Sometimes, puck luck just isn’t on your side.
It wasn’t for the Seattle Kraken as they wrapped up a five-game road trip Thursday at Western Conference-leading Winnipeg.
The Kraken played perhaps one of their best games of the season, seeing a rare surge in the final minute help the Jets to a 2-1 win.
Seattle, which went 2-3-0 on its road trip, will hope to smooth sailing when it plays the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, the first of nine games at home over the next 10 for the Kraken as they try to improve on the field. wild card qualifying race.
The Kraken stayed with Winnipeg for 59-plus minutes until Adam Larsson attempted a clearance off the glass at the left boards, the puck hit the Jets’ Nikolaj Ehlers. He fed Dylan DeMelo with a shot past Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord for the tying score with 27 seconds remaining.
“It sucks. It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Matty Beniers, who scored midway through the first half for the Kraken’s lone goal and fifth in the last 10 games. “But you have to forget about it and move on. You have to build the way you played.”
Daccord made 34 saves for the Kraken, who have lost six of their last eight games to fall eight points behind the conference wild card chase entering Saturday.
“(We’re) playing a game like that against a good team — battle, battle,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “We played well in the first half and it was disappointing how it ended there in the last 30 seconds. … They got a bounce, yes. You’re lucky.”
The Kings, in third place in the Pacific Division, are wrapping up a five-game road trip where they are 2-2-0 so far. They snapped a two-game winning streak with a 5-1 win in Vancouver on Thursday as Alex Turcotte had two goals and an assist in the game’s opening 10 minutes.
It was Turcotte’s worst night of his NHL career, where he has played just 69 games due to injuries since being the No. 5 overall pick in 2019.
“It’s been everything I’ve ever wanted and to go through a difficult time at the beginning of my career, this feels good,” said Turcotte. “But I want to keep pushing. I’m not satisfied. I want to keep seeing where I can go from here.”
Turcotte has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 37 games this season. He had one goal and three assists in his last 32 NHL games.
“He’s been very good for us. I think you could call it a surprise, I think even for us,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “We didn’t expect to see him play the way he is and play as well as he does. What I like about him is that he plays both ways, he plays well in the neutral zone, D zone blocks shots. It’s really an honor for him. He took longer than some of his peers, but he’s on his way now.”
The Kings have won six of their last eight games, including a 2-1 loss in Calgary on Saturday and a 1-0 loss in Edmonton on Monday.
Another key for the Kings has been the play of goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper, who has gone 9-1-2 since December 7.
“I really like the boys team. We all get along really well. It’s a special team and you can see that when we play,” said Kuemper. “Everyone is into the team game.”
–Field Level Media