Seattle Kraken fall to Coyotes in first game back after All-Star game
The Kraken added new elements to their pregame presentation during the All-Star break. Now, the projection of an ominous tentacle reaches across the ice to snatch and drag away a logo of the opposing team.
But the updated introduction wasn’t a sign of things to come on Wednesday. Instead, the Kraken fell to the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at Climate Pledge Arena.
The trajectory of the loss was familiar. Once again, Seattle fell behind early and entered the second period trailing 2-0. And even when the Kraken scored early in the third to trim that deficit to one goal, it took Arizona less than 2 minutes to push the advantage back to two.
“It’s one of those things where it’s definitely frustrating just because we have a knack of that this year of letting that happen,” said forward Colin Blackwell. “I think kind of the most important shifts we stress are after a goal or after a goal against — just to kind of get the momentum going regardless of who scores and all that. It’s up to us or them. We just, as a team, need to do a little bit better job because it can tilt the game for us.”
Slow starts and quick response goals aren’t new problems for the Kraken, though they were certainly hoping to leave both in the first half of the season. But Seattle managed just one goal against an Arizona team that ranks 31st in the NHL in goals against per game (3.70). The Coyotes are one of just two teams in the league — the other is Montreal — with fewer points than Seattle on the season.
The Kraken generated plenty of opportunities — they out-shot Arizona 36-27 — but the back of the net remained elusive. Shot after shot bounced off the post in the first period. And Jordan Eberle’s prime scoring chance in the second was stolen by a remarkable save from Arizona Coyotes’ goalie Karel Vejmelka.
“When you get a ton of shots like that, if you wait for the right areas, you’re going to get rewarded,” Blackwell said. “I think a lot of guys are doing that. You definitely see a little frustrated. We had so many great chances and they weren’t going in. (Vejmelka) made a ton of big saves.”
Despite out-shooting Arizona 15-8 in the first period, Seattle fell behind 1-0 thanks to a goal from Phil Kessel. That score held until the 14:51 mark of the second period when Nick Schmaltz pushed the advantage to 2-0.
Blackwell scored a short-handed goal 16 seconds into the third period to trim the Coyotes’ advantage to 2-1. But Seattle couldn’t hold onto the momentum. Just 1:36 after Blackwell’s goal, Anton Stralman scored to put the Coyotes up 3-1.
“In reality, we gave one back,” said head coach Dave Hakstol. “We gave one back right away. That came off of a failed breakout. We had a good, clean breakout. The opportunity was there to make one more play and get up ice. We didn’t do that and that led to the play in the defensive zone.”
With 4:08 left in the third period, Calle Jarnkrok got Seattle back within one goal, 3-2, with his eighth goal of the season. The Kraken pulled goaltender Philipp Grubauer with just less than 2 minutes remaining, allowing Arizona to score two empty-net goals and produce the final score.
While it was the Kraken’s first game back since the All-Star break, Arizona fell to Vancouver 5-1 on Tuesday.
“The rust showed,” Hakstol said. “That’s not making an excuse. When we’re sharp with the puck, we don’t have to defend as much. That area of our game was not at the level we need it to be. … We weren’t as tight, weren’t as connected without the puck tonight as we are when we’re going well.”
The Kraken will travel to Anaheim on Friday before returning to Climate Pledge Arena to play Toronto on Monday.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 10:16 PM with the headline "Seattle Kraken fall to Coyotes in first game back after All-Star game."
