In their past three games, the Seattle Kraken played the Philadelphia Flyers twice and the Winnipeg Jets once. They defeated the Flyers both times and lost to the Jets. Seattle has been in a close fight with the LA Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights for the number one spot in the Pacific Division. Currently, the Golden Knights are 1st. The top four in the Pacific Division are all only one point behind the team ahead of them. The 1st place is Vegas with 70, 2nd is Los Angeles with 69, 3rd is Seattle with 68, and 4th is Edmonton with 67. All four teams have played 55-56 games this season, making this fight even tougher and tighter.
On Sunday, February 12, 2023, Seattle defeated the Flyers 4-3. Their first two goals were in the first period, the first being taken by Jordan Eberle off of Jared McCann and the second being scored by Eeli Tolvanen from Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Flyers scored first on the power play 2:11 into the whole game. Both the Flyers and the Kraken scored one goal each in the second and third periods. In the second, the Flyers scored first, which made the score an even 2-2. At 18:59 in the middle period, Justin Schwartz scored his first of two games that night. His first goal was assisted by Eberle and Wennberg. His second goal was scored at 1:03 into the last period, off of Alexander Wennberg and Will Borgen, putting the Kraken 4-2. The last goal of the game came from Philadelphia’s Patrick Brown, with assists from Ivan Provorov and Rasmus Ristolainen, making the Kraken win with a final score of 4-3.
On Tuesday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day), Seattle lost 3-2 against the Winnipeg Jets, now second in the Central Division with 69 points, 3 points behind the Dallas Stars. Both teams fought hard, as neither team scored in the first period, and the final score in regulation was 2-2. The game ended with a final score of 3-2, favoring Winnipeg, ending in double overtime. The second period resulted in 1 goal for the Jets and 2 for the Kraken. Seattle’s first goal was made by John Hayden, off of Morgan Geekie and Jaime Oleksiak. Jared McCann obtained their second, assisted by Vince Dunn and Elei Tolvanen, and the third period resulted in an uncontested goal from Winnipeg. The first overtime ended with no goals for either team, but the Jets managed to snag one in the second overtime.
The Seattle Kraken had played tough in their first game of the week on Sunday with a win, and a point taken from Tuesday’s game, keeping the Jets in line in regulation. Their game against the Flyers on Thursday, the 16th, was undoubtedly their best game of the week, as they closed it out with a 6-2 win. It wasn’t until the 3rd period that Philly scored their only two goals of the game, both being taken by Konecny. His first goal was made with the help of Provov and Cates, while his second was assisted only by Cates. As for the Kraken, they scored 2 in the first, 3 in the second, and 1 in the third. The first period goals were taken by Jared McCann and Yanni Gourde. The middle period goals were from Justin Schultz, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Yanni Gourde. The last Kraken goal was of Matty Beniers, unassisted.
This week resulted in a Kraken offensive explosion, with 12 total goals scored in their three games. Justin Schultz now has six goals and 20 assists this season. Jordan Eberle has 11 goals with 31 assists. Matty Beniers, the team’s youngest player, has scored 18 goals and assisted 20 other goals. Justin Schwartz has obtained 12 goals and 14 assists. Jared McCann has 26 goals and 13 assists. Elei Tolvanen has nine goals and five assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand has 11 goals and 19 assists. Yanni Gourde now has eight goals with 27 assists.
Seattle has played exceptionally well this season, as they are the newest team in the NHL. They have a coach who does a great job keeping them in line while also acknowledging and congratulating them for their successes. They’re a very close team, and their love for each other can be seen in every game, social media video, and picture. On Thursday’s game, Yanni Gourde was awarded the Davy Jones hat, but he handed it right over to Will Borgen. “Guys, I won’t take it tonight. I think Borgy was our best player on the ice.” Said Gourde as soon as he was handed the hat. The Kraken play the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, the 18th, and whether they win or lose, they will have great positivity and love showing towards each other and their fans.
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Well done.