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Defense Optional: Seattle Explodes With 9 Goal Victory

November 30, 2022, 6:51 PM ET [29 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Seattle Kraken Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Just like the coaching staff drew it up.

Seattle and LA played if not the best game of the season so far, at the bare minimum the most entertaining game of the season with a 9-8 OT victory for the Kraken. Beniers, McCann, and Burakovsky each had 2 goals. Wennberg, Bjorkstrand, and Sprong each notched a goal. Eberle had 4 assists and Justin Schultz had 3.

That may be the strangest thing about the whole affair is Kevin Fiala and Jordan Eberle each had the most points with 4 apiece, all assists. This was not a game where one or two players went supernova but as the Kraken have been doing all season; chipping in offense from all lines.

It was great to see the powerplay come to life in the first period for the Kraken. While Seattle has been one of the most dominant 5 on 5 teams this month, their powerplay has actually been surprisingly mediocre. Producing only 9 goals this month, which includes the 3 that were scored in this game. Seattle went 3/4 on the PP and held the Kings to 2/4 ono their own powerplay. Both teams were scoring at will on 5 on 5 and the one extra powerplay goal was the literal difference maker last night.

Matty Beniers is just rolling right now. Beniers has points in 5 straight games, going 4-7-11 in those games. Last night Beniers also had 6 shots on net, the most of his early career thus far. Beniers is growing more confident with every shift. He is going to the paint without hesitation with consistency now and he is getting rewarded for it.

Boy Andre Burakovsky has just fit in like a glove with this team. Burakovsky leads this team with 23 points in 21 games going 9-14-23 as well as tied for team lead with 60 shots. Burakovsky was expected to come in and be a skilled top six winger who could produced 50-60 points on this roster. He is currently on pace for more than 80 points. He is 27 and is signed for three more seasons after this one at 5.5 million. Players like him on the open market are getting at least 6.5-7 million.

Another great value deal is Oliver Bjorkstrand who scored just his third goal of the season and is still primed to start scoring in spades. His 5% SH% is the lowest of his career and is the other player tied for first in shots. The weapons this team can employ are near endless.

I was a little surprised that at no point Hakstol elected to pull Martin Jones but on a defense optional night and how easily each team was scoring I suppose credit to him for not putting in a cold goalie.

Speaking of Hakstol. I was highly critical of him throughout October and said that changes needed to happen for this team to take the next step forward. Hakstol has remained behind the bench and the Kraken went 10-1-1 in November and sit 4 points back of the Vegas Golden Knights with 2 games in hand. There is definitely a bit of good puck luck going Seattle's way and I expect a bit of regression at some point here but here are the important numbers. 57-39.

The Kraken have scored the 2nd most 5 on 5 goals this season (57) and have allowed the 7th fewest goals again (39). Even though the goaltending overall has been average at best and no true #1 defender exists on this roster, the team as a whole is producing together.

At some point rather soon here we are probably going to start talking about Dave Hakstol as a Jack Adams candidate. Most Jack Adams candidates are teams that were bad last season that have a hot goalie this year. While the Kraken were awful this year they are not winning because of a Vezina worthy netminder, they are winning from strong team play and a good collection of players that are able to produce during the bulk of minutes played at 5 on 5. This was a highly entertaining way to cap off November and I look forward at seeing what December brings.

Thanks for reading!
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