Ben Chiarot goal in overtime sinks Kraken in 4-3 loss to Red Wings
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 19: Dylan Larkin #71 of the Detroit Red Wings and Jared McCann #19 of the Seattle Kraken battle for the puck during the third period of a game at Climate Pledge Arena on February 19, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo
SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken thrice rallied from one-goal deficits to force overtime, only for Ben Chiarot to score the game-winning goal for the Detroit Red Wings just 1:06 into the extra period in a 4-3 Kraken loss on Monday afternoon.
Jared McCann scored a pair of goals – including one on the power play – and Jaden Schwartz tied the game with more than 12 minutes left to play as the Kraken earned a point for the third straight game. However, a poor giveaway by Seattle exiting their defensive zone allowed the Red Wings to regroup for a rush chance with Chiarot finding space between the circles for a shot that snuck through the legs of goaltender Joey Daccord for the winning goal.
Alex Lyon was terrific in net for Detroit in thwarting a fairly strong offensive effort from the Kraken. Lyon made 38 saves on 41 shots for Detroit, which included 10 saves on 11 high-danger opportunities from Seattle, per Natural Stat Trick.
"It's disappointing to lose the point in overtime, but the point that we got is valuable," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "… "We gave them one puck back too many and that led to the overtime goal against. But end of the day, it's one point, put the game behind us and move on to the next one."
The Kraken had a fantastic start to the game, outshouting Detroit by an 11-3 margin through the first 12 minutes. But Lyon was stellar to keep Seattle from finding the opening goal. Yanni Gourde had a tip chance off a Vince Dunn shot with Eeli Tolvanen getting a shot off the rebound, which were all stopped by Lyon. Then Jordan Eberle had a pair of looks that were also turned aside.
"We came out good. Spent a lot of time in their end, created chances that way and yeah, he made some big stops," Schwartz said of Lyon.
However, the Kraken were a little late getting back defensively when a quick change of possession left their defense scattered. Moritz Seider fired a blast that Daccord didn't see clearly as it was screened by Tolvanen between the circles. The puck went through Tolvanen's legs as the shot was shielded from Daccord's view and found the net for a 1-0 Red Wings lead.
Late in the period, Chiarot gave the Kraken their first power play chance with cross-check to the back of McCann in front of the Detroit net. McCann made the Red Wings pay for the infraction with a shot by the glove of Lyon from the left circle to tie the game up with 1:28 left in the opening period.
The Red Wings significantly evened out the level of play in the second period and pushed back on the Kraken. Daccord was again put into a difficult position and unable to bail Seattle out. J.T. Compher tipped a Jeff Petry shot attempt right in front of the Kraken net. The rebound spit directly to Lucas Raymond at the side of the net as Daccord had no chance at the follow-up effort as Detroit jumped back in front.
"I think we had a little bit of a lapse there in the second period, maybe for eight to 10 minutes," Schwartz said.
McCann, again, had the answer for Seattle.
McCann fought for positioning in front of the Red Wings net and managed to just barely direct a rebound of his own shot through the legs of Lyon as it trickled over the goal line to tie the game at 2-2.
"We have been practicing kind of backside shots for the (defense) and Rig [Oleksiak] made a good play, just trying to put it there for me and I just tried to bang it in," McCann said.
The stalemate wouldn't survive the period, however. The Red Wings caught Seattle in a scruffy line change with Christian Fischer feeding former Kraken Daniel Sprong for a snap wrist shot that deflected off the right post and into the net by Daccord for a 3-2 Detroit advantage.
Daccord made 28 saves on 32 shots for Seattle in one of his shakier performances in recent memory. While the goals allowed weren't particularly egregious, he did seem to allow more rebounds that he's typically been accustomed to for the Kraken.
A delayed penalty call against the Red Wings gave the Kraken an extended 6-on-5 look with Daccord on the bench for an extra skater. A slap pass from Yanni Gourde caught Lyon off-balance as he fell on his backside. The pass from Gourde found an open Jaden Schwartz, who had time to collect a bobbled reception of the puck and still see a wide open net with Lyon down on the ice for the tying goal with 12:35 left to play.
"I thought that was probably the only kind of good thing we had out of this," McCann said of rallying three times in the game. "We were playing catch up most of the game, which is not usually like us, but we were able to go battle back, get a point. It was good."
Olli Maatta cross-checked McCann into the sideboards with 1:44 left to play to give Seattle a late power play chance to win the game in regulation. However, the only two shots on net in regulation came from defenseman from long range and Lyon stopped both to send the game to overtime.
McCann got a really good look as the power play came to a close 16 seconds into overtime before Chiarot found the game-winning goal less than a minute later.
"We had quite a few chances," Schwartz said. "Just couldn't find a way to get one more and then they took advantage in overtime there. There's a lot of chances. A lot of good things. Obviously, a few things to clean up."
McCann is one of just two players in team history with a hat trick. McCann accomplished the feat last year in Chicago against the Blackhawks while Jordan Eberle had one at home against the Buffalo Sabres early in the team's debut season. McCann had a couple strong chances to find a third goal that were stopped by Lyon.
The Kraken remain three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference in a tight race that includes the St. Louis Blues (60 pts), Nashville Predators (58 pts), Minnesota Wild (58 pts), Kraken (57 pts), and Calgary Flames (57 pts) all trying for one playoff spt.
With the trade deadline approaching on March 8, the Kraken have a short window remaining to show they can stay in the race before the front office has to decide whether to trade away some pieces with an eye to the future instead.