Red flags from the two preseason games played by Seattle Kraken regulars dominated the conversation after Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver.
Problems started after goals by Bobby McMann and Brendan Montour staked Seattle to a 2-0 lead before the game was eight minutes old. “The 1st period we had some jump,” said Montour. “Playing with the lead, we sat back a little bit. We’ve got a couple of days here to figure that out.”
After the Canucks rallied to send the game to the 3rd tied, 2-2, Berkly Catton restored the Seattle lead. He accepted a Ryan Winterton pass in stride and went forehand-backhand to discombobulate Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen.
“I got a lot of those chances last year,” said Catton. “I feel more comfortable this year. I worked on scoring on this summer, and I’m going to try to implement that this year.”
Kraken Chances Killed By Penalty Kill
After that, it was all Canucks, looking to close the preseason with their first victory. Zeev Buium tied the score on the power play, Vancouver’s second extra-man goal.
“Our penalty kill, which has been good this preseason, gave up multiple goals,” noted Kraken coach Lane Lambert. “This is what killed us last year. We’ve got to find a way to keep those out of the net. A little more desperation and a little more thought process.”
Winterton’s thought process was misguided with less than four minutes to play. Winterton stood up for teammate Shane Wright, who had been knocked off his feet by Vancouver defenseman Elias Petterson. Winterton engaged Pettersson in a fight, but also picked up an extra roughing minor.
The Kraken technically killed the penalty by one second. However, the Canucks’ puck possession left the PKers dog tired and unable to keep Jake DeBrusk from tipping home the game-winner with with 1:38 to play. As Lambert said, “We had opportunities to clear the puck. We fail on that and then you’re just getting stuck out there.”
Kraken Still Seeking Consistency
The Kraken finished the preseason 3-1-0, winning both games against the Calgary Flames and splitting a pair with the Canucks. Of the six-plus periods played by a majority of Kraken regulars (Thursday’s 4-3 home shootout win over Calgary and Saturday’s 4-3 loss), only two of those periods could be considered artistic successes.
“Started the (Saturday) game great, gave up the lead,” said Lambert. “There’s a level of consistency that we talked about, and will continue to talk about.”
Catton took a more glass-half-filled outlook. “We have a tight-knit group in here this year. You can see that from the (fight-filled) Calgary game. Not playing for a couple of months and coming back, that first one’s weird. As those periods went on, we got better each period. Just gotta continue building.”
We’ll let Montour, a Stanley Cup champion who was recently named an assistant captain, have the final words. “It’s two games now and really no excuse. There’s things obviously to clean up. I think we’ve seen what we need to fix and need to change.”
The 84-game regular season begins for the Kraken Thursday in Calgary. “Now it’s for real.”
Earlier Kraken:
— Montour Displays High Flying Kraken Leadership
