Kraken Win
The Seattle Kraken put together what some coaches refer to as a workmanlike performance on Sunday with their 4-1 win against the visiting New York Islanders.
“From the start we were ready to check, we played with a lot of purpose,” Kraken Head Coach Dave Hakstol said postgame. “Our specialty teams did a good job, our goaltender made a couple of big saves in the last five minutes when it counted. Those are all the little pieces, and everything mixed in between through the 60 minutes was solid, not spectacular, just a solid 60 minute performance.”
It was an impressive and important performance for the Kraken after getting their doors blown off by the Edmonton Oilers 7-2 on Friday night.
“The coaches obviously had that message for us in things we could do better, but a lot of it came from within as well,” Kraken forward Ryan Donato explained. “A lot of our leaders stepped up, they said the things that they were going to do and came out and played hard tonight. There was definitely a needed change for sure.
“When we do play the right way, we notice that we win a lot,” he added.
The Kraken will have their intestinal fortitude put to the test on Tuesday night in Edmonton when they get a revenge opportunity against the Oilers.
Besides a rallying cry or two, among the prominent pregame messages will be “stay out of the box.” The NHL’s top power play (32.1%) went 2-for-2 against Seattle on Friday. Oilers superstar Connor McDavid finished the game with a goal and four assists.
Let’s Skate!
The NHL Winter Classic takes place on Monday at 11 am pacific at Fenway Park in Boston as the Bruins host the Pittsburgh Penguins. Although this tradition has been around for almost 15 years now, it remains a bit surreal to see a hockey rink sitting within the confines of one of baseball’s classic venues.
I had the privilege of being the ice level reporter for the national radio broadcast the last time the Winter Classic was played at Fenway in 2010. The color commentator that day was Darren Pang, who I ran into at Climate Pledge Arena last Wednesday as he was part of the TNT TV crew. We reminisced about that day at Fenway, it being my lone opportunity to work with the great play-by-play man and even greater guy Dave Strader, who died of cancer in 2017.
On more than one occasion, including during the media skate the day before the game, Fenway turned into a snow globe as large flakes fell from the sky.
The Bruins won the 2010 game 2-1 in overtime over the Philadelphia Flyers with Marco Sturm getting the game winner.
World Junior Knock-out
Win and keep going. Lose and go home. The quarterfinal round of the World Junior Championship takes place Monday with the United States taking on Germany at 1 pm pacific and Kraken forward Shane Wright and Team Canada taking on Slovakia at 3:30 pm pacific.
Enjoy the Hockey Action !!
