After big spending this summer, and an overhaul behind the bench, the Seattle Kraken began their season Tuesday afternoon. Despite a strong showing, they dropped their home opener by a final score of 3-2. One game in October never defines a season, but it does establish the starting line for the marathon ahead. All-in-all, the first game provided a mixed bag of first impressions for this Kraken squad.
Kraken First Impression: 3-2 Loss
Ahead of puck drop, Kraken management named Jordan Eberle the second captain in the young franchise’s history. The lineup featured mostly returning faces, led by Eberle, Jared McCann and Matthew Beniers upfront and Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson on defence.
The team’s two newbies both inked monster seven-year deals with the team in free agency this summer. On offence, Chandler Stephenson centered the second line, while Brandon Montour skated on the second defensive pairing.
New Faces in the Emerald City
Kraken fans’ first impression of Stephenson surely felt like a bit of a let-down. Both five-on-five goals against came with him on the ice. Montour certainly passed the eye test, with his elite skating on full display. He rang a puck off the crossbar during a third period powerplay too, with his team trailing by one.
Internally too, Seattle expects more on a nightly basis from developing prospects. Shane Wright made the team out of training camp, and lined up as their third line centre. He received powerplay time with the second unit, and the first impression from the Kraken indicates that Wright represents a significant part of their roadmap forward.
Similar to Wright, Ryker Evans made the team out of camp and cracked the opening night roster. He played with William Borgen on the third defensive pairing, and had a shot deflected in behind Jordan Binnington to collect his first point of the season.
Opening Night Recap
Upon puck drop, the game began with a fairly even battle. The Kraken mustered the better scoring chances in the first, and finally broke through 27 seconds into the second frame. Vince Dunn potted the first goal of the 2024-25 season, and two minutes later, Eeli Tolvanen made it 2-0.
At that point, the Kraken held a 7-0 shot advantage in just the first 2:20 of the second period alone. The first impression for the Kraken, to this point, looked nearly flawless. The pace, skill, and balance across all four lines reminded viewers of the franchise’s sophomore season, when they got within one win of the Western Conference Final.
The first line remains in-tact from last season. Stephenson on the second line insulates Wright a little more on the third line, to hopefully set him up for success with two 20-goal scorers on his wings. That leaves Brandon Tanev and Yanni Gourde on the fourth line, with all their experience, tenacity, and scoring touch to boot. The depth, when everyone’s healthy, looks strong on paper and matched that for most of game one.
The Turning Point
The Kraken continued pushing for a three-goal lead, but Binnington held firm. A cross-crease opportunity for Oliver Bjorkstrand wound up in Binnington’s glove, a brilliant save to keep the Blues in it. Shortly after, Jordan Kyrou scored a powerplay goal off the rush.
Then, the tying goal slipped under Grubauer’s glove from a fairly innocent location, without traffic in front. Right after that, Kyrou received a breakaway pass and put St. Louis ahead 3-2.
For those who blinked or went to the bathroom, they missed all of the above. In just 1:55, the Kraken went from a two goal lead, to a one goal deficit.
Final Impressions from First Kraken Game
St. Louis shut down Seattle efficiently from the moment they took the lead through to the end of the game. It teaches fans how quickly the tides can turn at the NHL level when one team makes mistakes. But, it also shows how difficult a team can be to play against with a lead, especially later in the game.
That said, this Blues team looked like a very winnable matchup, especially at home. Like Seattle, St. Louis missed the postseason last year. Most people publishing predictions for the season already wrote off both the Kraken and Blues as non-playoff teams again. These teams both need every point they can get.
Unfortunately, Seattle left without any points in a game they controlled (and even dominated) up to the halfway point. Fans now have their first impressions of this Kraken team, which left more to be desired but still felt more positive than negative. With the rest of the marathon ahead of them, time will tell just how good or bad this roster compares to the rest of the league.
Main Photo: Caean Couto-Imagn Images
