Kicked in the teeth. Noses rubbed in it. Descriptions of Friday’s 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers were graphic, but the way of coping was classic — a long, loud practice.
Some Kraken issues caught up with them in December. They can stop bleeding standings points or fall further behind Sunday at home against the New York Islanders.
“Those games, sometimes, are a little bit easier to get over because any time you get kicked in the teeth like that, it brings you back to reality,” forward Jordan Eberle said. “That being said, you’ve got to come to the rink and watch what’s not going right.
“It’s not like football, where you’ve got to wait a week, think about it, go through it and dwell on it. You get right back on the horse.”
The Kraken (18-11-4) weren’t alert early and never in it against Pacific Division opponent Edmonton, which climbed past them into the second wild-card spot. Seattle was down 3-0 less than four minutes into the game and switched goalies. They continued to gift the Oilers easy goals with spotty coverage.
The Kraken dropped consecutive games to teams hovering behind them in the standings.
“You find a little bit more passion in your game. You’ve got to find a little more execution, a little more detail,” Eberle said. “A little bit more fire.”
The Kraken were able to build a sizable cushion in the Pacific on the strength of a 10-1-1 November. In several of those games, they were able to stay one step before their defensive gaffes, consistently scoring only to quickly give up the lead again. At the end, they were ahead. It worked — then.
“These are games in the middle of the year that have playoff implications. There is no way to skill your way to two points,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “Our group is a workmanlike group. We’re a lunch-pail group. We’re a real good hockey team when we have that approach for 60 minutes.”
Everyone except defenseman Vince Dunn (maintenance day), who had an assist and a fight the previous night, went out on New Year’s Eve at Kraken Community Iceplex, where they revisited a few, old-line combinations.
The coach — the one who used the aforementioned dog-training metaphor to describe what happened Friday at Climate Pledge Arena — lightly outlined his plan going forward if his team’s “switch” doesn’t flip back on its own.
“The first thing for me is trust in this group. We’ll start there. Guys have earned that. Guys have built that,” Hakstol said.
Then, there’s the possibility to sit and scratch. Sit during games in favor of teammates having a better night, and scratch to sub in those waiting in the locker room — forward Eeli Tolvanen, who hasn’t appeared in a game since being claimed off waivers, and defenseman Cale Fleury — or in the American Hockey League.
“At the end of the day, if things aren’t going right, the next guy has to go out there,” Hakstol said.
World Juniors update
Jani Nyman and Team Finland fell 6-2 to the U.S. on Saturday at the 2023 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship. Nyman, Seattle’s second-round pick in July, was held off the scoresheet. He has two goals and an assist through four games.
First-round pick Shane Wright registered an assist in Canada’s 5-1 win against Sweden. It was the first time in four games he’d been kept from a goal of his own.
Wright’s teammate, Connor Bedard, tied Eberle’s Canadian record for goals in the tournament with his 14th on Thursday against Austria. He tacked on four assists Saturday but didn’t pass Eberle.
Seattle Thunderbird Kevin Korchinski scored Canada’s last goal of the night.
In 2009 and 2010, Regina, Saskatchewan native Eberle got the chance to take place in the tournament he’d watched growing up. Current teammate Martin Jones was also a member of the 2010 team. Eberle led Canada with eight goals and 13 points through six games, while Jones had a .917 save percentage in two appearances.
“There’s a lot of pressure that goes along with putting on the maple leaf, but it’s a lot of fun,” Eberle said.
Naturally Eberle hopes Wright, who has spent much of the season with the Kraken, enjoys his own experience.
“He’s only 18 years old and captaining a team. That’s pretty special in itself,” Eberle said. “That just goes to show the leadership qualities that he has and the special player that he is.”