‘Frustrated’ Kraken fall to Colorado as losing streak reaches six games
Colorado’s first-period lead felt inevitable.
Lately, it’s been a matter of when and by how much, not if, the Kraken will fall behind. Early on, Seattle’s 7-3 loss to the Avalanche on Friday night could have easily been one of recent losses to Chicago or Minnesota or Anaheim.
But as the second period came to an end — and a two-goal Colorado lead turned into six — it became clear that Friday would be different. There would be no burst of energy, no meaningful third-period push, no reason to pull the goaltender in a last-ditch attempt to tie the score. No, this game was well out of hand before the second intermission.
The result was the same, though — another Kraken loss, the sixth straight and eighth in nine games. They are 2-9-1 when their opponent scores first, including 0-8 when training after the first period.
“We’re all frustrated,” said Seattle forward Jordan Eberle. “We expect to compete every night and compete in this league. When you’re losing games, and obviously the way that’s gone, and then this happens tonight and it escalated. We’re frustrated.
“We all love being here. We all love the city of Seattle. We’ve seen the rink, facilities, everything they’ve put out for us. We want to do well for the city and we want to build a culture here that starts to win. When stuff like this happens, especially early on, it’s frustrating but it’s hard to hang your head and there’s no really no time. The greatest thing about hockey is you lose a game and you got another game in two days or a day and a half.”
Andre Burakovsky scored a power-play goal early in the opening period to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead. Less than 2 minutes later, Valeri Nichushkin added a goal on a shorthanded breakaway. Colorado entered the first intermission with a 2-0 advantage
“I thought we were moving pretty good throughout the first period,” said Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol. “I thought we were engaged competitively. The short-handed goal can take the wind out of your sails for sure. We got back to it and stayed with it. At that point in time, we dug ourselves a hole, but it didn’t feel like there was a real sag in terms of the mentality of the bench.”
That changed in the second period as the floodgates truly opened. A Mikko Rantanen goal and it was 3-0. A Burakovsky power-play goal and it was 4-0.
“It comes down to better starts, for sure,” Eberle said. “We have to find a way to score first. … If you look at the first-period stats, we’re trailing most games. That is a tough way to win hockey games in this league, especially against a good team like Colorado. We have to find a way to get better starts. We have to find a way to eliminate odd-man rushes and we have to find a way to be in more sync and play better as a team. It’s that simple.”
Chris Driedger got the start in net against Colorado in place of No. 1 goalie Philipp Grubauer, who came to Seattle from the Avalanche. After Burakovsky’s goal, the Kraken made a switch. But that’s just about the only thing that changed. The Avalanche just kept coming.
5-0.
6-0.
7-0.
The Kraken avoided a shutout thanks to a power-play goal from Eberle in the third period. Brandon Tanev and Colin Blackwell added goals to produce the final score, but the game was well out of hand by then.
“We’re playing too loose,” said Kraken captain Mark Giordano. “I think we’re getting down in games and we’re not helping ourselves when we get down. We’re taking more chances when we get down. Against good teams, they’re going to make you pay because you’re giving them a lot of odd-man rushes, you’re giving them a lot of zone time.
“We’re taking way too many risks early in the game. We got to find a way to try and get the first (goal) and that’s important but also when we get down, we still got to be patient. … I felt like it went from bad to really bad in a hurry because we were basically taking chances. It was all or nothing basically.”
The Kraken have two games remaining in their six-game home stand, but they’re still looking for their first win. They’ll face the Washington Capitals on Sunday and the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday before heading back on the road..
“We have nothing to lose,” Eberle said. “We should have zero pressure on us and we should have a team that goes out there and plays to find ways to win on just that aspect of being the underdog.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 10:45 PM.
