Opportunity beckoned on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 23) for the Seattle Kraken in the City of Angels. Coming off an impressive home stand during which head coach Dan Bylsma’s side went 5-1-0, Seattle headed south to face the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. They arrived with 21 points compared to 23 for their Californian opponents. As such, it was a chance to level the terms in the Pacific Division. What resulted was a frustrating 2-1 loss. Here are the takeaways.
Kraken’s Attack Get Clogged Up
Some contextualization is necessary to understand what the Kraken were swimming into for their matinee melee. The Kings are an incredibly disciplined defensive unit, coughing up a total of 373 shots on target (before the Nov. 23 contest), which ranked third in the NHL. For that matter, their status as the fourth-best side in the league regarding unblocked shot attempts against (565) is great, too. L.A. is also first in rebound shots against.
In a nutshell, head coach Jim Hiller has his ensemble slow down games, clogging up lanes and making life difficult for opposing offensive players. That doesn’t bode well for a Kraken group still searching for consistency when striking.
Well, that was a problem for Seattle on Saturday. It’s difficult to conclude which stat is more disappointing. Either that the Kraken had registered seven shots against Kings goalie David Rittich by the match’s halfway point, or that Matty Beniers, Jared McCann, and Andre Burakovsky – who formed the top line – all had expected goal percentages of 30% or lower when playing 5-on-5.
Related: How the Kraken Can Overcome the Loss of Captain Jordan Eberle
It looked as though Seattle played right into L.A.’s trap almost all afternoon. They tried setting up plays by skating up through the neutral zone, but that’s just not something the Kings concede much of.
On the topic of attacking opportunities that don’t produce results these days, the power play doesn’t look great, either. Seattle has been on the man advantage 12 times in its last four games and hasn’t scored. Versus the Kings, the units went 0-for-3 and, worse, saw the best scoring opportunity go to the other team in the second period. The iconicity of Jessica Campbell being the first woman coach – assistant or otherwise – in the NHL will always be hers. But the power play is one of her responsibilities and it needs work now.
Brandon Montour Is a Beast
There are two obvious positives about the Kraken this season, among a few others. We’ll talk about two in this very article, starting with blueliner Brandon Montour. More than a few people cried foul in July when general manager (GM) Ron Francis handed the former Florida Panther and recent Stanley Cup champion a seven-year deal worth $7.142 million per season.
There are no two ways about it: through 20 matches, he’s been awesome. Not only does he have a solid plus-8 rating (the Kraken have a plus-2 goal differential), but he’s fourth among defensemen in all situations with 4.1 individual expected goals (ixG). He’s rocking the body around, too, having delivered 30 total hits.
Against the Kings, he came to the rescue, even though the effort was in vain. As Seattle pressed in the third period, L.A.’s goalie was sprawled on the ice during a flurry. Daniel Sprong dribbled the puck while waiting for someone to pass it to. In came Montour through the slot, who ripped a one-timer the then-ready Rittich repelled. The rebound went straight to Montour, who fired again, only for the shot to ring against iron.
Then, with less than two minutes remaining – and after a failed power play – he cannoned a shot from the line that fooled Rittich to halve the deficit to 2-1. Montour is proving to be everything the Kraken hoped he’d be. If only the rest of the team were inspired by him more often.
Joey Daccord Earning His Salary
This brings us to positive point number two. By golly, Joey Daccord is earning that five-year, $25 million deal he signed before the campaign began. Don’t be fooled by the stats sheet revealing two goals conceded on only 21 shots. Without his heroics, this wasn’t a 2-1 game. Probably 3-1. No, probably 4-1. Actually, it could have been 5-1.
We previously alluded to a defunct power play that awarded the Kings with a brilliant shorthanded 2-on-0. While it’s fair to argue that Quinton Byfield and Warren Foegele probably passed the puck back and forth once too often, the save made with the shaft of Daccord’s stick was unbelievable.
He then stopped Foegele on a partial breakaway that resulted from the aforementioned Montour missed chance in the third period. Then came point-blank shots from Adrian Kempe and Philip Danault. That Seattle only had to deal with a 2-0 deficit late in the third period was solely due to Daccord’s stellar goaltending.
Bylsma’s group has Sunday off before heading to Anaheim to play the Ducks at the Honda Center on Monday night (Nov. 25). That is the first of a home-and-home that concludes at Climate Pledge Arena on Wednesday (Nov. 27). As a matter of fact, the whole week is against winnable Pacific Division opponents. After the Ducks duology is a San Jose Sharks two-parter on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 29 and 30). If the Kraken are going to get back to the postseason, these are the weeks that can define the entire campaign.
