On Thursday, Jan. 15, the Seattle Kraken faced off against the Boston Bruins. They just played against each other nine days earlier in Seattle, where the Kraken won 7-4. The Bruins also scored four in this game, but the result was a little different. This time, Boston won 4-2. With each team securing a victory, the season series ends in a tie.
Montour Returned and Made an Impact
Brandon Montour played his first game since Dec. 16 last night. He missed a full month of games due to a hand injury that required surgery. In the first half of the second period, he drew a slashing penalty from Nikita Zadorov. Montour was in physical discomfort and went down the tunnel to be evaluated. Considering he just came back from a hand injury, this was immediately cause for concern. Luckily, he came back onto the ice shortly after and made an immediate impact on the team.
With seconds left on the slashing penalty, the Kraken tried to make a play in their zone. Eeli Tolvanen dropped the puck down to Montour, who sent a slap shot towards the net. His shot went wide, but the rebound found Mason Lohrei’s stick. While he tried to clear it from in front of the net, he accidentally passed it straight to Tolvanen instead. He elevated the puck on the short side that Jeremy Swayman allowed for the Kraken’s second goal of the night.
When speaking on his return, Montour stated, “I’m not fully healed, but healed enough to get back in the fight with the guys and keep this on the right track. Obviously, tonight wasn’t a good result, a tough two early on, need to clean up our starts, but for the most part I thought we were pretty solid.”
Hearing that he is not fully healed just makes that slash on him even more of a concern. Luckily, the team managed to cash in on Zadorov’s penalty, and it was Montour who recorded the primary assist, making this even sweeter. It’s a great thing that Montour is back in the lineup. Let’s hope his hand continues to heal as the season progresses, rather than reaggravating the injury.
Both Goals Were Scored on the Power Play, Despite PP Struggles
As mentioned above, the Kraken’s second goal was scored on a power-play chance, but their first goal was scored on the power play, too. Seven minutes into the first period, Jonathan Aspirot took a seat for holding Kaapo Kakko. Chandler Stepenson won the initial faceoff and sent the puck to Matty Beniers. He dropped it down for Vince Dunn at the blue line, who passed it across the ice for Jared McCann. He took a shot, and Stephenson tipped the puck in to bring the Kraken within one goal.
Related: Kraken’s Brandon Montour Activated Off IR
It’s great that the Kraken managed to score both goals on the power play, elevating themselves to seventh overall in the league in terms of success rate. However, they allowed a shorthanded goal in the second period. The Kraken made a bad pass, and Beniers skated slowly to collect the puck from the neutral zone. Mark Kastelic was quicker, getting to it first and skating it to the Bruins’ zone. Beniers tried to catch up to defend him, but Kastelic was faster, sending the puck past Joey Daccord for the Bruins’ third of the night.
When speaking to the media after the game, head coach Lane Lambert stated, “They were really good on the power play, and I’ll tell you that there were opportunities on the other ones, and both units were good tonight. I thought we mixed it around well, but you look for your power play to make a difference at big moments, and they’re not always going to do it. To score that first goal after we had gone down 2-0, to score in the fashion that we did within five seconds of the faceoff, I thought that was an outstanding job by them.”
Even though their power play struggled on that shorthanded goal, the Kraken’s special teams were the entire reason they were on the board. They made the most of their chances, but unfortunately, they just came up short against the Bruins in this game.
Kraken Close Out the Road Trip
The Kraken will end the five-game road trip on Saturday, Jan. 17, when they take on the Utah Mammoth.
