A 1-0 shootout loss to the host New York Islanders just before Thanksgiving sent the Seattle Kraken into a 1-9-1 skid and dropped them into last place in the NHL’s overall standings.
An 8-0-1 streak followed, putting the Kraken in playoff position in the bunched Western Conference.
The pendulum has swung back the other way. The Kraken have lost four in a row and six of their past seven (1-4-2) entering Wednesday’s game against the visiting Islanders at Climate Pledge Arena.
“We’ve got to find ways to win, now more than ever. It’s beginning to be that time,” Kraken winger Ryan Winterton said. “I know we’ll get on the right track, but it’s gonna have to start soon.”
The Kraken are coming off back-to-back 6-3 losses in which they allowed three third-period goals in each, Saturday in Utah and Monday at home against Pittsburgh.
“We’re just too loose right now in the D-zone,” said Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who scored a goal Monday. “We’re giving up too many chances. We’re hanging our goalies out to dry a little bit. You know, when we’re playing our best hockey, we’re a hard-defending team. We don’t give other teams much, so we’ve got to get back to that.”
The Kraken have allowed a short-handed goal in three straight games.
“What’s happening right now is we’re making mistakes that are going in the back of our net,” Kraken coach Lane Lambert said. “We’ve got to correct those mistakes.”
Kraken captain Jordan Eberle, selected from the Islanders in the 2021 expansion draft, leads Seattle with 17 goals and is tied with Matty Beniers for the team lead with 31 points.
The Islanders are wrapping up a seven-game Western swing on which they’re 3-2-1.
They won 4-3 Monday at Vancouver as Anthony Duclair scored twice, Tony DeAngelo had a goal and an assist and Mathew Barzal and Matthew Schaefer each had a pair of helpers. Ilya Sorokin stopped 29 shots.
“It was an important win for us,” said Islanders coach Patrick Roy, whose team is in second place in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Schaefer, a defenseman who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL draft, has 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 49 games, tying Tim Connolly (1999-2000) for the most points by an 18-year-old in a season in franchise history.
With Bo Horvat and his team-leading 21 goals out since New Year’s Day with a lower-body injury, Duclair has been clicking on the Islanders’ top line with Barzal and Anders Lee. Duclair has seven goals in his past seven games after netting just four over his first 39 outings of the season.
“Feel good. Obviously, playing with some really good players,” Duclair said. “I keep saying it, ‘Barzy’ is finding me. I love to play with those guys, him and (Lee), and as a line as a whole, we’re finding our chemistry together.”
Barzal, the Islanders’ leading point producer with 40 (11 goals, 29 assists), will have a homecoming of sorts Wednesday as he played in juniors with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League.
–Field Level Media
