Kraken reflect on run: ‘We played like a real team’
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
DALLAS — The plaque in the Seattle Kraken locker room held seven game pucks, signifying the first seven Stanley Cup playoff wins in franchise history.
There wouldn’t be an eighth. An equipment manager tucked the plaque under his arm after Game 7 against the Dallas Stars, packing it away once the Kraken were eliminated in a 2-1 loss Monday night.
But as veteran Jordan Eberle explained, not many believed the Kraken would even be a playoff team, let alone come one win away from the Western Conference finals.
“They didn’t expect us to make the playoffs. They didn’t expect us to beat Colorado. I’m sure no one had us getting to the seven here,” Eberle said. “As a group, this is the first time we’ve been through this. You’re got to learn how to lose first and then you’ll find a way to win.”
Seattle had a 40-point improvement in the standings from its inaugural season, making the playoffs in Year 2. The Kraken shocked the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the first round and pushed the Stars to a Game 7 after winning Game 6 at home.
It was a run that announced their arrival as a contender in the Western Conference; more importantly for the Kraken, it was the first time they felt like something more than a disparate collection of players on an expansion franchise.
“I think the group got tighter and tighter together. I think Matty [Beniers] said it: We played like a real team,” said goalie Philipp Grubauer. “Everybody’s playing for each other and that’s what made it fun. Unfortunately, we didn’t win that game today. But you need to go through those moments in order to get stronger. To feel that pain in the summer and get back at it for next season.”
Coach Dave Hakstol said that disappointment also helped strengthen the bonds between his players.
“Look at the pain of the veteran guys in that room,” he said. “When you’ve got guys that have won Cups and you’ve got guys that have been on playoff runs before, they understand how difficult it is to not only get into the playoffs but to get to the point where we’re one win away from being one of the final four teams.”
Hakstol said his first inkling that the Kraken could do something special was in training camp.
“There was a different feel to it,” he said. “I knew there was something there, but I had no idea exactly how or when we would be able to come together as a group. Did we grow over the last month? One hundred percent.”
“Guys kind of joke about it: Some players don’t even get a seven-game series in the first five years of their career. I’m already on my second.”
Matty Beniers
The Kraken had several players that won Stanley Cup championships and several more with palpable playoff experience — many of whom are signed through next season. But they also had some younger players on this playoff ride like forwards Tye Kartye and Beniers, who is a finalist for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.
“Guys kind of joke about it: Some players don’t even get a seven-game series in the first five years of their career. I’m already on my second,” Beniers said.
Hakstol said having players like Beniers feel the sting of playoff elimination will also benefit them down the line.
“You see that pain in the veteran guys but for the young guys on the roster, the realization is there as well,” Hakstol said. “We’ll see the growth in those guys and the importance of the experience that they just went through.”
As Eberle said: “It took me seven years to get to the postseason. You don’t want to take it for granted.”
While forging bonds as teammates, the Kraken also forged an identity as a team. At their best, they were relentless on the forecheck and never folded in the face of adversity.
“It’s the culture. I think we grew as a team, as an organization, as a group,” said center Yanni Gourde. “Doing the right things night in and night out. Never cheating. We grew tremendously. That’s what we have to take away from this year.”
They didn’t have their best in Game 7. The Stars were a step faster and more aggressive on the forecheck. Grubauer, who had a redemptive postseason after two middling regular seasons in Seattle, made 26 saves to keep the Kraken in reach. They fought to the end, as winger Oliver Bjorkstrand scored with just over 17 seconds left in regulation to cut the lead to 2-1. But they ran out of runway.
“They’re an opportunistic team. You’ve got to give them credit,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “I was really impressed with the job Dave Hakstol and his staff did, but also with how hard they played. They were relentless, right up until the final buzzer. They made us earn it.”
There were seven pucks in that locker room plaque. Three of them were from games played in Seattle, where the Kraken gave their fans a memorable first postseason ride. As much as the Kraken were put on the map with their play, Seattle was given its moment in the playoff spotlight with raucous home crowds.
“I think Seattle’s going to be a hot spot. Players are going to want to play there,” Eberle said. “It’s a great city, great facilities, great management, great organization and obviously we’re a great team. So it was awesome to give them some playoff hockey and give them the chance to see that.”
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Ryan S. Clark
LAS VEGAS — Just when it appeared that the Vegas Golden Knights finally found an opening in overtime, their chances of winning Game 2 were quickly shut down in controversial fashion.
It wasn’t that the Golden Knights were overlooking what it means to be in a 2-0 series hole following a 5-4 overtime loss Thursday to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals at T-Mobile Arena.
They were more concerned with what they saw, and what they didn’t see from referee Gord Dwyer just 17 seconds before Leon Draisaitl‘s game-winning goal gave the Oilers their first 2-0 series lead since 2017.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb was going toward for the puck when Edmonton winger Viktor Arvidsson‘s stick got between McNabb’s legs, which sent McNabb into the boards. The play wasn’t ruled a penalty, and it led to the Oilers eventually going into transition before Draisaitl converted a 2-on-1 chance for the winner.
“It’s pretty clear it’s a penalty,” Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. “His stick is between McNabb’s legs, and he sends him headfirst into the boards. It’s a pretty clear-cut penalty in my eyes and I think everybody’s eyes, right? But that’s hockey. You don’t always get the calls.”
Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy was a bit more direct about what he saw on the McNabb play.
“Listen, Gord’s looking at it. He blew it. He missed the call,” Cassidy said. “I don’t know what else to say. It’s a can-opener trip, it’s a dangerous play, it’s all those things. But it didn’t get called, so you’ve got to keep playing.”
Cassidy said he didn’t have an immediate update on McNabb’s status for Game 3 on Saturday in Edmonton. If he were to miss Game 3, it would leave the Golden Knights without one of their most important players.
McNabb, who was part of their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2023, is one of their top-pairing options and also a crucial piece of a penalty kill that had a significant role in how the Golden Knights survived so late in overtime.
An urgently aggressive Golden Knights team kept pushing to start the first period before forward Victor Olofsson opened with his first-ever playoff goal on the power play in the first period. Three consecutive goals from Oilers trio Jake Walman, Vasily Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse gave them a 3-1 lead. Golden Knights forward William Karlsson scored late in the second to cut it to 3-2.
Oilers forward Evander Kane doubled the lead to 4-2 within the first two minutes of the third before Olofsson’s second, also on the power play, less than three minutes later again cut the lead to a single goal. The Golden Knights forced overtime when alternate captain and star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo fired a shot from distance with 8:02 remaining in regulation.
Vegas had two chances in the final 30 seconds, only to have them both stopped by Edmonton goaltender Calvin Pickard, who finished with 28 saves, before heading to overtime.
Olofsson had a chance at a game-winning hat trick with a point-blank chance with 18:45 remaining before Nurse’s stick stopped him from having a clean shot.
“Definitely had a lot of good looks, and I think we could have had a couple more goals,” Olofsson said of a Golden Knights team that finished with 19 high-danger scoring chances.
Natural Stat Trick’s metrics show that Vegas’ shot-share in overtime was 66.7%. But even in a period in which they controlled possession, there was a moment when they nearly lost their grip.
Golden Knights forward Nicolas Roy received a five-minute major for cross-checking after his stick connected with Trent Frederic’s face. Roy appeared as if he was trying to play a puck in midair, only to then strike Frederic, which sent the Oilers on the power play.
The NHL’s No. 12 power-play unit in the regular season, the Oilers had a few chances on net but were either stopped by Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill or had their chances broken up by an aggressive forecheck that allowed them to go through unscathed.
With a pair of power-play goals already, the Golden Knights believed they could have added a third once McNabb went into the boards.
Instead? They watched the Oilers regroup, Draisaitl get on a 2-on-1 and beat Hill for the win.
“This one will sting,” Cassidy said. “But the positives tomorrow will be good. I felt that we outplayed the Oilers for the most part and deserved a better fate. How the guys look at that? If they take it as, ‘We just gotta carry that over’ — we both said we wanted to get better as the series went on and we were certainly better than Game 1. So, we’ll improve on today if we want to get back into it.”
Going back to their first campaign in the 2017-18 season, the Golden Knights have made the playoffs in all but one year. Throughout that time, they’ve been in a 2-0 series hole once, against the Colorado Avalanche in a second-round series back in 2021.
The Golden Knights would come back to win that series with four consecutive victories.
“I liked our game today; we had a lot of good chances,” said Stone, who is one of nine players who remain from that team in 2021. “We put up four goals, and usually when you score four goals, you’re going to win a playoff game. Unfortunately, we didn’t. You can’t get down, you got to go to Edmonton tomorrow, get ready for Saturday night’s game and put your best foot forward and get a win.”
With two games in the books for three of four second-round series, trends have begun to emerge — some not so good for the teams that many picked to make long runs this postseason.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are in a 2-0 hole, returning home to host the Toronto Maple Leafs for Game 3 (7 p.m. ET, TNT). In Friday’s nightcap, the Dallas Stars will look for another road victory over the Winnipeg Jets (9:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, a recap of what went down in Thursday’s games and the three stars of Thursday from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Toronto Maple Leafs at Florida Panthers
Game 3 | 7 p.m. ET | TNT
In their franchise history, the Maple Leafs have won 84% of their best-of-seven series when going up 2-0. The Panthers are 0-5 in best-of-seven series when trailing 0-2.
This series features the two highest-scoring lines at 5-on-5 this postseason: Eetu Luostarinen–Anton Lundell–Brad Marchand (eight) and Matthew Knies–Auston Matthews–Mitch Marner (seven, including the game-winning goal in Game 2).
William Nylander scored a goal for the third straight game, and he has six goals and 13 points this postseason. He is the second Maple Leaf of the past 30 years to score five goals in a three-game span — joining Alexander Mogilny from 2003 — and the first Maple Leaf since Doug Gilmour in 1993 to have 13 or more points in the first eight games of a postseason.
With a goal in Game 2, Marchand now has 32 postseason points against the Leafs in his career, which is fourth most all time. He trails Gordie Howe (53), Alex Delvecchio (35) and Henri Richard (33).
Stepping in for injured Anthony Stolarz, Joseph Woll saved 25 of 28 shots for Toronto. His counterpart, Sergei Bobrovsky, allowed four goals on 20 shots and has allowed nine total goals through Games 1 and 2. That is tied for the second most he has allowed in a two-game span in his playoff career.
Dallas Stars at Winnipeg Jets
Game 2 | 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT
After a win in Game 1, the Stars are now -360 favorites to win the series, while the Jets are +280, according to ESPN BET. The win for Dallas snapped an eight-game losing streak in Game 1s.
Mikko Rantanen provided all the offense that Dallas needed in the 3-2 win, scoring his second single-period hat trick in as many games. He set a record for the most consecutive team goal contributions (goal or assist) in Stanley Cup playoff history, with 12; the previous mark was nine by Mario Lemieux in 1992.
Game 1 was Jason Robertson‘s first game back after sustaining an injury in the final game of the regular season. He played 13:44, including 1:00 on the power play, and registered one shot.
The opening clash was also Mark Scheifele‘s return to the ice, though his absence was just since April 30 and Game 5 against the Blues in Round 1. Scheifele scored a goal and registered seven shots in 22:36 of ice time.
Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck and Dallas’ Jake Oettinger are considered the two leading candidates to be Team USA’s goaltender at the 2026 Olympics. Oettinger took the first round of the head-to-head battle, saving 29 of 31 shots and getting the W; Hellebuyck saved 21 of 24 shots in defeat.
Öcal’s three stars from Thursday
Wilson was key in the Capitals tying up their series against the Canes. It was the first time he had a playoff game with at least two points, two hits, two blocked shots and three shots on goal.
Draisaitl scored the game winner in overtime as Edmonton takes a 2-0 series lead on Vegas. He joins Esa Tikkanen (from 1991) as the only players in franchise history with multiple OT goals in a single postseason.
Eichel registered three assists in the OT loss to Edmonton, and he now has eight points in his past five games (one goal, seven assists). That ties his own mark for most points in a five-game span in his postseason career.
Thursday’s recaps
Washington Capitals 3, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Series tied 1-1 | Game 3 Saturday
After a loss to the Canes in Game 1, the Capitals looked like a different team as veteran winger Tom Wilson “set the tone,” according to Alex Ovechkin. Connor McMichael started the scoring at 2:16 of the second period, and John Carlson put the Caps up 2-0 with a power-play goal near the start of the third on an assist by Wilson and Dylan Strome. Shayne Gostisbehere pulled Carolina within one with a power-play goal of his own, but Wilson finished them off with an empty-netter with a minute left. Full recap.
0:52
John Carlson buries Caps’ second goal of the night
John Carlson sends the Capitals fans into a frenzy after a beautiful goal early in the third period.
Edmonton Oilers 5, Vegas Golden Knights 4 (OT)
EDM leads 2-0 | Game 3 Saturday
Seeking a win to tie up the series, Vegas was on the board first with a goal from Victor Olofsson at 8:42 of the first period. Edmonton, however, charged back with three straight goals in the second period (from Jake Walman, Vasily Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse), before William Karlsson drew the Knights within one at 18:10. Evander Kane put the Oilers back up by two at 1:52 of the third, before Vegas rallied with goals by Olofsson and Alex Pietrangelo to send the game to OT. Leon Draisaitl tallied the game winner, giving the Oilers a 5-4 win and a 2-0 series lead heading home to Alberta. Full recap.
3:32
Oilers prevail in OT to take 2-0 series lead
Scott Van Pelt recaps the Oilers’ thrilling 5-4 overtime win over the Golden Knights to take a 2-0 series lead.
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