In their third-to-last game and road finale, the Kraken turned in a perfectly respectable but perfectly inconsequential 2-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights had a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Pacific Division if they beat the Kraken on Thursday, but they also needed the L.A. Kings to lose to the Anaheim Ducks at home. The Kings crushed their neighbors, 6-1.
The Kraken, of course, aren’t going to the playoffs. They were formally eliminated from contention March 29.
The lone Kraken goal came in the second period, when Seattle trailed 2-0. Captain Jordan Eberle tipped an Adam Larsson point shot into the goalpost, then Jared McCann knocked the rebound over the goal line. The goal was initially credited to Eberle, who furthered the puck’s journey with a swipe of his skate and was helped into the cage by Vegas’ Noah Hanifin for his troubles. But a review showed the successful swipe came from McCann.
McCann stayed hot. In the 12 games since March 18 he has six goals and nine assists. His goal Thursday gave him his third straight 60-point season. No other Kraken player has recorded multiple 60-point seasons.
Eberle’s iron strike wasn’t the only one for Seattle. Shane Wright hit the post late in the first period and Matty Beniers nailed the crossbar early in the second. With goaltender Joey Daccord pulled for the extra attacker in the final minute, Seattle defenseman Brandon Montour had the tying goal on his stick near the crease, but he tucked it into the side of the net instead.
The Golden Knights never got a power-play opportunity and the Kraken failed to score on both chances.
“Today was a perfect game for the man advantage to step up,” Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said. “A tight game, one in which we needed a goal in the third period to draw even. We weren’t without opportunities to score.
“Power play and penalty kill has to be a factor in every game. Tonight the power play had that opportunity and wasn’t up to the task.”
Seven minutes into the game, a puck bounced off a Kraken defender and spit directly out to Ivan Barbashev, who buried it for a 1-0 Golden Knights lead. Vegas’ William Karlsson scored off the rush in the second period. It wasn’t great, but by that point in Seattle’s last outing, the team already trailed Utah Hockey Club 4-0.
“Overall better effort today,” Larsson said. “The team looks faster, more aggressive, when we’re starting on time.”
Daccord made appearance No. 56 of the season, which is top 10 in the league. He took on each start of the Kraken’s five-game road trip that concluded in Vegas with a 3-2 record.
Daccord’s stat line absorbed all seven goals in that 7-1 loss to Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday. He was in net for both games of a back-to-back, presumably because of a flu bug working its way through the Kraken locker room. Usually he would split the starts with a backup in that situation.
Eberle said the Utah game wasn’t a good indicator of how the Kraken have played since the trade deadline. They’re 8-7-1 since March 7.
“Those are tough,” Eberle said. “You play a back-to-back, you get in at 3 a.m. You could tell we were a step behind everywhere. Took too many penalties. “
Daccord’s 23 saves Thursday will counteract Tuesday’s onslaught to some degree.
“It was an effort the team needed,” Bylsma said.
Adin Hill made 24 stops for the Golden Knights.
Seattle finished the season with a 17-23-1 record away from Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken are 17-17-5 at home with two games left against playoff teams. They host the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and the Kings on Tuesday.
