The Seattle Kraken have watched the advantage of their strong first six weeks of the season disappear thanks to a lengthy losing skid.
Now the Kraken are searching for something to spark a rebound as they kick off a four-game road trip against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
Seattle arrives in Calgary on the heels of a 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, which put them in a three-game slump. The Kraken have just one win in their last 10 outings (1-8-1).
Adding to the frustration is how close they were to claiming a huge victory over the league-leading Avalanche.
“We played hard, like we have been,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We just couldn’t find a way to get it over the finish line.”
Seattle held a 3-2 lead going into the third period but surrendered it. The Kraken had a golden chance to again pull ahead, but Jordan Eberle could not convert a penalty shot in the eighth minute of the final frame, clanging a shot off the post.
Less than a minute later, Colorado took the lead for good.
“For the most part, we played a better game. We were with them,” Eberle said. “It comes down to I missed a penalty shot to possibly take the lead, and they scored on the power play right after. That’s the difference right there.
There was no update on Wednesday about the status of defenseman Brandon Montour, who left the game early in the third period. He’s reportedly set to miss Thursday’s game, per Emerald City Hockey.
On the positive, Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson scored against Colorado to run his point-scoring streak to six games (three goals, three assists).
Both clubs are seven points outside of a playoff position, although Calgary has played three more games.
The Flames return home after a 6-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday which ended a two-game road trip. It was a clash in which they erased an early two-goal deficit but almost immediately fell behind again.
Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, the Flames allowed three goals in the final 20 minutes to let a close game get away from them.
“I didn’t like the chances we gave up early in the game to put ourselves in a hole. I liked how we came back,” coach Ryan Huska said. “Some of the plays we made were poor plays with the puck. They have a lot of team speed, and we didn’t manage that.”
Calgary is on a 9-5-2 run but has lost two of three games and now leads only the Vancouver Canucks in the league standings.
The onus is on the Flames if they want to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, to play to their identity, unlike in San Jose.
“We kind of played their style all (game),” forward Blake Coleman said. “It was more of a track meet, run-and-gun type of game, and that’s generally not the way that we find success.”
Although the Flames wasted an important opportunity to pull closer to a playoff spot, since San Jose held the Western Conference’s second wild-card position going into Wednesday’s action, they believe a push is possible.
“Turn the page,” Huska said. “We’ll review a few things with the guys and then we’ve got to get ourselves ready for our next opponent.”
–Field Level Media
