ANAHEIM, Calif. — Coaches preach it. Fans shout it, constantly and often in unison. Players say they know the importance.
Outside of being able to skate without falling over, shooting the puck at the goal is one of the most fundamental skills in the game. And yet, it remains a part of the conversation surrounding the Kraken, especially during and after games where their offense remains quiet.
For whatever the reason there are times so far this season when the Kraken show an apprehension to uncork a wrister, a one-timer, a slap shot from the point and go through with the basics of throwing a puck toward the net and seeing what kind of chaos could ensue.
Sometimes it’s plays getting broken up. Sometimes it’s confidence or a lack there of to take a shot. Sometimes it can be trying to make one too many passes or make the more difficult play when the simple shot is all that’s needed.
“It’s almost like a refusal to shoot the puck. Our in-zone offensive time is good but yet we’re not generating the goal opportunities or the goals,” general manager Ron Francis said. “We got to stop being nice guys and pass it to our teammates at times and just get pucks to the net or jam the net for rebounds or whatever.”
It was a primary topic again going into Monday night’s game against Anaheim, where the Kraken rallied with two goals in the third period for a 3-2 win.
It was the start to a week of four games against the bottom of the Pacific Division with a return matchup on Wednesday at home against the Ducks, before back-to-back games at San Jose and home against the Sharks on Friday and Saturday.
Francis isn’t the only one who has talked about this problem. Coach Dan Bylsma broached the topic on several occasions. After games where the Kraken have struggled to create offensive chances, it’s one of the first items players mention must improve.
“It’s not simplify your game. It’s simplify your mentality a little bit. There’s not always a better play to be made. It doesn’t have to be a saucer, backdoor tap-in for us to score a goal,” Bylsma said.
The Kraken entered Monday’s game tied for 26th in the league in shots on goal per game averaging 27.0, which is down from last season when generating offense was a painful process.
The frustration in not generating more offensively was evident after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Los Angeles. Brandon Montour, who was the best player on the ice that day, questioned aloud afterward why the Kraken were so passive for the first 40 minutes before being the aggressors for the final 20 and nearly pulling off another two-goal comeback.
The Kraken managed just 21 shots against the Kings, the sixth time in seven games failing to reach the 25-shot mark.
“Especially last game, I thought we passed up some opportunities to shoot pucks,” forward Jaden Schwartz said. “I don’t know what the last few games have been like, but I think we can be a little bit sharper, get to the inside but just be a little bit hungrier in the offensive zone to shoot and get bodies there, for sure.”
There’s a balance the Kraken try to find with their offense. They don’t have a Connor McDavid, Alex Ovechkin, or Leon Draisaitl on the roster with the skill and track record of going and getting a goal when their team needs one. The Kraken don’t bully their way to goals.
It’s why the key to success for the Kraken remains based in getting contributions from throughout their lineup when it comes to scoring. Because of that, the shot totals need to start going up.
It’s not shooting just to shoot, but it means not passing up a look if one develops. Two seasons ago when the Kraken made the playoffs, they were averaging more than 30 shots on goal per game.
Anaheim is a perfect test for the Kraken to see if they could heed the calls from Bylsma, Francis and the rest of the hockey leaders in the organization to do what Schwartz mentioned — fire more pucks at the net and get players in and around the goalie. The Ducks entered Monday as the worst in the league allowing 34 shots per game.
Only the terrific goaltending of Lukáš Dostál had the Ducks sitting around .500 at this point of the season. Dostál entered the night with a 2.69 goals against and a .924 save percentage.
With all that as background for the matchup and knowing they needed to generate more shot opportunities, it took more than seven minutes for the Kraken to get their first official shot on net against the Ducks.
Of course, it ended up in the back of the net off the stick of Shane Wright after being a healthy scratch the previous three games. The Kraken had just six shots in the first period before firing off 11 in each of the final two periods and finished with 28. They also hit the post a handful of times that don’t get registered as official shots.
It’s a minor improvement for Seattle, which on this night was fine considering the end result was a victory thanks to the third period goals from Andre Burakovsky and Brandon Montour.
“We knew we were playing well,” Wright said. “We knew we had a number of good scoring chances, and I think it was a matter of time before we kind of took it to the next level, took the next step in our game there tonight.”
Kraken 3, Ducks 2
At Honda Center
Notable: Players looking to end long droughts came up with important goals as the Kraken rallied in the third period and snapped a five-game road losing streak. Shane Wright scored Seattle’s opening goal after being a healthy scratch the last three games. It was his second of the season and first since Oct. 17.
Maligned forward Andre Burakovsky ended the longest goalless drought of his career with a grimy goal in the opening seconds of the third period and Brandon Montour’s blast 1:10 into the third gave Seattle the lead coming off a faceoff win by Wright.
Joey Daccord made 21 saves and came up with two huge stops in the second period on short-handed chance for the Ducks while Seattle’s power play continued to look clunky and disconnected.
The Kraken are 0-for-15 on the power play over the past five games.
Tye Kartye was penalized in the second period following a hit on Ducks’ top center Leo Carlsson that sent him flying into the goal and knocked him out for the game with an upper-body injury. That could carry-over into Wednesday’s matchup.
Quotable: “I’ve been talking to some of the coaches, have been telling me to just go to the net, it might bounce off you (and) in. And today it did,” Burakovsky said.
Goal of the game: All three goals were important but Montour’s slapshot off the faceoff was perfect. The shot cleanly got through traffic and continued rising over the blocker of Anaheim goalie Lukáš Dostál. Montour has scored in three straight games for the first time in his career.
Player of the game: Ryker Evans very quietly had a two-assist game and was solid defensively against Anaheim’s cast of skilled young forwards.
On tap: The two teams will run it back on Wednesday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
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