A disastrous second period that saw three goals allowed in less than seven minutes thwarted the Seattle Kraken in a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
A disastrous second period that saw three goals allowed in less than seven minutes thwarted the Seattle Kraken in a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.Philipp Grubauer allowed five goals on 22 shots faced in his first start in eight games for Seattle as the defense didn't do him any favors.
The Kraken are now 0-8 in games played in back-to-back nights this season."We hung him out to dry," head coach Dan Bylsma said of Grubauer.The Kraken's porous defensive effort left Grubauer with no chance on multiple goals allowed to Anaheim. However, Grubauer also allowed at least one goal that an NHL goaltender has to stop.Seattle is now 5-15-1 in games played by Grubauer this season. His already awful save percentage of .870 entering the game dropped another four points to .866 with the five goals scored by the Ducks with Grubauer in the net. That .866 save percentage is the worst in the NHL among qualified goaltenders this season.After another rough outing, could it be time for more drastic measures by the Kraken? It's hard to see the team placing Grubauer on waivers. But at the same time, it's almost impossible for the team to win a game in any game Grubauer is in goal.In contrast, Joey Daccord is 17-12-2 in 31 games with a decision for the team this year. Daccord's .917 save percentage is fifth-best in the NHL. It was a game the Kraken had to win if they had any hope of mounting a rally in the standings in the playoff race. And with the four goals scored against a goaltender in Lukáš Dostál, who has been terrific for the Ducks this season, that's an effort that should be enough most nights."I think coming into the game, they were one point behind us. Now they're ahead of us in the standings," said Eeli Tolvanen, who scored a goal for the third straight game. "So I think that we knew that these next two games were going to be really important. It sucks. I felt like we kind of gave the game away.The Ducks did jump out to a quick lead after the first of many defensive miscues in the game. Troy Terry was left unmarked on a drive right to the net and beat Grubauer off a pass from Ryan Strome to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead just 1:23 into the game."Breakdowns. Breakdowns in the back of the net," defenseman Brandon Montour said. "Gave them chances and they capitalized. No matter who you're playing, it's tough to keep a game going when they're scoring 5-6 goals.Seattle answered back five minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Montour won the puck back from Robby Fabbri along the boards and circled behind the net and set up a driving Tolvanen for a slap shot that beat Dostál for the Kraken's opening goal.Less than two minutes later, the Kraken had the lead. Mitchell Stephens out-muscled Jansen Harkins behind the net and drove to the front of the goal for a backhand shot that slipped under the arm of Dostál for a 2-1 lead. It was Stephens' first goal with the Kraken.Joshua Mahura then got caught trying to pinch down in the offensive zone as the Ducks beat him to spark a 2-on-1 rush chance. Cutter Gauthier fired a shot that rebounded back to him off Grubauer for a follow-up chance that found the net to bring Anaheim level at 2-2.Seattle found one more goal in the period to take a lead into the break. Jaden Schwartz scored his team-leading 17th goal of the season on a pass from Kaapo Kakko on a 2-on-1 break for a 3-2 Kraken advantage. Kakko now has 15 points in 19 games with Seattle since being traded from the New York Rangers in December.Grubauer then came up with his best save of the night. After surviving a Mahura penalty with a successful kill, the Ducks pressure continued with Grubauer flailing against a couple of chances at the net. Trevor Zegras then had a prime look from the right circle with Grubauer adjusting late to make a stellar glove save to preserve the lead."It was great to see him get the save in the first period on the penalty kill," Bylsma said. "It was a huge sequence for us, huge sequence for him. Made an outstanding save for us and one that should have snapped us into the game. But just too many pucks he didn't have a chance on were really the result of how I judge his game."However, the second period was a total calamity for Seattle.As with Grubauer's stellar save, the Kraken survived a penalty but immediately allowed a goal in the aftermath. Mason McTavish was left open for a one-timer that Grubauer had no chance to stop as the Ducks tied the game again at 3-3. Dunn then had an awful giveaway right in front of the Seattle net as his pass was picked off by McTavish. Strome then buried another one-timer on a helpless Grubauer for a 4-3 Anaheim lead."Just simple things," Montour said. "Awareness, letting guys open. Obviously they had a couple back door one-timers that it's tough for Grubi to see those. Just awareness. Clean some stuff up. Every time we make a mistake, it seems like it's in the back of our net or our goalies need to make big-time saves."The next goal Grubauer absolutely should have stopped, however. Jackson LaCombe snapped a wrist shot from just inside the blue line of Seattle's offensive zone that Grubauer whiffed on with his glove save effort as the Ducks took a two-goal lead.Absolutely nothing is coming easy for Grubauer. Even saves on relatively normal shots see Grubauer struggling to make clean saves. Grubauer is struggling to control rebounds, watching pucks sail by his glove, and shots leak through his pads and find a way into the net."We were anticipating a game of which if we gave pucks away or gave too many free opportunities they would counter with their skill up front, but all their D-men," Bylsma said. "I don't think the first was a comfortable period for us. It was too many opportunities for them with their rush and skill to come back at us, and we had some answers for it with some goals of our own, but it manifested itself more in the second period with the clear turnovers with the puck."Dostál made a few great stops on Matty Beniers and a 2-on-1 chance on Brandon Montour, and Grubauer made a strong stop against Brett Leason on a rush chance early in the third period before Seattle got a goal back.Shane Wright scored off a rebound of a Jared McCann shot for a power play goal six minutes into the period to cut the Ducks' lead to one. But that's all Seattle could manage as Frank Vatrano scored on an empty net to seal away the win with 1:16 left to play."I felt like everything they got today. I think we gave them a lot of them," Tolvanen said. "We had a lot of turnovers, sloppy puck play, you know, mistakes defensively, offensively. I think this time the year you can't have that."No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini and the San Jose Sharks come to town Thursday night for a 7 p.m. game against the Kraken. The Sharks have won both meetings against Seattle this season, 8-5 and 4-2, on back-to-back days in November. To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.
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