Photo: Getty Images
Between the Seattle Kraken winning in a shootout, the Mariners winning to stay alive, and the Sounders winning for good measure – did anybody sleep?
Wrapping up a two-game swing through Alberta to improve to 2-1 in the pre-season and take another step of progress to Oct. 12, when the real shots will fire, the Kraken blitzed the Flames for a 4-3 shootout victory with a 2-0 lead in the first period, survived a strong Calgary push, then hung on after trading goals in the third period. Jordan Eberle, as seasoned as veterans come, capped his two assist night with a dazzling shootout winner in the third round.
Schwartz, whose resume is getting thicker, scored twice, and narrowly missed a hat trick to put the game on ice in the third period.
The top line of Jaden Schwartz (LW), Jared McCann (C), and Eberle (RW): a combined six points.
And yeah, Mark Giordano started the game like he had film cameras following him. It took a grand total of three mintues for the former 15-year Flames defenseman to put the Kraken up 1-0.
Notes:
-McCann, Eberle and Schwartz are now tied for the Kraken pre-season scoring lead with three points apiece.
-Giordano’s goal, three minutes into the game, gave the Kraken their first 1-0 lead of the pre-season. Though rallying down by a goal is as commonplace as water near a beach, more often than not, scoring the first goal puts a team on the right track to a win.
-The Kraken penalty kill went 4-of-4 and is now 7-of-10 in the first pre-season games.
-The pair of Mark Giordano and Adam Larsson were called on the most, leading the Kraken in ice time: Larsson led the team with 23:58 time on ice, while Giordano was deployed for a total of 22:06.
-That perfect penalty kill: Joonas Donskoi (4:01), Larsson (3:57), Riley Sheahan (3:51) and Giordano (2:40) were out on the ice the most, leading the Kraken in shorthanded ice time.
-Laying the body out: Giordano led the Kraken in blocked shots (4), and the Kraken earned 16 blocks to Calgary’s 13.
FROM THE PODIUM:
Forward Jordan Eberle on competing with the same linemates:
“It’s always tough getting new linemates and it’s not just me – everyone on this team is new. It’s nice they’re keeping lines together and gain that chemistry. I think through two nights now, the biggest thing is the more you play with guys and understand their tendencies, where they like pucks, stuff like that, it really only comes with playing more minutes with teach other. Jaden (Schwartz), I’ve known since we were young. I’ve known his game for a long time, and “Canner” (Jared McCann) has fit well into the middle. I just want to try to get as much chemistry as we can. The more exhibition games you play, the squads start coming (together). The guys who are going to be here, are going to be in the lineup, and games get harder. You want to build on that.
Eberle on the addition of Mark Giordano, and his return to Calgary:
“For him, not just the player the Flames lost but I mean, I live in Calgary in the summer and the presence he has in the city – the community work he does, the charity work, his face around the community - he does a lot for the city. It was great to see the reception they gave him, and awesome for him to get the first goal. I know this city means a lot to him, so every time he comes back it’s probably different.”
Jaden Schwartz on the win tonight and his game:
“(Pauses) Good to get the win. I had a chance to put the game away late, which was frustrating but we had a good start. Second period was a little sluggish, bounced back in the third with a littlemore o-zone time. Overall, we did some good things. Just like any pre-season game, we have a few things to look at and clean up a few areas a bit.”
Schwartz on the building of team chemistry:
“That’s what pre-season’s for. We have guys playing different games, different positions a little bit. Trying things out, it’s a new system for everyone, five on five, special teams, (defensive) zone, so it’s good to go through momentum swings in a bit. When they took it to us we had to dig in and make sure we were responsible defensively. I thought we weathered the storm.”
Head coach Dave Hakstol on the difference compared to last night:
“Obviously tonight more complete in terms of performance. But no difference compared to last night. You just push the result to the side a little bit and just evaluate the process of the game. We were better in a lot of areas, pretty low event game as far as opportunities at other end. But with that being said, we wanted to tighten things up as far as what we were doing in our d-zone. And then just getting a little quick in our structure and d-zone. We still have a ways to go but we were better there tonight. One of the key areas of the game – three good (penalty kills) in the third period and one after that. Real good job by the (penalty kill) group as well, as they continue to build.”
Hakstol on what he liked tonight having Jaden Schwartz in the lineup:
“More similar lineup tonight as compared to game one. Just in evaluating the competitive areas of the game – last night’s game we knew we were outmatched and had a couple tough matchups along the way. But that also provides you with an opportunity – when you have that matchup to make an impression – and to go out and compete. We came up a little bit short there last night in those individual competitive areas. When we stepped on the ice and the matchup wasn’t ideal, that’s one thing we wanted to correct heading into tonight. For the most part we rolled our lines and asked our guys to go out, do their job and compete, throughout their shift.”