Kraken fall victim to bad bounce, lose to Jets in final minute

Kate Shefte, The Seattle Times on Jan 16, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Kraken managed to keep pace Thursday night against the best in the West, the Winnipeg Jets. Seattle watched the clock tick down, almost assured of at least one standings point.

Then a stroke of luck and quick reaction with 27 seconds remaining before overtime secured the Jets a regulation win, 2-1.

A routine Kraken clear up the boards hit something and the puck jumped out toward center ice, and Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers. Pass recipient Dylan DeMelo’s shot clanged off the crossbar, then the goalpost, then in went through a thick screen on its way past Seattle goalie Joey Daccord (34 saves).

Due in part to where the Kraken are in the standings, they don’t get every team’s marquee goaltender every night. The Jets are happy to let defending Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck handle an old-school workload, however. Hellebuyck had played the most games in the league as of Thursday with 35. He leads the league in the three biggies — goals-against average (1.99), save percentage (.929) and shutouts (six).

It took a special sequence from the Kraken’s hottest line to beat him. Jaden Schwartz chipped a puck, with impressive accuracy and hang time, up the ice to linemate Kaapo Kakko, who in turn put a precise pass onto the stick of Matty Beniers. Just shy of the goal line, Beniers elevated the puck into the net for a 1-0 lead in the first period.

The Kraken looked to be carefully staying on the straight and narrow Thursday. The Jets’ power play is a distant first in the league at 32.3% efficiency. It finally went out midway through the second period and Mark Scheifele scored 30 seconds into the man advantage.

It was a bad night for Seattle to be missing a top penalty killer. Winger Brandon Tanev was ruled out due to illness. Tye Kartye, who was scratched in favor of John Hayden during the Kraken’s last game in Pittsburgh, went back in for Tanev.

The Kraken took the Jets to overtime in their only other meeting this season, Oct. 24 at Climate Pledge Arena. Beniers scored twice in that one, but the Kraken fell, 4-3.

It’s just over four hours away to first-year Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell’s Saskatchewan hometown, but Winnipeg has the closest NHL team. Dozens of Campbell’s friends and family were in attendance. She told KHN it was her nephews’ first NHL game.