Goalie Ales Stezka ‘stood tall’ in NHL debut, but Kraken fall to Lightning
Making his NHL debut at age 28, Kraken goaltender Ales Stezka held the Lightning to one goal until halfway through the third period Sunday. Seattle (25-30-4) managed little goal support and let up late. The visitors fell 4-1 in Tampa.
“He was exactly what we needed him to be tonight,” defenseman Vince Dunn said of Stezka. “We’re all happy for him, but obviously not the result he deserves when he plays that well.”
Stezka was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2015 and played two seasons in the USHL. Though he helped his team to a championship during that time, Stezka says he wasn’t ready for “big hockey” and returned to his native Czechia. He had to reboot his career, more or less, in order to make his NHL dreams come true many years later.
Longtime Kraken goaltender Philipp Grubauer has been with the Coachella Valley Firebirds since Seattle waived him on Jan. 29. Stezka took over as Joey Daccord’s backup and was recalled again on Wednesday in time for a weekend back-to-back.
He backed up Daccord on Saturday against Florida. When told his debut would be Sunday, coach Dan Bylsma said Stezka’s reaction was “a lot like his personality — gregarious.”
“Happy to be at the rink, happy to put in the work,” Bylsma added. “Good around the guys, good around the room.”
Stezka became just the fifth goaltender to play a game for the Kraken and turned in a clean, solid performance, helped along by his teammates. The Kraken made sure Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy saw most of the rubber. They outshot Tampa Bay 37-23.
“We found a way to not capitalize on our chances. And they did,” Dunn said.
Stezka’s first NHL save was on none other than former league MVP and defending scoring-title winner Nikita Kucherov. Kucherov’s wrist shot came 43 seconds into the game.
Kucherov beat Stezka eventually, though, right off a faceoff with 8:45 left in regulation. Brayden Point won a clean draw against Kraken center Matty Beniers and got the puck to his teammate, and within two seconds it was in the back of Seattle’s net. About a minute and a half later, the score was 3-0 off the stick of Tampa Bay’s Luke Glendening.
“It wasn’t that frustrating of a game. It was just a frustrating third period,” Dunn said. “Tough to see the goals we gave up.”
Kraken center Shane Wright gave his team hope in the final five minutes. He tipped in a Brandon Montour shot while screening Vasilevskiy. Wright now has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games, and a three-game point streak.
Tampa Bay’s first goal came during a Kraken power play. The Lightning, who have the second-most short-handed goals in the NHL this season with 10, sprung Brandon Hagel near center ice. With Kraken winger Oliver Bjorkstrand all over him and doing whatever he legally could to dissuade him, Hagel made it 1-0 midway through the second period.
Among Stezka’s 19 saves were a challenging stop on Jake Guentzel in close, and a bobbled stop on Erik Cernak through traffic. The veteran rookie goaltender located the puck and snatched it up.
“He stood tall the whole night, made some great saves for us,” Seattle’s Beniers said. “We wish we could have gotten the win for him.”
After his first game in more than three months following pelvis surgery, Kraken captain Jordan Eberle felt good enough to go out and finish the back-to-back. He saw the ice less than he did Saturday, a total of 11:46, with three giveaways.
Stezka was called to the bench for the extra attacker with about four minutes left and the Lightning quickly made it 4-1. Seattle challenged, alleging the play was offsides, and got it called back.
With 1:46 left in regulation Tampa Bay scored another empty-netter. The Kraken bench had no argument this time.
Seattle kept up a head-scratcher of a habit on this particular day of the week. The team is 0-6 this season in the Sunday game of weekend back-to-backs. The Kraken’s only victory on Sunday, period, was less their doing and more of an implosion on the parts of the flailing New York Rangers. Seattle trailed 3-1 on Dec. 8 before rallying for a 7-5 win.