The gloves flew twice in the first 3:27 of the Kraken’s first game of the season against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Seattle’s Adam Larsson and Vancouver’s Tanner Pearson tussled in the Kraken crease, with goaltender Martin Jones showing he wanted no part of it by using his goalie stick as a buffer.
Then Carson Soucy and Canucks star J.T. Miller briefly met between the benches before joining their teammates in the penalty boxes.
It might be too soon to chalk that up to a regional rivalry.
“They’ve got nothing to lose, really,” Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said Thursday morning. “They’re playing hard and they want to get that first win.”
The Canucks entered the game 0-5-2 and facing heavy scrutiny. They had the chance to shed that zero against a team they convincingly swept last season. Vancouver beat Pacific Division foe Seattle four times in regulation, though both teams ultimately missed the playoffs.
Jones got the start and a chance to improve on his 10-3-1 career record against Vancouver. He had an impressive .937 save percentage against the Canucks before signing with Seattle in the offseason.
Latest, not last
Oleksiak tied the game at 1 for Seattle late in the first period, his second goal in as many games. He scored once in 72 appearances last season for the Kraken and has 27 in 450 career games.
Oleksiak became the latest Kraken defenseman to find the back of the net in Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. The puck spat out to Oleksiak between the faceoff circles and he put it through traffic and over the glove of Sabres goaltender Eric Comrie. The Kraken were up 1-0 just 2:20 into the game.
“It was a sigh of relief for me,” Oleksiak said later.
“I’m not a goal-scorer by any stretch, but it’s kind of nice to chip in every once in a while.”
Of Seattle blue liners who have appeared in at least one contest this season, Soucy (3 assists) was the last one waiting on a goal eight games in. Scoring has come from all over. Sixteen players had potted at least a goal this season, which led the NHL, and every player had recorded at least one point. The Kraken were the only team in the league that could say that Thursday morning.
“The game in this day and age, you kind of need a five-man unit to score goals,” Oleksiak said.
Reinforcements in the crease
The Kraken announced that goaltender Christopher Gibson, 29, had signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $750,000.
Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer was injured Oct. 21 in a game against the Colorado Avalanche and Joey Daccord was recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Seattle’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, to fill in behind Jones. That left the Firebirds short a goaltender.
At one point, goalie Magnus Hellberg was part of the picture in the organization, but Hellberg was claimed off waivers Oct. 3 by the Ottawa Senators to fill in at least until Cam Talbot returns from a rib injury. Hellberg, who appeared in a Kraken preseason game, has already made his Senators debut. He stopped 29 shots and helped Ottawa to a 4-2 victory over Dallas on Monday night.
Meanwhile Gibson attended training camp with the Arizona Coyotes on a professional tryout but was released without a contract. He made the opening night roster for Coachella Valley. He’s appeared in one game so far, Sunday against the Abbotsford Canucks, but was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. The Firebirds went on to win anyway, 7-4 at Climate Pledge Arena.
In 2021-22, Gibson posted a 7-5-2 record with a 2.80 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage and one shutout in 14 appearances for Seattle’s former AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.
Drafted in 2011 by the L.A. Kings, the 6-2, 217-pound native of Karkkila, Finland, has appeared in 225 AHL games with five teams. He’s also played in 16 NHL games (4-5-3 record, 3.33 goals-against average, .901 save percentage) with the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders. He spent time on the Tampa Bay taxi squad and appeared in two games while the Lightning were on the way to a second straight Stanley Cup title in 2020-21, but his name does not appear on the trophy.