The Seattle Kraken hosted the San Jose Sharks and tried to start their first winning streak, after going winless since before the Christmas holiday, on Thursday. Thanks to a big shootout win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, the Seattle fans had something to finally be excited about in 2022.
San Jose wasted no time taking a 1–0 lead before most fans had taken their seats following the national anthem. Tomas Hertl beat Philipp Grubauer just 38 seconds into the game, which stunned the home crowd. Once the Kraken settled in, they locked down defense in their own end and held the Sharks scoreless for the remainder of the first period. Unfortunately, they were held scoreless in the opening period as well. Shots favored the visitors 8–6 heading into the intermission.
Despite getting doubled up in shots 12–6 in the second period, the Kraken made the most of their opportunities and took a 2–1 lead. Defenseman Carson Soucy scored goals 4:07 apart to grab the lead. The Kraken nearly had a two-goal lead, but Ryan Donato’s goal was overturned as a result of being offside. Nonetheless, the Kraken had a lead heading into the second intermission and Grubauer had a very good 12-save second period.
*DJ Khaled voice*
ANOTHA ONE…FOR DA SOUCE! pic.twitter.com/X8pRodF85T
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 21, 2022
In the third period, Calle Jarnkrok gave the Kraken that elusive two-goal lead 6:27 in, beating Sharks goaltender Adin Hill for his 100th career goal. San Jose came back to cut the lead back down to just one goal on the power play, with red-hot Timo Meier’s 21st goal of the season. Despite giving up six power plays on the night, the Kraken were only scored on this one time, which was a moral victory for the Seattle penalty kill. Neither team was especially aggressive in the third period, splitting the 10 shots with five apiece.
When the final horn rang out, the Kraken had their first regulation win in 2022 and since beating these very Sharks 3–1 over one month ago, on Dec. 14. It looks like the newest Kraken mascot has been all the good luck they have been looking for.
*chomp* 😏
2-0 since introducing davy jones! pic.twitter.com/IjhO6Nx0Y6
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 21, 2022
Anchor points
⚓ Grubauer was not peppered with shots, but he did have a pretty heroic second period. I will not say he is finally over the hump, but he is playing better. He needs to string four or five good games in a row, but you cannot get there without two in a row. With Chris Driedger unable to stay healthy, the Kraken are going to need this kind of performance more often than not from their franchise goaltender.
Gru says “NOT A CHANCE 🙅🏻♂️” for today’s @WAFDbank Signature Save! pic.twitter.com/0mD6F5sKOJ
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 21, 2022
⚓ The Kraken penalty kill won this game for them. Holding the Sharks to only one goal on six opportunities was key. They could have used a little help on their power play opportunities, but Jarnkrok and Soucy took care of business 5-on-5.
⚓ Soucy was on the ice for all three Kraken goals and had the hot hand. With Jamie Oleksiak out, the pair of Soucy and Mark Giordano is starting to look pretty good. Maybe it is time for Dave Hakstol to start playing the hot hands instead of trying to beat the bad play out of underperforming players.
⚓ Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde and Alexander Wennberg had a rough night. Janrkrok was having a rough night, as well, until his third period game-winning goal. All were considerably out-chanced 5-on-5. Defensemen William Borgen, Adam Larsson and Jeremy Lauzon were also on the wrong side of possession metrics as well.
⚓ Recent waiver claim Karson Kuhlman played a team-low 7:46 in his Kraken debut.
⚓ The Kraken were considerably outplayed 5-on-5 in just about every enhanced metric, but still managed to pull out the win:
🔱 5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 
52%–48%
🔱 5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 54%–46%
🔱 5-on-5 High-danger chances for 71%–29%
🔱 5-on-5 Expected goals for 55%–45%
🔱 Face-off percentage 52%–48%
⚓ The Kraken are back in action tonight against the St. Louis Blues. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.