Analysis: Three thoughts on the Kraken’s Game 2 loss to the Stars

DALLAS – Here are three thoughts from the Kraken’s Game 2 loss to the Stars on Thursday night.

Does this split of Games 1 and 2 seem different from the first round?

Baker: Yes, completely different. In the Colorado series, the Kraken split knowing they should have been up 2-0. This time, nothing to worry about as they were thoroughly outclassed by Dallas in Game 2.

And this split should serve as a Kraken wake-up call. They played two of their best games of the playoffs to open the Avalanche series and two not-so-great ones here against the Stars.

In a way, they were fortunate to split. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger helped give away Game 1, and the Kraken still nearly botched that before winning in overtime. On Thursday night they barely pressured Oettinger after the opening few minutes, and you won’t beat him that way.

This team looked tired. I know the inclination is to blame it all on penalties and, yes, the Kraken took far too many foolish ones. By that, I mean penalties that weren’t preventing a scoring chance. But their skating slowed well before they got penalized right at the period’s end. Then it became open season on Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer, and things livened up in a hurry. Before that I remember mentioning to you, Kate, that it was the most boring playoff period we’d seen.

And though part of that was the Kraken slowing the Stars down, the rest of it was the offense sleepwalking its way through the period.

Shefte: For me, a little, on the surface. The first period was unexceptional but safe. But the 5 minutes after Tye Kartye scored and they trailed 2-1 felt like the only real glimmer of hope that they’d win Game 2.

If we hadn’t just watched them do this in the previous round, I’d be more concerned than curious. But the Kraken have just stuck to the formula. These two days off couldn’t come at a better time – rest up, see loved ones, iron out a few things in practice Saturday, and then try again at home.

Quick aside: Climate Pledge Arena gets more playoff hockey this weekend. How great is that?

Avert your eyes from Thursday night’s Panthers-Maple Leafs score. That’s just nature healing. A split on the road against the higher-seeded team with the kind of arsenal the Stars have is all anyone can reasonably hope for. The Kraken let their foot off the gas, and that’s not great but understandable.

Fill the comments below on whether you trust the adage: “A series doesn’t begin until someone loses at home.” If true, the Kraken have kicked off the series on time twice now. (I will admit that is probably contingent on home-ice advantage being an actual advantage. Jury’s still out in this case.)

Where are some areas the Kraken can improve?

Baker: Well, to borrow a Shefte adage from the last paragraph, they can start by winning at home instead of losing. Thanks for the segue.

They also need to stay out of the penalty box. There’s a fine line in being properly aggressive in the playoffs – even when referees are letting you get away with more – and the Kraken trampled all over it. Beyond that, though, I didn’t see the energy in the Stars’ zone we saw against the Avalanche. The best hit all night was in the neutral zone when Kartye leveled somebody on the same shift in which he later scored. When you’re counting on a guy with four NHL games under his belt who’s a week removed from the AHL to light your spark, it’s a problem.

For all the penalties they took for being overly aggressive, I didn’t see the Kraken hitting too much to generate scoring chances. Too few of them were ready to pay the price and take a pounding in front of Oettinger to make life difficult for him. Again, I attribute that to fatigue. Same with the penalties. When you’re feeling sluggish, the lazy thing to do is cheat a bit, and that’s when penalties start coming.

Look, the Kraken are only human. You and I are still feeling the fatigue from all the back-and-forth travel in the Colorado series and the quick transition to this one. And we aren’t playing in NHL games. Still, we’ve both been running on adrenaline doing what we get paid to do. And the Kraken had a nicer hotel. So they need to use this extra day between games to recalibrate and get back to what won the Colorado series. Heavy forecheck and relentless mental and physical focus on the task at hand – all at even strength.

Shefte: Groundhog Day continues … maybe we should have just reposted the Three Things from Game 2 of the last round. The power play can’t seem to get much going. The power play is just 2 minutes when the Kraken are mostly safe from getting scored on. Turn that into an actual threat, and the outlook is significantly rosier.

Also Geoff covered this already, but I can’t pass up the chance to use “boneheaded” – the Kraken knew going in they needed to stay out of the penalty box in this series, and those second-period penalties from former defensive partners Carson Soucy and Will Borgen were boneheaded. The Stars scored 7 seconds after the first one ended and during the latter. Eye on the prize, guys.

Straight from the source, Seattle’s Vince Dunn: “I think we made the game a lot harder than it needed to be.

“The guys who create the momentum for their team were touching the pucks a little too much tonight. Their breakouts were a little too easy. We needed to slow them down through the neutral zone. I think we were pulling out a little bit too much. As a group we need to be more aggressive.”

How did Philipp Grubauer look?

Baker: He looked like a guy capable of winning this series and any other. Seriously, I love playoff Grubauer. Somebody commented on the game story I wrote (Thursday) night that Grubauer looked weak on two of the four goals allowed. Well, I suppose if you slow the replay down and pick out minor details you could try to make a case. But context matters. The guy was under siege. He faced 37 shots – many from right on his doorstep. The net front was crashed by Dallas. When that happens, you can’t nitpick flaws in a goalie’s style. He kept the puck out of the net with everything at his disposal. The Stars were coming at him in waves.

It’s sort of like stampeding to get the best seats on a Southwest flight. I know you love that airline. Only this time, Grubauer was trying to get off the plane because he forgot his goalie mask in the VIP lounge your preferred airline doesn’t actually offer, just as all the exit row aisle seekers were racing onboard. The horror.

Shefte: You just had to take a shot at my sweet Southwest. It’s every day, guys.

Fine, I’ll nitpick – maybe he could have been a little quicker to react on that Evgenii Dadonov wraparound goal. But on the flip side, he tracked that Tyler Seguin tip on Dallas’ fourth goal and almost had it. He gave the Kraken a real chance to get into it and then back into it. It wasn’t going to happen Thursday night.