Struggling Kraken lose 3-1 to Devils for third straight loss
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - FEBRUARY 12: Timo Meier #28 of the New Jersey Devils takes a shot as Ryker Evans #39 of the Seattle Kraken defends during the second at Prudential Center on February 12, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
The Seattle Kraken have picked a very bad time to have one of their sloppiest games of the season.
The Kraken were thoroughly dominated in a 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday night that included multiple self-inflicted wounds. With three straight losses and a challenging schedule still in front of them, the Kraken find themselves once again in danger of falling out of the playoff race.
"Our compete, our execution just took us out of this hockey game for the first 35 minutes," head coach Dave Hakstol said.
Nico Daws - who entered the night with a 3-5 record and an .895 save percentage - delivered 27 saves in thwarting a struggling Seattle offense.
For the Kraken, it’s a third straight loss and two-in-a-row since returning from the All-Star break. And they have a quick turnaround as they play again Tuesday night against the New York Islanders.
"It's a test for us in terms of adversity, in terms of character and how we're going to respond to it, and I think it's a good opportunity for us. We've just got to focus on one game at a time and take it from there," defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said.
A Seattle mistake preceded each of the Devils three goals as they seized a commanding lead in the contest. A bad line change left the Kraken with too many men on the ice for their second penalty of the opening period. A Tyler Toffoli slap shot redirected off Brandon Tanev and by Joey Daccord to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead on the power play.
Then, less than a minute into the second period, Matty Beniers was caught unaware of his surroundings as Erik Haula stole the puck off him in the Seattle defensive zone. Jack Hughes banked a goal in off the side of Joey Daccord’s mask from a tight angle to make it a 2-0 Devils lead. Then four minutes later, Timo Meier raced by rookie defenseman Ryker Evans at the Seattle blue line with Dawson Mercer slamming home a rebound off a Meier shot for a 3-0 New Jersey advantage.
"Maybe the execution was little bit off coming off a bye week or what not. We don't really have the luxury to make those mistakes and we just got to make sure we grow from this one," Oleksiak said.
Beniers didn't play for over 10 minutes in the second period after the turnover that led to the Devils’ second goal.
A fourth goal for the Devils was taken off the board as Haula collided with Daccord for goaltender interference on a Šimon Nemec shot.
"We got outworked," defenseman Will Borgen said.
Seattle also had to play with only five defensemen for most of the night as Brian Doumoulin left midway through the first period with a lower body injury after taking a hit from Meier against the boards. But the Kraken forced themselves to play short-handed too many times as well with five penalties called against them in the game.
The Kraken did generate numerous opportunities in the third period that ultimately were far too little, too late.
Borgen got Seattle on the board to avoid the shutout with a wrist shot cleanly by Daws with 10 minutes left to play. Jared McCann got a pair of strong chances. Adam Larsson had a shot from in close on the net miss target, and a loose puck fell to Jaden Schwartz at the net front only to fan on the shot with under four minutes left to play.
The Devils held a 15-0 advantage in shots on goal in the second period over the first 14 minutes of action. For the game, the Kraken were out-shot by a 37-28 margin.
"We came apart a little bit in the second period," Hakstol said. "That's something that can't happen. When things aren't going well and things don't look good, you've got to find a way to work out of it together."
Daccord made 34 saves on 37 shots for Seattle and had 1.42 goals saved over expected - per Natural Stat Trick metrics. As it's been most of the season, goaltending was not the problem for the Kraken. However, the lack of ability to consistently create quality offensive chances has again bitten Seattle.