It was a big night for the Kraken and their fans at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.
With all of the giveaways and promotions, “Fan Appreciation” nights are always supercharged. At least until the action starts …
That’s when the visiting Kings, despite being dramatically out-shot early, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Seattle. Samuel Helenius and Alex Turcotte scored 1:09 apart with tip-ins that beat the always valiant Joey Daccord.
We’ll spare you the details on all of the goals in what turned out to be a 6-5 Los Angeles victory. The highlight for the Kraken being a shorthanded tally from Tye Kartye that cut the lead to 2-1 at 5:26 of the 2nd period.
Seattle actually tied the game 2-2, before giving up four straight goals to LA.
Old habits die hard. The Kraken did what they’ve done so often this season: Fell behind, chased the game, and scrambled their hardest to get back into it late. This time, not uncommon, their late 3rd period rally wasn’t enough.
Even through the slop that was essentially a pond hockey game, the team with a well established culture, the LA Kings, prevailed against the club without one, the Seattle Kraken.
Even without four key players in a game of glorified shinny, the Kings were the superior squad. When NHL GM’s and coaches talk about the importance of establishing an identity, Los Angeles would be one of their examples.
Mark that down as one of Seattle’s tasks this off-season: Building out an identity, one that includes consistently being a bitch to play against on nightly basis.
Until then, it’s bye bye for now, as the Seattle players head off to Mexico and elsewhere to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs from a tiki bar at the beach.
