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PREGAME: Head Coach Lane Lambert speaks with Everett Fitzhugh before the Kraken face the Oilers (10/3) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Thanks, Mike. Lane, it was a really convincing opening night
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: win for you in Calgary, 6-1 over the Flames. Just
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: take us through your overall thoughts on the first game
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: of the year.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought we did a lot of things that
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: we talked about right from the start of training camp.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: And so that was nice to see. And we certainly
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: capitalized on our opportunities. We made some good plays, scored
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: some nice goals. Um, you know, so, uh, I thought
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: we were full marks for the win. I thought we,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: I thought we played pretty well and used our speed
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: the way we can.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: And we have to continue to do that.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: How important was it for your group to get a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: win in that matter? You had your best players being
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: your best players. You were able to put up six goals.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: You got strong goaltending. How important was, was it for
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: your group to start the year like that?
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's always important to get off on
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: the right foot.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, it's, it's nice to sort of get
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: a little bit of confidence in terms of, uh, you know,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: seeing some of the things that, you know.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: You've been talking about and working on and things like that.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, since the start of camp and even
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: for the players themselves, uh, you know, over the summer.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: So it's always nice to, to get that, um, you know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: and you know, if you didn't, you got to get
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: right back in the saddle. So, uh, you know, it's good.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: We move on and We play the Edmonton Oilers tonight,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: who are a very good hockey team.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: We've called them the kid line on the broadcast, but
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Shane Wright, Berkeley Cat, and Ryan Winterton, they did a
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: lot of things well in that game against Calgary. What
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: did you notice about those three, and do you see
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: them sticking together long-term?
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: Well, I saw the speed that they could generate and
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: their skill level. I thought we came out early on
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: in that game, and we weren't really sharp. Which, you know,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: I guess maybe wasn't totally unexpected. I thought Joey made
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: a couple of big saves. Certainly the backland breakaway was
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: a huge moment for us.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: And then I thought.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: The cat and line went out and sort of turned
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: the momentum for us.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: And that's nice to see.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: You know, it's huge to see when you have a
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: young line like that sort of take charge from that standpoint.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: You know, they played with speed. They're on pucks. They
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: can make plays.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: So We'll see how long they stay together, but certainly
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: it was nice to see.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: What they did.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: This morning you talked about Mackie Samaskevich and how he'll
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: be in the lineup here tonight. Jacob Melanson comes out
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: with Samaskevich. What are you expecting? What are you wanting
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: to see out of him? And what does he add
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: to this lineup that you feel has been missing from
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the Kraken?
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: Well, he's going to add another element of speed for us.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: We've talked about that right from day one when he
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: gets here. You know, he's tenacious. He can make plays
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: and he can shoot the puck. So we're just wanting
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: him to play his game. You know, there's a reason
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: why we got him, a reason why we acquired him.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: You know, and in fairness to him, you know, he's
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: been out for a bit here. So, you know, we're
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: going to try and, you know, understand that he hasn't
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: played hockey for a little bit here. And, you know,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: there's got to be a little bit of leeway for
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: him to get himself into rhythm.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: With the Edmonton Oilers, I think it's been the offensive
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: start that they've wanted, maybe not the defensive start that
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: they've wanted, but they're still a very dangerous hockey team.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: What do you see in this group? No Hyman, no
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Nugent Hopkins, but still McDavid and Dreisaitl. You cannot overlook
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: those two.
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: Well, that's just it.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: They're going to get their opportunities. It's just a matter
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: of how many and how dangerous. And clearly, they scored
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: five in the first game, and obviously they scored nine
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: in Vancouver.
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: So.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: that part of it doesn't change you know our mindset
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: is to play our game we know who they are
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: we know we have to check them and do as
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: good a job as we possibly can checking them but
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: certainly i think that uh you know for us i
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: think we can impose our speed on their hockey team.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: This morning you alluded to the fact that you'd like
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: to see more shots from particularly the power play but
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: what's going to to be that focus tonight is it
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: just that shot first mentality what are you wanting to
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: see from that side against the oilers.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Well, I just think, yeah, no, I mean, we've talked
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: all summer long and all training camp long about a
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: shot mentality and that presence. And, you know, I thought,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: you know, the first goal we scored on the power
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: play was just a shot in and Ebbs gets a rebound. So,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: you know, as the power play went along, they did
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: a good job. They moved pucks around. You know, we
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: had opportunities to score. There's no question about it. So,
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: you know, we could have scored two or three. But,
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: you know, we got the one. And I think, you know,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: I just want to see a few more shots coming
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: from the top on that first unit.