Teams can lose frustrating games in the NHL. “Frustrating” is open to interpretation. A club can get totally buzz-sawed, lose on a funny bounce, or dominate a match but face a hot netminder. The Seattle Kraken experienced a little of all three on Saturday night (Dec. 14) when they fell to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1. That’s a bad final score, yet the game had many stories to tell. Let’s discuss.
Lightning vs. Kraken Game Flips on a Switch
Among the criticisms that can be aimed at the Kraken in 2024-25 is the lack of consistency. They can look like world beaters (an 8-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 22) or look wholly incompetent (an 8-5 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 29).
But Seattle is a team that can be maddeningly inconsistent within matches. That weakness was on full display versus Tampa Bay. Head coach Dan Bylsma’s unit blasted out of the gates, outshooting the visitors 7-0 and skating circles around them. It felt like it was going to be a good night for the home side, especially since the Lightning gave Andrei Vasilevskiy the night off, opting for backup Jonas Johansson and his 3.84 goals-against average instead.
The Kraken’s pressure paid dividends when Brandon Montour – unquestionably the team’s best signing last summer – blasted a shot from the point at 4:24 on the power play. It was 1-0 for Seattle with that appropriate Nirvana goal song blasting through the arena speakers and the crowd going wild.
Related: Kraken’s Jared McCann Records 100th Assist With Franchise
But that was it. As in, the Kraken executed no further damage all night. In fact, they were ultimately outshot 31-22. At one point in the second period, Tampa Bay led the shots on target 12-9. Remember, it was 7-0 for Seattle in the first period.
What else could cause the tide to turn but a sloppy goal? It came at the 8:16 mark. Philipp Grubauer briefly tried to play a flying puck with his glove, but it landed on the backboard. Two Lightning players put pressure on defender Jamie Oleksiak, who did poorly at clearing the puck. Brandon Hagel deflected a shot past Seattle’s crease keeper to level the terms 1-1. To add insult to injury, it was Montour, Seattle’s goal scorer, who tried covering Hagel.
The contest was never the same again. That’s not to say the Kraken accomplished nothing the rest of the way (more on that later), but it was a bewildering case of a single mistake taking the air out of the building as if the mystique of the Lightning made the Kraken cave.
This One Wasn’t on Grubauer
Poor Grubauer. It’s fair to point out that we at The Hockey Writers haven’t always been kind to him. It’s nothing personal, just statistics and the eye test. What a wild season for him. He’s looked great in narrow defeats (2-0 to the New York Rangers on Nov. 17), terrible in wins (7-5 versus those same Rangers on Dec. 8), and has been the sole reason when they’ve lost (the aforementioned Sharks match around Thanksgiving).
All that said, Saturday was not his fault. We repeat: this one was not on Grubauer. First and foremost, the Lightning’s first goal is a wicked deflection off a sloppy turnover on defense.
The second marker was arguably more flustering. Not only was Tampa Bay gaining complete control of the match’s flow, but the German netminder made a great pad save on a Darren Raddysh one-timer in the face-off circle. Matty Beniers logically tried to clear the puck, but at exactly the same moment, Brayden Point’s stick also made contact, which sent the biscuit back the other way and between Grubauer’s legs. There was nothing the goalie could do about that.
To his credit, the 33-year-old veteran made several handsome stops later in the first period and throughout the second to keep the score 2-1.
Then, in the final frame, another bizarre goal. Down a man, Seattle desperately tried to survive the usual penalty-killing drill. Tampa Bay’s slick passing allowed Point to hit a one-timer in the slot. However, the shot wasn’t clean because Will Borgen’s stick was in the way. Good, right? No, not good. The disc flipped into the air toward the goal, and Jake Guentzel batted in it (legally) for a 3-1 advantage.
Any Kraken supporter could ask themselves: “What on earth is going on?!?”
Tampa Bay’s fourth goal was an empty netter and, to be frank, the fifth at 19:38 was a classic case of the losing team having already checked out.
There aren’t many games for which it can be argued that the goalie who coughed up four on 30 shots for a save percentage of .867 had a good night, but this was the exception to the rule.
Seattle’s Uneven Line Production
Chandler Stephenson’s line – this time with Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky – was relatively quiet, given its expected goals for (xG) of 0.234.
On the other hand, the trio formed by Oliver Bjorksrtrand, Shane Wright, and Eeli Tolvanen produced 1.386 xG. Their second period was strong, with many opportunities passing them by. It also had the highest Corsi percentage with 58.6%. Sometimes, the puck flew wide, other times, the Lightning’s Johansson stood tall. There was one instance when Tolvanen got the puck in the crease while Tampa Bay’s goalie was looking for it elsewhere. Since he was already in the butterfly position on the ice, he inadvertently repelled Tolvanen’s attempt. It was just that kind of night for Seattle on the few times they generated offense.
At the very least, head coach Bylsma may have found a line he can count on when the going gets tough. Bjorkstrand, Wright, and Tolvanen have obvious chemistry, which is a lot more that can be said about some other attempted combinations.
There was some good and some bad in the 5-1 loss. More bad than good, to be clear, but there’s probably another version of this contest in the multiverse where the Kraken keep pounding on the Lightning after that first goal. Unfortunately for them, they exist in this universe and the overall effort wasn’t good enough. What’s more, it was another wasted performance by Grubauer, who is genuinely playing better these days.
Seattle remains home for one more game before a road trip. The Ottawa Senators, winners of three straight, will be in town on Tuesday, Dec. 17. These are comparable clubs, which should make things interesting. It will be critical to leave for their travels on a high. There’s a lot of work to be done during the holidays far from home.
