The Seattle Kraken have spent training camp and the first seven games hammering the same message: play fast, pressure teams, and make life miserable 200 feet from their own net.
That idea was on full display in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Capitals, and Freddy Gaudreau’s goal was the cleanest example yet of what Lane Lambert wants from this group. The puck went from forecheck to finish in a blink, with Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton doing the dirty work before Gaudreau buried the payoff.
“It’s exactly what we talk about,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert. “When I talk about pressure, gaps and all that, we’re talking about 200 feet away from our net. So that’s a nice little systems clip for us.”
Lambert may not need to look far for video. The sequence was a perfect teaching tool, and it started with Meyers chasing down Washington defenseman Martin Fehervary as the Capitals tried to exit their zone.
Meyers, serving as the first forward on the forecheck, closed the space, finished the check and jarred the puck loose in a spot he could actually reach with his stick. Winterton, coming in from the left side, was right there to keep the play alive.
From there, Meyers showed a quick touch, backhanding the puck into the slot before it bounced off the skate of Washington’s Justin Sourdif. Winterton spotted the carom and tipped a pass out to Gaudreau, who suddenly had room to work with Logan Thompson in net and three Capitals trapped below the goal line.
Gaudreau could have rushed the shot, but he didn’t. With Thompson in decent position and not much net available, the 485-game NHL veteran waited, dragged the puck across the top of the crease and then slipped a backhand behind him.
That goal broke a 2-2 tie and helped deliver a key win for Seattle. It also gave the line a point apiece, part of 13 points the so-called fourth line picked up across back-to-back road wins over Detroit and Washington.
“We had a good set breakout, speed through the neutral zone. The puck came to ‘Wints,’ he made a good play and Freddy finished.
After the game in Detroit, Freddy was saying, ‘Y’know, let’s do that every night.’ Things are clicking.”
Jordan Eberle put it even more simply: “When we get on our toes and play with speed, we’re a good team.”
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