Hot off a big win against a division rival, the Seattle Kraken home stand continued Monday with a visit by Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The #RevengeEffects were on tap with both Brandon Tanev and Jared McCann having previously played for the Penguins. Unfortunately, their #RevengeEffects game did not go as well as Adam Larsson’s did on Friday against Edmonton.
Seattle leading goal scorer Jordan Eberle made his return to the lineup looking to ignite another hot scoring streak after scoring just three goals in his previous eight games.
From the puck drop, the Kraken were simply not ready to battle in this contest. Veteran Penguins center Jeff Carter banked a goal in off the back of goaltender Philipp Grubauer just 1:47 into play and the bleeding never stopped. Crosby and Danton Heinen added goals 25 seconds apart just three minutes after Carter’s goal, which chased Grubauer from the net after making only one save.
Enter Joey Daccord, who was tasked with stopping the onslaught of offense from the visiting Penguins. The goaltending change shifted the momentum enough to keep Pittsburgh off the board for the remainder of the first period, but the damage was already done. As the teams went into the intermission, the Kraken were down 3–0 but up in shots 10–8.
Eberle opened the second period with a goal to break the shutout for Penguins netminder Casey DeSmith, but that would be all the offense that Seattle could muster in this game.
Ebs picks up where he left off! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/yuHvYKJwL7
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 7, 2021
Jake Guentzel scored his first of two on the night with 1:30 remaining in the second period and Carter scored his second of the contest just 23 ticks later to wrap the first 40 minutes up with a 5–1 Penguins lead. Pittsburgh also led in shots in the period 13–9.
With the game out of hand, the third period just turned into a game of “don’t make any huge mistakes, and let’s all get out of here healthy.” Guentzel scored his second of the game near the midway point of the third, which wrapped up all the offense on this night.
The Penguins held a slim edge in shots on the night, 31–29, but the end result was decided in the first five minutes of play.
Anchor points
⚓ Just when the goaltending seemed to be catching up with the rest of the team, Grubauer has a clunker. Carter’s goal was ugly, and the momentum just kept rolling downhill after that. He has played well of late, so I would just chalk this up to an off night. Daccord played pretty well, but even if he stopped all 26 shots, they would have still lost.
⚓ A power play goal in their only opportunity might have cut the Pens’ lead to 3–2, but it was not to be. Despite some frustration, Seattle was also able to stay out of the penalty box. In fact, they gave up a shorthanded breakaway to Teddy Blueger, but Daccord bailed them out.
👁👄👁
JOEY OK, Y’ALL! pic.twitter.com/CNu3iEUdG0
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) December 7, 2021
⚓ We should all just take a mulligan on this game. The Kraken were sloppy from the puck drop and have to forget about the result. The pair of Jamie Oleksiak and Carson Soucy were completely caved in all night with a not-so-nice 20.69% shot attempt percentage.
⚓ As you might expect by the score, the Penguins held a pretty convincing lead in most advanced metrics:
🔱 5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 
51%–49%
🔱 5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 
52%–48%
🔱 5-on-5 High-danger chances for 63%–37%
🔱 5-on-5 Expected goals for 59%–41%
🔱 Face-off percentage 57%–43%
⚓ The Kraken are off today and tomorrow, but host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.