"Everyone’s got to look in the mirror" - key takeaways from the 5-game trip

After Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche which seemed to alleviate the short-term picture issue of offense, a big picture remained as a sore spot: the overall recent slump, which has the Kraken at 1-6-1 over the last eight games. 

At times on this recent stretch - save one blowout over Montreal - they have short-circuited offensively, struggled defensively, are revealing much worth that a top pair defenseman provides their lineup, and reminded of the value with taking early leads in games. 

Such was the case on Tuesday night, where the Kraken again, fell behind on an early goal by Chris Wagner, but tied it up (and ended an offensive drought of over two games) on a deflection at the net by Jaden Schwartz. Blown coverage at the net later allowed Ivan Ivan to restore Colorado’s lead before the intermission, who then zoomed through the rest of the game off back-to-back power play goals in the second period after Jared McCann tied the game just 23 seconds after the start of the period. 

It brought up questions of compete level, one where a Stanley Cup winner from last season, and a newcomer to the lineup, was open to discuss.

“That’s our issue right now – the compete level is not where it probably should be,” said Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour.” 

“The energy level’s got to pick it up.” 

Colorado, who rode Nathan MacKinnon’s career-high five assists, outshot the Kraken 32-20 and have won the first two matchups of the season, sending the Kraken home desperately seeking a turnaround with a six-game homestand on the horizon. 

1.        Fall behind early, and suffer the consequences. 

The Kraken surrendered another 1-0 lead for the tenth time in 14 games when Wagner, an AHL call-up, slammed MacKinnon’s seam-pass from the right circle, just 2:28 into the game. It continued an alarming trend of falling behind early, where the Kraken are 3-7 when trailing first. Their seven losses in that situation are tied for most in the NHL, with the San Jose Sharks, who are still widely considered a franchise closer to lottery status than playoff contender. 

Basic common sense in hockey suggests that playing from behind increases the stressful workload to rally back. Look at last season: of the top 13 teams who earned the most wins when leading 1-0, only one missed the playoffs – St. Louis, who was 33-4-2 but saddled with other issues, such as scoring depth.

Much of the common issues recently revolve around defensive zone coverage, ranging from open seams in Colorado, to multiple penalties in Boston, to front-of-the-net battles in Ottawa. As they look to rectify those matters after a day off on Wednesday, they’re aiming for their first 1-0 lead in a first period since Oct. 29, when they routed Montreal 8-2. 

2.        Whole lot of shaking up going on. 

One thing’s for sure – Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma isn’t afraid to routinely mix the lineup, even mid-game, if something doesn’t feel right. But one button that was rarely pushed from the Dave Hakstol era, which has been activated just a month into Bylsma’s: benching veteran players. 

Bylsma made clear on Tuesday that a message was sent to the whole team, not just to Oliver Bjorkstrand, displaced to the press box with Tye Kartye in favor of John Hayden and call-up Ryan Winterton. Ultimately, the move failed to materialize visibly in their 6-3 loss at Colorado. 

Hayden took a late first period slashing penalty with the Kraken clinging to a one-goal deficit, while Winterton was on ice for all three of Colorado’s even strength goals, including the dagger-like empty netter by Mikko Rantanen with the Kraken trailing only by a goal and plenty of time on the clock. 

It appears the top trio of Jared McCann, Matty Beniers, and Jordan Eberle are fine, producing a whopping 38 percent of the team’s entire goal production. The Kraken need answers from their bottom nine, who have been absent from the bottom line. Andre Burakovsky, Yanni Gourde, Chandler Stephenson, Brandon Tanev, Shane Wright, Tye Kartye and Eeli Tolvanen have combined to score four goals. Burakovsky has none. Stephenson has one. The precedence has been set that nobody is immune to being the next night’s sacrificial healthy scratch, if the maneuver is necessary. 

“It’s up to the coaches who we’re putting out there,” said Beniers after the Tuesday loss in Colorado. “Whoever’s out there, we need them to give 110 percent and play their game.” 

3.       The tale of the Kraken defensive zone has been adventurous. 

Good news for their own end: goaltending, though involving a few erratic games, appears to be the least of their concerns. At times, Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer have patched efforts to keep the Kraken in games that would otherwise be teetering on a blowout. Grubauer’s best game of the year, a 2-0 loss in Dallas on Oct. 13 when he made 21 saves, is a prime example. 

What’s happened in front of them is a completely different story. Blown coverage, failed clearing attempts, and lost crease battles have complicated a defensive picture that’s ranked sixth worst in the NHL for shot quality share at 5-on-5, have allowed the ninth most high-danger chances, and the seventh most shot attempts, all according to naturalstattrick.com. In other words, the defensive zone has been a completely chaotic adventure. 

Bylsma reaffirmed that after the Kraken fell behind 2-1 on the Colorado goals from Wagner and Ivan, as referenced above. 

“I thought our execution in the first, throughout our defensive corps, needed to improve, and it got us into trouble a couple times in the first period,” said Bylsma. 

4.        Vince Dunn’s return might be soon, and will come with tough decisions. 

This is where the picture gets a little rosier once Dunn is healthy enough to return, presumably close but far from absolute, on Nov. 12 against Columbus. His spot on the top pair lengthens the Kraken lineup, likely putting Brandon Montour (who’s been outstanding to begin the season) back with Jamie Oleksiak, and rapidly blossoming Ryker Evans with Will Borgen. 

Dunn has three points in four games, is their top slinging quarterback on the power play, and takes a little heat off Montour for heavy minutes. Last season took a nosedive after Dunn missed the final 19 of 21 games following the infamously vicious and suspension-warranting hit from Martin Pospisil. They are 9-20-2 without him since last spring’s injury. There’s familiarity over the last few years with his defensive partner, Adam Larsson. While one player in theory does not make or break a lineup, working Dunn back in will be an extremely critical maneuver to reverse a sluggish start to the season. 

That will come with salary cap implications. Already pressed against the limit under a mere few thousands of dollars with a healthy opening day roster in which Bylsma said the Kraken were “in a tight situation,” they earned relief with Dunn heading to long term injured reserve. But major roster implications could be arriving once he returns. They are likely back on the trade market to ease their roster crunch, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. 

5.        The Kraken need a winning homestand to restore order. 

It’s no secret that a 1-4 road trip completely shelled any plans of a big start, and took away any possible shine of a 4-2 run out of the gate. The Kraken appeared to get back on track with their blowout win at Montreal, heading into very winnable games such as Ottawa, Boston, and even with banged-up Colorado. 

Those plans fell apart. While it’s still “early” and they’re just three points back of the playoff cut line, they are also a little over two weeks away from a consensus checkpoint of Thanksgiving, where teams are considered either playoff contenders or on the fast track to “Lotteryville.” 

Six games at home are ahead with just two opponents possessing a winning record – Vegas (this Friday), and the New York Rangers (Nov. 17). After that, Thanksgiving is a week away. 

“Everyone’s got to look in the mirror, and get out of this one,” said Montour. 

There’s a pedal waiting under their driver’s wheel, and it needs a collective foot to the floor.