Kraken road trip hits a rut in 3-0 loss to Senators

That eight-goal outburst to open the road trip must feel like a distant memory for the Seattle Kraken after the way the past two games have gone.

Seattle’s offense was again unable to create any consistent scoring pressure and generated only a few good scoring chances in a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senatorson Saturday night.

The five-game road swing for the Kraken (5-6-1) opened promisingly with an 8-2 win over Montreal. But the past 120 minutes against Toronto and Ottawa were two frustrating performances where Seattle managed just one combined goal, 47 total shots on goal and too often were forced to absorb pressure from its opponents.

Philipp Grubauer started in goal for the first time since Oct. 22 against Colorado after Joey Daccord had started the previous four games. Despite the long layoff, Grubauer was sharp in net and looked calmer than his last couple of outings. He made 20 saves in what was his strongest performance in goal so far this season.

The problem for Seattle was at the other end where Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg didn’t face consistent pressure from the Kraken until brief stretches of the third period. Forsberg made 22 saves and posted a shutout against Seattle for the second straight year after making 39 stops last December to beat the Kraken 2-0.

What will be disappointing for Kraken coach Dan Bylsma was seeing his team being slower and reactive through the first two periods when they were the ones rested. Ottawa was on a back-to-back having lost Friday night in New York against the Rangers in a game the Senators dominated but came up short due to a terrific goaltending performance by Igor Shesterkin with 40 saves.

Nevertheless, the Senators were the ones who swarmed, pressured and dictated the pace of play. That eventually led to goals.

Ottawa’s first goal was a bad break for Grubauer as he appeared to freeze the puck with his glove but never fully had control after the puck hit Josh Mahura’s skate. The puck was poked to Adam Gaudette, who scored into the open net. The goal was originally waved off but after a coach’s challenge was deemed a good goal.

The Senators made it 2-0 midway through the second period when Brady Tkachuk tipped a shot from the blue line and it appeared to deflect off a Kraken player in front of Grubauer before slipping into the net.

Tim Stützle added an empty-net goal with 2:14 left for the final margin. The Kraken were shut out for the second time this season and now face their own challenge of trying to find a boost of energy — and some goals — heading into their own back-to-back on Sunday in Boston.

Seattle’s best scoring chance through the first two periods was Jared McCann’s wrist shot on a power play in the second period that clanged the post. The Kraken had a flurry of dangerous chances about 4 1/2 minutes into the third when great chances from Andre Burakovsky and Jared McCann were denied by Forsberg and sandwiched around Ryker Evans hitting the crossbar.

Brandon Montour returned after a whirlwind past few days that started when he left the team in Toronto to return to Seattle for the birth of his daughter Maison. Montour said he didn’t make it back quite in time for the delivery, but was able to spend about 36 hours at home with his wife Ryian and new daughter before making another cross-continent trip to rejoin the team in Ottawa.

Montour played nearly 23 minutes in his return.

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