It wasn’t too long ago that the Seattle Kraken were touting their best start in franchise history.
At U.S. Thanksgiving, a traditional measuring stick for NHL teams, they were 11-6-6 and in third place in the Pacific Division.
But that has all been washed away with 10 losses in their past 11 games (1-9-1).
The Kraken will look to snap a four-game skid in a Saturday road game against the San Jose Sharks.
“We keep doing these things over and over again, and it’s getting old, and we’ve got to figure this out,” said Kraken coach Lane Lambert, referring to turnovers and penalties, after his team allowed three third-period goals in a 4-2 loss at Calgary on Thursday. “When you’re not winning, you have a tendency to play safe, I guess, and that’s not what we can do to get out of this.”
Joey Daccord made 42 saves for the Kraken, who were outshot 46-23 by the Flames.
“In the end, you’ve got to find a way,” said Kraken forward Kaapo Kakko, whose second-period goal gave Seattle a 2-1 lead it took into the third. “These are the games you’ve just got to win. We were winning and, like I said, you’ve got to find a way.”
The Kraken’s only win in their past 11 games was a 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 10. Seattle scored the tying goal with 26 seconds remaining in regulation on a power play with the goalie pulled. Vince Dunn scored the winning goal on a man advantage in the extra period.
“You’ve just got to take the good stuff and keep going and keep believing that eventually, the tables are going to turn,” veteran Kraken forward Frederick Gaudreau said. “There’s no point to just getting (upset) and getting down and (going) against each other, because it’s not about that. It’s a group of brothers that are going through a tougher time, result-wise, and they just need to stick together.”
Injuries to forwards Jared McCann, the franchise’s career scoring leader, and Jaden Schwartz, who was atop the team’s points list when he went down, haven’t helped.
“You have to move forward. There’s no other way around it,” Lambert said. “What’s happened has happened. What’s done is done. And you’ve got to move forward.”
The Sharks had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 5-3 loss against the visiting Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Collin Graf scored twice and Macklin Celebrini had two assists for the Sharks.
“I thought we played pretty well,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “We just gave them a couple there, the first two out of our structure and D-zone, and one on the power play there. (We) had our opportunities.”
Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft, extended his point streak to four games (three goals, seven assists) and has 13 points over his past six games (four goals, nine assists).
Celebrini, who is third in the league with 53 points, has been playing without injured linemates Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev, who were both injured on Dec. 13 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Neither Smith nor Kurashev is expected to play against Seattle.
After Alex Nedeljkovic yielded four goals on 29 shots vs. Dallas, Yaroslav Askarov might be in net for the Sharks on Saturday.
–Field Level Media
