NHL

With a month to go in the Seattle Kraken’s NHL season and playoffs now looking like a wild dream more than a wild-card dream, here are a few thoughts on a season that wasn’t from Kraken writers Geoff Baker and Kate Shefte.

SEATTLE – Some line shuffling by the Kraken failed to jumpstart an offense missing in action much of this homestand, including Saturday night in a fourth consecutive loss.

SEATTLE – Trying desperately to hang around the playoff fringes, the Kraken once again found themselves playing catch-up hockey Thursday night in the final period for the third straight home game.

SEATTLE – The Seattle Kraken trailed the Vegas Golden Knights after Tuesday’s second period. That really wouldn’t do against the team holding the second wild-card playoff spot in the West, a position the Kraken want badly but had only have 18 games left to secure.

Ryker Evans is back, though he never really left.

SEATTLE – An emotional week of playing themselves back into contention and hoping their front office kept them there ended Friday night with the Kraken trying not to rapidly undo their newfound lease on life.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Kraken allowed two potentially backbreaking goals, one with nine seconds left in the second period and another with 77 seconds gone in the third.

CALGARY, Alberta — Under the shadow of Friday’s trade deadline, the Kraken were knocked around at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome, particularly their top defensive pairing. Still, Seattle took a 4-2 road win from the Flames, one of the teams ahead of them in the wild-card race.

CALGARY, Alberta – Forward Alex Wennberg was absent from the Kraken’s morning skate Monday because of “trade-related issues,” coach Dave Hakstol said.

SEATTLE – As a critical Saturday matinee performance ticked down to its conclusion, a desperate Kraken squad relentlessly pressed the Edmonton Oilers for a goal that would draw them even.

When Ty Smith was swapped along with a third-round pick for fellow defenseman John Marino in the summer of 2022, the left-shot defenseman said he never envisioned playing in the American Hockey League.

SEATTLE – Goaltender Philipp Grubauer, making his first back-to-back starts since Dec. 7-9, made a one-goal lead stand up longer than it had any business doing, and the Seattle Kraken eked out a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena.

SEATTLE – Kailer Yamamoto’s historic Kraken season has lost some steam, but when Seattle’s NHL playoff hopes hung by a thread Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena, he gladly helped out.

A “Let’s go Kra-ken!” chant emanating from the stands early in Monday night’s second period seemed more of a pleading command by that point than any desire to pump-up the home squad.

SEATTLE – The Seattle Kraken forced overtime but surrendered the extra point, falling to the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on Monday afternoon at Climate Pledge Arena.

SEATTLE – It took a long time for the Kraken to find their footing, and to date they’ve only been able to keep it from mid-December to mid-January. They gave up a lot of points in the standings and are feeling the effects.

BOSTON — A trip that could come to define their season ended far better for the Kraken than it began.

ELMONT, N.Y. — A pair of Kraken players hoping to salvage what they can from frustrating seasons gave the visitors all the lift they could in squeezing out a desperately needed two points.

NEWARK, N.J. — About the best support Kraken goalie Joey Daccord received all night came midway through Monday’s game when the video replay folks overruled what would have been a fourth goal against him.