After quiet deadline day, Kraken fall silent in shutout loss to Winnipeg

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.

They got a vote of confidence earlier in the day when no further players were traded, though their Western Conference playoff chase is so fragile that any one result can potentially swing things from elation to dismay.

And things indeed took a downward turn come nighttime, when a 3-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at Climate Pledge Arena cost the Kraken two critical points that would have moved them within four of the final conference playoff spot.

Mark Scheifele broke a scoreless tie with 12:45 to go in regulation after a failed clearance attempt by the Kraken. The puck came to Vladislav Namestnikov, who passed to an uncovered Scheifele alone in front of Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord – where he hesitated just enough for the goalie to commit before going around him and tucking it home.

Adam Lowry added a second Winnipeg goal just more than 3 minutes later, jamming a puck past Daccord after a couple of Jets rebound chances. Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-net goal in the final minute after the Kraken pulled Daccord – who made 29 saves on the night – for an extra attacker.

Friday’s outcome means the Vegas Golden Knights can go up by eight points on the Kraken with a win over Detroit on Saturday. The Kraken instead have to hope that Vegas, which has lost four in a row and seven of eight – but loaded up at the trade deadline – loses again to the Red Wings to restore Seattle’s game in-hand ahead of a visit to Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

The Kraken have gained 10 points on Vegas over the past 11 games and beat the Golden Knights 3-0 in their last meeting Jan. 1 in the outdoor Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park.

Daccord was his usual alert self Friday, battling Jets backup goalie Laurent Brossoit to a scoreless standstill through nearly 2½ periods. Both teams did a solid job of keeping chances mostly to the perimeter, though Tomas Tatar hit the post on a wrist shot off a Matty Beniers pass in the second period, and then the Kraken narrowly missed some in-close rebounds in the minutes that followed.

Tatar, who was among pending Kraken free agents the team opted not to trade, then narrowly missed a third-period scoring chance on a backhand from the slot that went just wide of the post.

The Kraken had lost Jaden Schwartz to an undisclosed upper-body injury roughly 11 minutes into the opening period, so they had to play the rest of the way without a forward who typically is among their best at generating net front chances.

Winnipeg is among the stingiest NHL teams, allowing the second-fewest goals per game against. The four goals the Kraken scored against them in a road game last Tuesday, on the heels of a win over Calgary the previous night, was an anomaly against a Jets squad that had been somewhat impacted by illness.

The Jets tightened up considerably in this one, limiting the Kraken to just four second-period shots and only 12 in the first two periods combined.

The Kraken opened the day learning that veteran winger Jordan Eberle had signed a two-year, $9.5 million contract extension and would not, in fact, be traded to the Edmonton Oilers or other clubs pursuing him. Kraken general manager Ron Francis hinted later in the day that the team’s improved playoff positioning may have altered some of his prior deadline plans, resulting in the Kraken making a lone deal Wednesday that sent Alex Wennberg to the New York Rangers.

Eberle did a lot of the work ahead of the chance that saw Tatar hit the post.

The Kraken had a chance to tie things not long after Winnipeg’s opening goal when Andre Burakovsky got a partial breakaway down the right side. Burakovsky got a shot off just as he was being tripped by Scheifele for a two-minute minor penalty.

But the Kraken couldn’t score on the ensuing power play, and then Lowry – son of Kraken assistant coach Dave Lowry – scored a couple of minutes later to up Winnipeg’s lead.