Seattle Kraken slide continues with 4-2 loss to Sharks

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - NOVEMBER 30: Head coach Dan Bylsma of the Seattle Kraken talks to his team during a timeout during the second period against the San Jose Sharks at Climate Pledge Arena on November 30, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers)

SEATTLE - The Seattle Kraken appear to be in big trouble.

A day after seeing goaltender Philipp Grubauer lit up in an 8-5 loss to the Sharks in San Jose, the Kraken again rolled over in a 4-2 loss to the Sharks back at home at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night.

This was the portion of the schedule the Kraken needed to take care of business against young, struggling teams in the Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. Instead, Seattle dropped three of the four games with three consecutive losses. The Kraken now face a daunting four-game road trip to Carolina, the New York Islanders and Rangers, and New Jersey Devils. When they return home, the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning are set to come to town.

Things could get ugly very quickly for the Kraken - though losing three of four to San Jose and Anaheim is ugly enough in its own right.

"I think that's going to be on our leadership group," said Jared McCann, who scored one of the two goals for the Kraken. "We've got to maybe sit down everybody, just the players and kind of figure it out here. We know we can beat good teams. We've proven it. We've just got to get back to it."

San Jose scored four unanswered goals – with two less than a minute apart in the second period. A defensive zone turnover from André Burakovsky set up a great chance for Mario Ferraro, who banked a puck into the net off the backside of Will Borgen for a 1-0 lead.

Just as a Seattle power play chance expired early in the second period, Luke Kunin jumped out of the penalty box to join a rush and snapped a shot through Joey Daccord to make it 2-0. A Macklin Celebrini shot rebounded hard off Ryker Evans and the end boards directly to Cody Ceci on a wide open net for a 3-0 lead.

Head coach Dan Bylsma called timeout to try and halt the momentum to no avail. San Jose chipped a puck by a pinching Borgen against the wall to spring a 2-on-1 rush with Will Smith finishing a Mikael Granlund pass to make it 4-0 just 46 seconds after Ceci's goal.

"I think the investment which we're playing right now in the game and the game plan is not where it needs to be to have success on a night to night basis," head coach Dan Bylsma said. "It doesn't really matter the opponent. I think early on in this game, we tip-toed into the match. We kind of see how it was going to go. We were careless with the puck, and it didn't necessarily crush our game, but it crushed the momentum of the game. That's something we have to remedy."

Jaden Schwartz answered back 32 seconds after Smith's goal to get Seattle on the board and cut the lead to 4-1. A fortunate bounce off the wall and the side of the net found Schwartz unmarked in front of the net as he beat Mackenzie Blackwood.

McCann scored his 10th of the season in the third period to trim the lead to two with over 13 minutes left to play, but Seattle wouldn't get closer.

Technically, at least.

With an extra skater on in place of Daccord, Matty Beniers scored with 7.6 seconds left to trim the Sharks lead to just one. However, a review initiated by the NHL's Situation Room in Toronto overturned the goal for goaltender interference by Yanni Gourde against Blackwood. It likely wouldn't have mattered anyway, but what is, and isn't goaltender interference in the NHL remains puzzling.

Vince Dunn returned to the lineup for the Kraken for the first time in over a month. He logged over 26 minutes of ice time alongside Brandon Montour after missing 19 games due to injury.

"It sucks. It really sucks. We feel the pressure," Dunn said of the loss. "But I think now we got nothing to lose, nothing to feel sorry for. We just got to go out and execute and come together here."

The Kraken will have to hope Dunn's return to the lineup can help stabilize the team's performance on the road trip ahead. His offensive ability from the blue line has certainly been missed. Chandler Stephenson should be expected to re-join the lineup as well after missing Saturday night's game due to illness. Mitchell Stephens was called up from AHL Coachella Valley to make his Kraken debut in Stephenson's place agaisnt San Jose.