The woes continued for the Seattle Kraken Tuesday night, as they faced the New Jersey Devils in Newark, New Jersey. In what has become the norm for the Kraken, they came out of the locker room stuck in first gear, and once again, it bit them.
In some late pregame announcements, Yanni Gourde was activated from injured reserve and goaltender Joey Daccord was called up from the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, while goaltender Chris Driedger was put on injured reserve and Kole Lind was sent to the Checkers. Gourde made his Kraken debut just a short time later.
The #SeaKraken have made the following roster moves:
-Yanni Gourde has been activated off of IR
-Joey Daccord has been recalled from the Charlotte Checkers
-Chris Driedger has been placed on IR
-Kole Lind has been reassigned to Charlotte pic.twitter.com/758RuMlDPZ— Seattle Kraken PR (@SeattleKrakenPR) October 19, 2021
The well-rested Devils came out of the gate ready to play in the first period, with Dawson Mercer (first NHL goal) and Damon Severson scoring a minute and a half apart and peppered Daccord, the surprise starter, with 14 shots on net, while the road-weary Kraken found themselves trying to crawl out of yet another hole, as they only had six shots on New Jersey starter Jonathan Bernier.
As the Kraken tried to wipe the sleep from their eyes at the end of a poor first period, defenseman Jeremy Lauzon attempted to send a message with a huge hit on Devils star Jack Hughes, which left Hughes on the ice clutching his left shoulder. Hughes would not return to the game with an undisclosed injury.
As a result, the physicality was turned up to 11 in the second period. Jeremy Lauzon and Ryan Donato did the five-minute dance with Mason Geertsen and Jonas Siegenthaler, respectively.
Seattle finally got on the scoreboard with a top-shelf goal on a fat Adam Larsson rebound from center Riley Sheahan, which cut the Devils’ lead to one goal. Four minutes later, though, Jimmy Vesey re-established the two-goal lead for the home team, redirecting a pass from Andreas Johnsson past Daccord. Shots were 15–13 in favor of New Jersey in the second period, as they took a 3–1 lead into the third.
ANOTHER FIRST!!!
Riley Sheahan (@rsheahan15) gets his first goal as a #SeaKraken! pic.twitter.com/AXqyIA11qg
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) October 20, 2021
The Kraken really turned up the heat in the third period, with the help of their second 5-on-3 power play of the night. Jared McCann circled high in the Devils’ zone and snapped a shot past Bernier, who was leaning to his left. This cut the lead, once again, to one goal, which carried until the final moments of regulation play. With the Kraken goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker, Pavel Zacha sent the visitors home with a 4–2 loss.
Anchor points
⚓ The Kraken had two 5-on-3 power plays on the night, but only delivered on one of them. They ended the night 1 for 5 on the power play overall.
⚓ It was too little, too late for Seattle, outshooting New Jersey 9–4 in the third period after they were outshot 29–20 through 40 minutes.
⚓ Center Yanni Gourde made his Seattle debut, playing 22:25 and picking up his first assist as a member of the Kraken.
⚓ Forwards Jordan Eberle, Morgan Geekie and Jared McCann were each -3 on the night, and defenseman Mark Giordano posted a -2 on the back end. Geekie had a really rough night with a team-worst 6.6% Corsi and a 0% xGF. Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak were each on the ice for 11 high-danger chances against.
⚓ Overall, even-strength Corsi was split right down the middle. New Jersey led the first period 61% to 39%. The Kraken led both the second and third periods with 52% and 67%, respectively.
⚓The Kraken are off for three days in preparation for their home opener against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PDT.