The Boston Bruins came to town to face the Seattle Kraken Thursday night. Seattle was rolling downhill with a five-game losing steak while Boston carried a two-game winning streak into the matchup.
Things started well for the Kraken, as captain Mark Giordano walked in through a defensive breakdown in coverage and scored just 3:29 into the game, shorthanded. This was Giordano’s second shorthanded goal of the season and also his second this week.
The Bruins used a little luck to tie the game late in the first period when a Jake DeBrusk centering pass was deflected in the air and tipped by Kraken defenseman Jeremy Lauzon off Philipp Grubauer and into the net. These were not the #RevengeEffects that the Kraken were hoping for from Lauzon.
Other than the fluke goal, Grubauer stood tall in goal, stopping 16 of 17 shots. The Kraken offense managed only eight shots on Bruins netminder Linus Ullmark.
Much like the previous game, the Kraken came out and had a more competitive middle period, getting 10 shots on goal to the Bruins’ 14 shots. The teams traded goals from David Pasternak and Jordan Eberle, which set up a tie game for the third period.
📁 things we love to sea
└📁 backhand goals by ebs pic.twitter.com/JWuhL0Mh3c— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) February 25, 2022
In the third period, the Kraken outshot the Bruins 9–7, but neither team was able to score. As a result, the game headed to overtime, where DeBrusk scored his second of the game to give the Bruins the win.
Anchor points
⚓ Grubauer played really well in this game. This is the way he was supposed to play every game based on the salary he is making. The two regulation goals were not his fault, but he is going to want that overtime goal back. He had DeBrusk at a terrible angle and just “muffed” the shot. It is a pity that these goalies cannot make a single mistake without it costing the team a win. That is far too much to expect every single night.
⚓ The penalty kill was great, holding the Bruins to 0–5 and scoring a shorthanded goal. I thought they might take a hit in success with the loss of Brandon Tanev but, overall, they have been really solid as of late.
⚓ Not all was lost on defense, either. The pairing of Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak was really solid with an (almost) 60% 5-on-5 Corsi in 11:52 together.
⚓ Again, as you might expect when you get outshot by 12, the Bruins held the edge in most possession numbers, but can we talk about face-offs? Possession starts with face-offs deep in each end, and the Kraken are just bad at it. They are 24th in the league and falling.
🔱 5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 
56%–44% 
🔱 5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 58%–42%
🔱 5-on-5 High-danger chances for 59%–41%
🔱 5-on-5 Expected goals for 51%–49%
🔱 Face-off percentage 61%–39%
⚓ Seattle is off until Sunday when they travel down the coast to face the San Jose Sharks. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.