Kraken’s Special Teams Struggles Continue in Loss to Penguins, But Line Shakeups Show Promise
The Seattle Kraken's matinee matchup against the Penguins on Monday offered a bit of everything-line changes, flashes of offensive promise, and unfortunately, more of the same when it comes to costly special teams lapses.
Let’s start with the obvious: giving up a shorthanded goal for the third straight game is a trend that’s not just concerning-it’s becoming a liability. This time, it was Pittsburgh’s Connor Dewar who made the Kraken pay during a first-period power play, turning a man advantage into a 2-0 deficit just eight minutes in. That’s the kind of momentum swing that can derail a game before it even gets going, and it’s been a recurring theme during Seattle’s recent road trip.
Head coach Lane Lambert acknowledged postgame that goaltender Joey Daccord might want a couple of those goals back. Daccord finished with 26 saves, but the damage was already done early. Playing from behind has become too familiar for this group, and with five games left on the current homestand, the Kraken are in desperate need of a reset before hitting the road again for a tough Western swing through Vegas, Anaheim, and L.A. ahead of the Olympic break.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Lambert made some intriguing tweaks to the forward lines, and they paid off in spurts.
During Saturday’s loss to Utah, he elevated Jared McCann to the top line alongside young guns Shane Wright and Berkly Catton-a move that sparked a comeback to tie the game 3-3 by the second intermission. While the third period didn’t hold up, Lambert liked what he saw enough to keep the trio together for Monday’s tilt.
That meant Kaapo Kakko returned to the top unit with Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle, while Freddy Gaudreau slid into a second-line role with Chandler Stephenson and Eeli Tolvanen-a combination that had shown chemistry earlier in the season when Jaden Schwartz was sidelined.
Schwartz, now healthy, found himself on what was technically the fourth line, but that label didn’t stop the group from producing one of the Kraken’s best goals of the afternoon.
Late in the first period, Ben Meyers made the kind of play that doesn’t show up on highlight reels but changes games. He corralled a puck in the neutral zone with a slick skate-to-stick move, then carried it into Pittsburgh’s end. From there, Schwartz and Ryan Winterton battled along the boards to get the puck back to Meyers, who finished the sequence with a laser to the far top corner, beating Penguins netminder Stuart Skinner blocker side.
That tally was a big one-not just in the game, but for Meyers personally. It marked his fifth goal of the season, a new career high, and came in his 105th NHL appearance.
He’s also riding the momentum of a strong stint in Coachella Valley, where he put up a nine-game point streak during a midseason reassignment to the AHL. For a player still carving out his place in the league, Meyers is making a strong case to stick.
“He does everything well, sees the ice well,” said Gaudreau during a first-intermission interview. “He can match up with anybody on their team. He’s a great teammate, and it’s good to see his success.”
That kind of praise from a fellow undrafted player carries weight. And it speaks to the depth Seattle is trying to build-guys like Meyers and Winterton contributing alongside veterans like Schwartz and Eberle.
Still, the Kraken know they can’t keep spotting teams early leads, especially when those goals come while they’re supposed to be on the attack. The power play needs to be a weapon, not a liability, and until that gets cleaned up, Seattle will be playing catch-up more often than not.
The pieces are there. Now it’s about putting it all together-before the clock runs out on this homestand.