Unforced errors sink Seattle Kraken in 2-1 loss to Capitals
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MARCH 14: T.J. Oshie #77 of the Washington Capitals celebrates his goal against Joey Daccord #35 of the Seattle Kraken during the second period at Climate Pledge Arena on March 14, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Ch (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - Three straight losses for the Seattle Kraken and any hopes of making the playoffs seem to be all but gone.
A pair of unforced errors by the Kraken led to both goals for the Washington Capitals in a 2-1 loss on Thursday night.
A misplayed clearance attempt from goaltender Joey Daccord bounced into the net off T.J. Oshie for an opening goal for Washington, and an André Burakovsky turnover sprung a Connor McMichael breakaway.
Oliver Bjorkstrand scored a power play goal to tie the game in the third period, but McMichael's breakaway goal was the decision blow for Seattle.
"We just made two mistakes. Not going to sugarcoat it. Not going to make more of it than it is," head coach Dave Hakstol said. "We made two mistakes and on a night like tonight those are two massive mistakes obviously that we don't want to make."
Meanwhile, the Vegas Golden Knights lost 4-1 to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night, which further underscored how much of a missed opportunity Tuesday night's loss was for Seattle. If the Kraken had been able to hold on for the win over Vegas and follow it up with a win over the Capitals, they could have been as few as four points out of playoff spot.
Instead, the Kraken are nine points back with 17 games to play and have the hottest team in the NHL in the Nashville Predators coming to town on Saturday. The Predators are 11-0-2 in their last 13 games as they've pulled massively ahead of Seattle in the standings.
The Kraken came out of the gates seemingly ready to go with the first six shots of the game. But after that the performance fell flat with a particularly lackluster second period effort setting them back.
"It shouldn't be hard. We're fighting for a playoff spot, so yeah it shouldn't be hard," Bjorkstrand said. "It looks that way, but it shouldn't be. I think just as a team we have to push harder throughout the game."
Daccord is so skilled at playing the puck as a goaltender and rarely makes a mistake. But it's bound to happen every once in a while and it finally caught up to Daccord and the Kraken in the second period.
With Seattle on a penalty kill, Daccord tried to clear the puck himself out of the defensive zone after keeping it out of the corner on a dump in attempt by Washington. However, he appeared to fan slightly on the attempt and it bounced off Everett native T.J. Oshie and into the net to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.
"Nobody wants to make a mistake. In this game, mistakes are going to happen," center Yanni Gourde said. "They end up in the back of our net. I thought Joey played good again tonight. Made some great saves on the kill there. I thought he played very well and it's just unfortunate."
The Kraken benefited off just such a play themselves a little over two weeks ago when Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins had a clearance hit Jordan Eberle and quickly wound up in the net. This time it was a bad bounce that cost Seattle.
"Well there's an art to it, right?" Hakstol said. "Decision-making and there is a time and a place, and that decision-making, you know, mistakes happen. It's going to be a mistake that we and Joey will learn from. It's a painful one. That's the fact of the matter. We're not putting this loss on that play. It is a play that he's going to learn from and one that will help him make decisions on when and how to play the puck in different situations going forward."
The Kraken came out for the third period furiously looking for the answer. Eberle created a chance that was turned away by Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren inside the first two minutes. Eberle was then tripped by Alexander Alexeyev to give Seattle a power play chance.
After a Matty Beniers try from the slot was saved by Lindgren, Kailer Yamamoto created a chance with a drive to the net. Lindgren ended up sprawled out on the ice and couldn't recover as the puck found its way to Oliver Bjorkstrand, who snapped a shot top corner for his 18th of the year to pull Seattle level with 16:28 left to play.
But another self-inflicted error came back to bite the Kraken. André Burakovsky tried to leave the puck for Bjorkstrand at the top of the Washington zone as the two overlapped, but the pass didn't connect. Instead, the loose puck sprung Connor McMichael on a breakaway chance and finish to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead.
"He tried to drop it to me. I don't know, it kind of stopped," Bjorkstrand said. "So I don't know. I maybe thought it was going to slide a little bit more but it kind of just stopped and obviously they got the breakaway."
The Kraken were already facing long odds of running down a playoff spot. A three-game losing streak has come at the worst time possible as they try to make up ground. If it extends to four straight on Saturday – against a Nashville team they're also chasing – offseason can probably get fully underway at team headquarters.