or create new ones.
Except for brief moments during warm-ups, fans don’t usually get to see these interactions. Ex-teammates get together for dinner the night before a game; afterwards, countrymen speak in their native tongues under the stands between the dressing rooms. Such sportsmanship between combatants in a game’s pivotal play – while the goal light is still warm – is highly unusual. Also, highly welcome, no matter who you root for.
More Chippy Than A Bag Of Cookies
The Montour-Vasilevskiy conviviality was especially unexpected. The previous 2 1/2 hours had been unusually fierce between teams from different conferences. Stoppages were followed by scrums. The Lightning and Kraken each seemed hell-bent on finishing their checks, legally or otherwise. One wondered whether the training staffs would have access to a sufficient number of icepacks.
Just before Bobby McMann scored his sixth goal (!) in seven Kraken games, he had to rise from an Erik Černák hit that dumped him in the corner.
That put Seattle up 3-1 early in the 2nd period, but the Lightning were beginning to tilt the ice. From the end of the 1st period, Tampa outshot the Kraken, 27-12. Two of those went in, necessitating overtime.
A Split-Second Separated Triumph From Disaster
Seconds prior to the Montour heroics, the Kraken came an eyelash from disaster. With the defenseman and teammate Berkly Catton in deep, Shane Wright and Nikita Kucherov raced for a loose puck in the Tampa zone. You remember Kucherov, who burned Seattle for three goals and two assists when the teams met on St. Patrick’s Day.
Kucherov would have had an unobstructed rink-length dash with the game on his stick. However, Wright’s one-handed whack beat him to the puck by a split-second. Montour accepted the pass, never taking his gaze away from Wright and Catton. Then he whipped a no-look shot past a surprised Vasilevskiy to break the Kraken’s four game losing streak.
