Kraken Blow 3-0 Lead, Then Win 4-3 in Shootout Over Red Wings

Seattle's 4-3 shootout win over Detroit on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena came close to being the kind of loss that sticks with a team. Coming off an 8-3 beating in Florida on Saturday, a collapse from a 3-0 lead into an overtime or shootout defeat would have been a brutal way to open a four-game homestand.

Instead, the Kraken avoided a major mistake in the extra frame, survived a stretch where Detroit controlled most of the puck, and got another decisive shootout goal from Bobby McMann, with Philipp Grubauer holding the fort. They walked out with the second standings point they needed. Here are three takeaways.

Two good periods, then a collapse

Was the first 40 minutes Detroit playing poorly, Seattle playing well, or a bit of both? I'll take the optimistic read on the Red Wings. They sit last in the Atlantic Division at 3-3-3, but they'd won their previous two games, and they're better than that record suggests. Detroit coach Todd McLellan said his team was frustrated that Seattle kept scoring and didn't give up many chances through two periods.

Seattle did most of the damage early. Mackie Samoskevich finished a drop-and-pick from Chandler Stephenson at 6:45 of the first. Ryker Evans scored on the power play at 3:22 of the second, after Michael Rasmussen turned the puck over. Brandon Montour made it 3-0 about 13 minutes later, off a face-off win by Berkly Catton.

Entering the third, the Kraken looked like they were cruising. Then the neutral zone got loose, and the defensive zone started giving up odd-man rushes. Viktor Arvidsson beat Grubauer at 6:25 of the third, and Evans took an interference penalty 36 seconds later. That was where the momentum turned. Lucas Raymond scored on the ensuing power play to make it 3-2.

The finish was the stuff of nightmares. With Seattle on a 6-on-4 and time running out, Vince Dunn went back to retrieve a Dylan Larkin dump-in, expecting an easy play to run out the clock. The puck hopped over his stick to Raymond, who poked it back to Larkin. Larkin one-touched it to Alex DeBrincat, who tied the game with 17 seconds left.

Lane Lambert was more forgiving than I expected. He pointed to the Kraken's strong start to the third and the penalty trouble that followed. "We had two or three chances to make it 4-0," he said. "I thought we were on our toes, and then we ran into a little bit of penalty trouble, and it turned a little on a dime. We made a mistake through the neutral zone on their first goal, which gave them some momentum and gave them some life, clearly."

That neutral-zone mistake looked like a shared breakdown. McMann and Samoskevich both drifted to the right side, which left Emmitt Finnie free to fly straight up the middle. Lambert also didn't hide his frustration with the officiating. "I didn't agree with the penalties that were called," he said. "When they have a face-off 6-on-5, and they're holding [Stephenson] up, clearly interfering with him, our guy's trying to get out there, and we end up in the penalty box, it's kind of astonishing to me."

Top-six shuffle

The bottom six has been the story of Seattle's start. The Kaapo Kakko, Berkly Catton and Shane Wright third line and the Ben Meyers, Freddy Gaudreau and Ryan Winterton fourth line have both chipped in. The top two lines haven't clicked the way Lambert wanted.

At practice Monday and morning skate Tuesday, Lambert made a small change. Jordan Eberle went back to the line with Jared McCann and Matty Beniers, and Samoskevich moved to the line with Stephenson and McMann. Lambert said he wanted a spark. It's fair to note that McMann, Stephenson and Eberle had a rough night in Florida on Saturday, so the shuffle wasn't a total shot in the dark.

Early returns on the new combination were encouraging. Stephenson gained the offensive blue line, dropped the puck to Samoskevich, then drove to the net to pull the Detroit defense with him. Samoskevich buried it for his fourth goal as a Kraken. "Yeah, [Stephenson] just made a nice play," Samoskevich said. "We already knew he's a great passer, great playmaker. He just kind of set it up for me there, picked the guy, and I just walked right into it."

Beniers had a solid game, and Eberle had several chances on the top line without finishing them. Lambert was pleased with the adjustment. "Switched Mackie and 'Ebs,' and I thought Mackie had a good night, certainly, I thought Chandler played well," he said. "I thought he was skating, made some good plays. So those guys got us on the board, and it was good to see."

Montour returned after missing one game and had a big impact. He scored Seattle's third goal and looked like himself despite a lower-body injury. His return meant Cale Fleury came back into the lineup, while Lambert kept Ville Ottavainen and Josh Mahura together as the third pair. Montour's night also carried a personal weight. Tuesday marked a painful anniversary for his family, and that emotion came through in the room afterward.

Shootout dominance?

The Kraken enter this season with a 10-18 all-time shootout record, which makes their recent work in these games stand out. They've now come back from a lead twice in a week, rallying from a two-goal deficit in Philadelphia last Tuesday and a three-goal edge against Detroit this Tuesday. McMann scored the deciding goal in both games, and Grubauer was sharp in both shootouts.

Montour credited a deliberate focus on the skill. "I like that we put a lot of focus on shootouts this year with Zuli, the goalie coach," he said. "Guys have really keyed in and [been] working on it."

Lambert pointed to preparation rather than luck. "We didn't have as much success last season as we wanted to," he said. "These are huge points to be able to earn, and it wasn't like we didn't work on it last year either." He credited goalie coach Colin Zulianello, who put together a shootout presentation over the summer, and said one practice included roughly 150 penalty shots. "I think it was beneficial for our guys to see it from a goaltender's perspective."

Here's the thing: a shootout record can flatter a team, and Seattle still gave away a lead it should have protected. That said, a team that makes its own luck in the skills competition gets a little more room for error. If the Kraken can tighten the neutral zone and stop handing out penalties in the third, the homestand has a chance to look a lot better than its first game did.