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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Road trip jolt (10/15) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Kraken This Morning, a presentation of the Kraken
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Audio Network and Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. Here's Mike Benton.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Day off on Wednesday, and why not?
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: They earned it, and the Seattle Kraken looked for similar
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: results coming up today in a much tougher test for
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Game 4 of their five-game road trip. Welcome to Kraken
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: This Morning on a Thursday, October 15th. The Kraken take
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a very tough place
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: to play. Benchmark International Arena, a place, however, where the
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Kraken won last season, but under much different terms with
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: their season nearly slipping away. This year, plenty of road ahead,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: and the Kraken look to improve on a franchise-best start
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: right now at 5-2. The face-offs at 4 p.m. Once again,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: we're on air, 3.30 for your pregame show. Served up
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: by Frostbrood Coors Light.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: Choose chill.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: We will hear from Bobby McMahon, who scored in Tuesday's
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: win in a shootout at Philadelphia, both, of course, in
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: period one. Then for the game winning goal as well
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: in shootout stages. Plus also a game that got extremely
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: hairy and nearly off the rails involving a feud between goaltender.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Philip Grubauer, and forward Trevor Zegres. That plus much more
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: will break it all down also with Darren Brown of
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: NHL.com and of Sound of Hockey coming up in just
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: a bit. Well, Tuesday night may have been a little
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: bit too close for comfort. The Kraken were facing a
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia team off to their worst start in franchise history
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: at 0-5-2 and had one mission accomplished.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Get going early. Stevenson left circle. Down low for Eberle
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: on the pop out. Looks across the ice, but he
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: couldn't put it on. Now McMahon gets it. He scores!
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: Bobby McMahon, right circle face-off dot with a laser in
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: by Dan Vladar and the Kraken take a 1-0 lead
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: on the power play.
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: 12-0-3 left here in the first.
• 2:00
  Speaker 5: Jordan Eberle down below the goal line where he likes
• 2:02
  Speaker 5: to work, realizes that he's got a lane to the
• 2:04
  Speaker 5: net there. He takes it out, tries to stuff it.
• 2:07
  Speaker 5: Dan Vladar gives up a big rebound to 74. Bobby
• 2:10
  Speaker 5: McMahon who puts it home. 1-0 Seattle.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: Now for Samoskevic to the high slot. Otto Beinen shoots.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Scores! Fours!
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: Ville Odovainen, his first goal in the National Hockey League,
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: has given the Kraken a 2-0 lead with 11.06 to
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: play in the second period.
• 2:31
  Speaker 5: Well, Seattle wins this draw initially at the offensive end
• 2:34
  Speaker 5: of the ice, but the puck actually pops out to
• 2:35
  Speaker 5: the neutral zone. They main control the offensive end of
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: the ice. Puck gets back to Mahura, slides it across
• 2:42
  Speaker 5: to Odovainen, who puts a great shot on net.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: It's 2-0 Seattle. Sanheim, around Don Sanheim, right side.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: Puts on the brakes, centers into the high slot, shot,
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: and Zegras scores. Four on four goal for Trevor Zegras.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Flyers go back to back, and they tie the game
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: at two. McMahon, left-handed shot. scored his third of the
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: season earlier in the game.
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: McMahon, left side, he's got speed, back to the middle, shoots, scores!
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: Bobby McMahon, the winner!
• 3:26
  Speaker 4: On his stick, and the Seattle Kraken survive and advance
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: out of Philadelphia.
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: It's a 3-2 win in the shootout. Well, why not?
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: Why not the guy that's the shooter on this team?
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: Why not the guy that got the scoring started tonight?
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: He gets the scoring ended here with the shootout winner.
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: Kraken win 3-2.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Everett Fitzhugh, Al Kaneski on the call as the Kraken
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: knocked off Philadelphia and had to hang on to do it.
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: 3-2 in a shootout.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: They have won four of their first five road games,
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: getting Billy Otevainen on the board for his first career
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: NHL goal. And Philip Grubauer once again looking masterful. with
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: a 24 save effort and second star honors. But his
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: in-game feud with Trevor Zegras certainly took plenty of headlines
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: on Tuesday night. After the game, four Bobby McMahons shared
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: more on the victory and now the Kraken at the
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: back of their goaltender.
• 4:22
  Speaker 6: They were pushing hard. I think we gave them a
• 4:25
  Speaker 6: little bit and they were definitely skating well. So that
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: was kind of what turned the game a little bit.
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: And then we had a really good push at the
• 4:31
  Speaker 6: end and thought we could maybe close it out. But
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: that obviously went the distance.
• 4:35
  Speaker 7: How important is it to close out games like this
• 4:37
  Speaker 7: where things don't always go your way in the final period?
• 4:39
  Speaker 7: It didn't seem like last March that was going all
• 4:42
  Speaker 7: your way.
• 4:42
  Speaker 6: Yeah, it's the habits you want to build now, learn
• 4:45
  Speaker 6: how to do that, make sure it feels right, make
• 4:46
  Speaker 6: sure that feels like the normal to close out games
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: and you have a one- or two-goal lead. Those are
• 4:51
  Speaker 6: the games that you want to close out now so
• 4:53
  Speaker 6: that you're doing it later on.
• 4:54
  Speaker 7: When you're taking your shootout, did you learn anything from
• 4:57
  Speaker 7: watching the five previous guys that went before you?
• 5:00
  Speaker 6: Yeah, watching his footwork, watching what he does. as guys
• 5:04
  Speaker 6: change their speed, you watch him change his speed, um,
• 5:07
  Speaker 6: how he, how his feet, uh, aren't settled. That's all
• 5:10
  Speaker 6: those things are little cues that, uh, we pick up on.
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: And the more, the more you see, the more you're
• 5:15
  Speaker 6: able to, to kind of pick apart and come up
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: with a game plan on what you want to do.
• 5:19
  Speaker 8: On your goal, the puck just kind of lands on
• 5:21
  Speaker 8: your stick and you don't take any time to dust
• 5:23
  Speaker 8: it off.
• 5:23
  Speaker 9: You just kind of snap it.
• 5:25
  Speaker 8: Like why, why does that make it a little bit
• 5:26
  Speaker 8: more dangerous.
• 5:27
  Speaker 7: To get off so quickly?
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: Uh, yeah, I always say release over location. Um, pick
• 5:32
  Speaker 6: that up from a friend, but, um, It's kind of
• 5:35
  Speaker 6: always just if you can get it off before the
• 5:37
  Speaker 6: goalie even knows that it's coming off, sometimes they're not
• 5:40
  Speaker 6: able to get in position or react to it as quickly.
• 5:43
  Speaker 6: You just want to get it off, and maybe it's
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: not always going in the exact spot that you want,
• 5:47
  Speaker 6: but if you get it off quick, you can beat
• 5:49
  Speaker 6: them sometimes.
• 5:50
  Speaker 8: What do you think about the great Philip Grubauer-Trevor Zegers rivalry?
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that was an interesting one. Gruby came up big
• 5:57
  Speaker 6: for us at the end there. I think he got
• 5:59
  Speaker 6: the last laugh.
• 6:01
  Speaker 7: Does a team get fired up when they see a
• 6:03
  Speaker 7: goalie Kind of take matters into his own hands like
• 6:05
  Speaker 7: that when guys are crashing his crease.
• 6:07
  Speaker 6: Yeah, we'll stand in front of Gruby and back him
• 6:10
  Speaker 6: up anything he's doing that he feels he needs to
• 6:14
  Speaker 6: do to play his best. And obviously he was lights
• 6:17
  Speaker 6: out tonight.
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: So we love it.
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: We love the passion from him, and we'll always be
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: backing him.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: All right, so far so good. 3-0 for the Kraken
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: on this road trip. But the test gets even tougher
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: today facing Michigan. the Tampa Bay Lightning. And joining us now,
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: he's been a part of this trip here for the
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: first few games. That's our friend Darren Brown of NHL.com,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: also the man behind Sound of Hockey, who does great work.
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: And by the way, folks, I.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Do want to also express my extreme appreciation for this
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: man's work. And I think in this day and age,
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: even seeing what's happened locally with newspapers, print media.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: And downsizing and downgrading.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: So please, folks, support local journalism. He is a shining
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: example of what you can get as far as the
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: collection of voices and coverage. And he does fantastic work.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: And without further ado, Darren Brown joining us right now
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: on Kraken this morning.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: Darren, how are you?
• 7:09
  Speaker 8: I'm great. Thank you very much for those incredibly kind words.
• 7:12
  Speaker 8: And thanks for having me, Mike. Very nice of you
• 7:14
  Speaker 8: to say.
• 7:14
  Speaker 6: Certainly.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: You're doing great work. filling a need as far as
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: coverage in this hockey team in this area.
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: Let's go back to two nights ago, my man. Oh boy.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Was that spicy? We can go in different areas here.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: What was your most important takeaway in that win over
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Philly in a shootout?
• 7:32
  Speaker 8: Uh, I mean, it's got, it's gotta be the Grubauer's
• 7:35
  Speaker 8: egress war that we all need. You know, we just
• 7:39
  Speaker 8: need that in our lives, I think. Um, Man, it
• 7:43
  Speaker 8: was very entertaining to watch for sure. And what was
• 7:45
  Speaker 8: interesting was I didn't think the first period was all
• 7:47
  Speaker 8: that entertaining. I thought it was quite a boring period.
• 7:51
  Speaker 8: And then the second period started and yeah, that stuff
• 7:55
  Speaker 8: started to play out. And there weren't that many fans there.
• 7:58
  Speaker 8: I think the building was like half full, but they
• 8:01
  Speaker 8: got really loud once that stuff started happening. Philadelphia got
• 8:05
  Speaker 8: back in the game there with two quick goals in
• 8:08
  Speaker 8: quick succession. And You know, the Kraken, it looked like
• 8:12
  Speaker 8: they were starting to fold. But as we saw from
• 8:14
  Speaker 8: them in Washington as well, they respond pretty well when
• 8:17
  Speaker 8: they when they give up these tying goals. So that
• 8:19
  Speaker 8: was when they really started playing. I thought their game
• 8:22
  Speaker 8: was after that second tying goal. So, yeah, I think
• 8:27
  Speaker 8: it wasn't a perfect game by any means, but we're
• 8:29
  Speaker 8: seeing that this team doesn't have to be perfect to
• 8:32
  Speaker 8: win anything. and that was kind of how it felt
• 8:34
  Speaker 8: they had to be last year, so I think that's
• 8:35
  Speaker 8: an encouraging sign.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: I thought you had a great segue into one of
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: the top storylines from that game two nights ago, and
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: it's the reason why that game was entertainment. The feud
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: between Philip Grubauer and Trevor Zegers, and I couldn't wait
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: for the post-game media scrum, and let's just say it
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: did not disappoint.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: Here's a sample of it beginning... Darren, you with Philip Grubauer.
• 8:59
  Speaker 8: You kind of threw the puck back at him, it
• 9:02
  Speaker 8: looked like.
• 9:02
  Speaker 9: What was that about? Yeah, he stared me down and
• 9:05
  Speaker 9: then was yapping at me, so I just rolled the
• 9:08
  Speaker 9: puck back at him and then I guess shot it back, right? So, yeah,
• 9:11
  Speaker 9: it's a younger place. I don't know if you call
• 9:15
  Speaker 9: it a little, if his feelings got hurt there, but
• 9:18
  Speaker 9: it's all good. I thought it was funny. It's part
• 9:20
  Speaker 9: of the game, too, and it seemed like they couldn't
• 9:23
  Speaker 9: let it go, and yeah. Did you know it was
• 9:25
  Speaker 9: him right away that ended up scoring the goal a
• 9:27
  Speaker 9: little bit later?
• 9:28
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I knew.
• 9:29
  Speaker 9: I knew, but I walked away with the win.
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: Oh, boy. So let's just go back and recap this.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: Trevor Zegras pokes Philip Grubauer's pads after a whistle. Later on,
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Philip Grubauer claps back, makes a glove save, puts a
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: little mustard on it, scoops a puck right back at Zegras.
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: Zegras then chirps back.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: We don't know what was said, but then Philip Grubauer
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: gives him a face full of blocker and stick, then
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Pandora's box opens. Later, Trevor Zegras scores Darren, as you mentioned,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: to tie the game. Philip Grubauer then goes nuclear in
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: the shootout.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Four of five.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: Then absolutely, positively drops Zgris in the post-game scrum.
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: What was your view on things?
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: And do you think we see any carryover here to
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: December 29th?
• 10:23
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I know. It's definitely another one of those like,
• 10:26
  Speaker 8: oh my gosh, one of the, oh, like the Vegas, right?
• 10:28
  Speaker 8: Like the Vegas game where it was like so, so chippy.
• 10:32
  Speaker 8: And then you look at the scheduling, they don't actually
• 10:34
  Speaker 8: play each other again for at least a couple of months.
• 10:36
  Speaker 8: So I do kind of wish that they were like
• 10:38
  Speaker 8: playing each other again sooner because obviously then I think
• 10:42
  Speaker 8: there would be some carryover. You know, I think in
• 10:45
  Speaker 8: this day and age, things kind of calm down with time.
• 10:48
  Speaker 8: So we'll see if they... if anything else transpires from
• 10:52
  Speaker 8: this one, when they play each other again in Seattle.
• 10:55
  Speaker 8: But yeah, it was just a, it was just an
• 10:57
  Speaker 8: awesome thing to watch. I think that's twice now this
• 10:59
  Speaker 8: season that Philip Grubauer has shown. He's not willing to
• 11:03
  Speaker 8: get run over in the crease a bunch of times.
• 11:05
  Speaker 8: He acted somewhat similarly in Edmonton on that second game
• 11:09
  Speaker 8: of the year. But you know, hearing him in that
• 11:13
  Speaker 8: post game presser just, not holding back and uh you
• 11:18
  Speaker 8: know even the way that he did throw the pocket
• 11:20
  Speaker 8: at zegras it was so petty and it was so
• 11:22
  Speaker 8: obvious what he was doing like oh nice shot buddy
• 11:25
  Speaker 8: you know like that kind of thing and just like
• 11:28
  Speaker 8: tossed it at him and then uh it just felt
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: very petty and then his um like in a great
• 11:33
  Speaker 8: way right it was like yeah it was just fun
• 11:36
  Speaker 8: it was uh it was fun to be a part
• 11:37
  Speaker 8: of that and and get to witness it and then
• 11:39
  Speaker 8: get to ask him about it after the game because
• 11:41
  Speaker 8: uh I just couldn't wait to hear from him on.
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: What led to that. Good stuff. Do you think we're
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: seeing a change in attitude on this team?
• 11:49
  Speaker 4: I do.
• 11:50
  Speaker 8: I think there's a lot of things that feel different
• 11:51
  Speaker 8: about this team compared to last year. One thing I've
• 11:56
  Speaker 8: thought about is, maybe you've noticed this too, Mike, Brandon Montour.
• 12:01
  Speaker 8: He does the thing with Mark Stone, and he shared
• 12:05
  Speaker 8: this with us in postgame that night too, that he
• 12:07
  Speaker 8: was like, I'm, I'm actively trying to get under this
• 12:10
  Speaker 8: guy's skin. You know, I kind of made fun of
• 12:12
  Speaker 8: him for not stepping up for his guy. And just
• 12:17
  Speaker 8: things along that, those lines where it's like, he's almost
• 12:21
  Speaker 8: trying to not disrespect, but like not respect opposing teams
• 12:25
  Speaker 8: too much, you know? And so that's something that I've
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: kind of noticed. I do think that there's, yeah, there's
• 12:32
  Speaker 8: like a, when they lost that game in Edmonton, you know,
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: it wasn't like a, yeah, we'll, we'll get him next time.
• 12:38
  Speaker 8: Kind of a thing. It was like, you know, Jordan
• 12:40
  Speaker 8: Eberle was pissed that they didn't win that. He was,
• 12:42
  Speaker 8: he felt that they had let one get away there.
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: And so that's one thing I think, you know, when
• 12:48
  Speaker 8: you watch them play last season, so many times, it
• 12:52
  Speaker 8: felt like for them to win a game, they had
• 12:55
  Speaker 8: to like sell out so hard to block every shot and,
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: they'd cave in defensively and try to just try to
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: keep everything to the outside and desperately hold on to
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: any lead that they ever had. And they'd never been
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: a score more than two or three goals in a game.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: And this year just.
• 13:10
  Speaker 8: Doesn't feel like that. It feels like they can actually
• 13:12
  Speaker 8: control and dictate the pace. So yeah, from an on
• 13:15
  Speaker 8: ice perspective to just like how they talk to everything,
• 13:19
  Speaker 8: it just feels quite different.
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: So yes, I do.
• 13:22
  Speaker 8: That's a long answer to your question, but yes, I
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: do notice an attitude change from top to bottom with
• 13:26
  Speaker 8: this team this year.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Darren Brown joining us here on Kraken this morning from
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: NHL.com and also from Sound of Hockey. As of right now,
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: through seven games, it is not a season make, but
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: here are the facts.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: The Kraken are 5-2.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: They went to bed after Tuesday, knocking on the door
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: for first place in the Pacific Division, two points back
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: of Vegas. They have a plus 10 goal differential. Same
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: as Vegas. One shy of the Edmonton Oilers. Similar teams
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: with their record and near goal differential include the Utah
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Mammoth at 5-2 plus a goal differential. The Boston Bruins
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: 5-2 plus 10 goal differential. Carolina is on an absolute heater.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, they're on a different tier. It feels like
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: as of right now. But even the Rangers off to
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: a six and two star plus their tingle differential. So
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: how do you view the weight of a five and
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: two record here for the Kraken, Darren, versus others in
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: the NHL?
• 14:18
  Speaker 8: Well, you just mentioned Carolina being on a different tier.
• 14:21
  Speaker 8: And you know who beat Carolina? I think it's their
• 14:24
  Speaker 8: only loss at this point. You know who beat them?
• 14:26
  Speaker 8: the Washington Capitals, you know, who beat the Washington Capitals?
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 14:30
  Speaker 8: The Seattle Kraken. So, which I think that game was
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: pretty telling because I think, you know, it's pretty easy
• 14:34
  Speaker 8: to look at the schedule that the Kraken have had
• 14:36
  Speaker 8: so far with two wins against Calgary, a win against Philadelphia,
• 14:41
  Speaker 8: a win against Detroit. These are all teams that have really,
• 14:43
  Speaker 8: really struggled out of the gate. And so it's easy
• 14:46
  Speaker 8: to look at the Kraken schedule and say, oh, well,
• 14:48
  Speaker 8: they just haven't played anybody yet. But getting that win
• 14:50
  Speaker 8: against Washington, where I really thought they were the better
• 14:53
  Speaker 8: team for most of the night, You know, I think
• 14:56
  Speaker 8: it's a really, again, it's really, really encouraging. So I'm
• 15:00
  Speaker 8: trying to maintain my own optimism. I tend to be
• 15:02
  Speaker 8: a little overly optimistic about this team, even when I
• 15:05
  Speaker 8: know that the result isn't going to be what what
• 15:08
  Speaker 8: most people would want it to be in Seattle. But
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: it does feel, it feels like they're giving us reason
• 15:14
  Speaker 8: to believe here in the early stages. So the optimism
• 15:17
  Speaker 8: is still very cautious. But, you know, better than being
• 15:21
  Speaker 8: two and five at this point, that's for sure. So
• 15:23
  Speaker 8: something to read into there.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: Ville Otevainen walked away with a puck from his first
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: career NHL goal after Tuesday night.
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: That one he won't forget.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: 9.33 of ice time, and it was his only shot
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: on net for the entire night with one hit.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: But for a player who's.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: 6'4, 6'5, an absolute behemoth. He's said before the nature
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: of his game is simplicity and also physicality, a.k.a. code
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: words for a shutdown defenseman. But not too bad for
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: his first NHL goal. But yet he came in to
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: this season with a lot of question marks with where
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: he could fit right now. So what do you make
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: out of his game right now fitting on this back end, Aaron?
• 16:02
  Speaker 8: You know, I asked Lane about him last night, Lane Lambert,
• 16:05
  Speaker 8: because I find it interesting, too, that initially it was like,
• 16:08
  Speaker 8: all right, we're going to keep Billy Otavainen around, and
• 16:11
  Speaker 8: it'll be kind of him and Mahura and Fleury all
• 16:14
  Speaker 8: rotating for that last spot. Ryan Lindgren goes out with
• 16:17
  Speaker 8: an injury. Now there's two spots open for those three guys.
• 16:20
  Speaker 8: And so I figured, all right, well, we'll just keep
• 16:22
  Speaker 8: rotating him through. But over these last three games, which
• 16:24
  Speaker 8: they've won all three, it's been Mahura and Otavainen with
• 16:27
  Speaker 8: Fleury as the healthy extra.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: So, you know, that.
• 16:31
  Speaker 8: kind of says to me that Potevainen is gaining some
• 16:34
  Speaker 8: trust from the coaching staff. Obviously you mentioned it, he
• 16:37
  Speaker 8: gets his first goal, which is a very exciting thing
• 16:40
  Speaker 8: for any young player, of course. But yeah, it does,
• 16:43
  Speaker 8: it does feel like he's starting to take over that,
• 16:47
  Speaker 8: that spot. So I think there's always been hope from
• 16:50
  Speaker 8: this organization that he could be an NHL player. I
• 16:53
  Speaker 8: think he's one of those guys that's kind of been
• 16:55
  Speaker 8: knocking on the door for a couple of years now,
• 16:56
  Speaker 8: and there hasn't been an opportunity for him. Now there's
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: an opportunity and he's, he's showing so far that he
• 17:01
  Speaker 8: can at least be a serviceable defense, a defenseman in
• 17:04
  Speaker 8: this league. So, um, I think there is something to
• 17:07
  Speaker 8: read into there as far as how the team is
• 17:10
  Speaker 8: using him right now. And, um, you know, considering continuing
• 17:12
  Speaker 8: to roll with him on, on that third pair. And
• 17:15
  Speaker 8: I think it's a scenario where they're going to keep
• 17:17
  Speaker 8: doing that until he starts making mistakes. And then they'll,
• 17:20
  Speaker 8: you know, that's when they'll start to consider maybe putting
• 17:23
  Speaker 8: in kale flurry in his place or something like that. But, um, he,
• 17:26
  Speaker 8: he hasn't made a ton of glaring mistakes, uh, Yeah,
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: simplicity is a good way to describe it, and I
• 17:31
  Speaker 8: think he's kind of doing what the team wants him
• 17:34
  Speaker 8: to do right now. So all positive on the Villiota-Vinan front.
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: Coming up is the first matchup of the season of
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: two against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they're going into
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: an extremely tough place to go in and win a
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: hockey game in Tampa Bay. You have the 5-2 Kraken
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: against the 4-2 Lightning. The Kraken could be feeling pretty
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: good about the position right now that they are in.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: Not letter perfect, but A-OK.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay, on the other hand, came off a loss
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: against the Rangers where John Cooper called it, as far
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: as the execution, flat out dreadful. So it almost kind
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: of feels like there's two different viewpoints with where they
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: stand with nearly identical records here. The Kraken coming in
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: off a win, Tampa Bay coming in off a loss.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: And Andre Vasilevsky has been a tough guy to crack
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: over and over and over, like many who have faced him.
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: But this Lightning team trying to still figure it out
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: right now. And at least one case in point next
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: to last power play in the NHL for the small
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: sample size that we have seen so far. But the
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: offense really isn't humming that much as well. 20th in
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: the nhl going to bed after their last game from
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: tuesday so i think for me darren the concern here
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: is that you have a john cooper coach team with
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: a head coach expressing disappointment and you kind of worry
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: how much they're going to be on their toes coming
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: out of the gate here for thursday and the crack
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: and have to be ready what's your view on things
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: heading into game four of the trip.
• 19:01
  Speaker 8: Yeah, you're right. And it is a, it's a hard
• 19:03
  Speaker 8: building to win. And they did win there last year
• 19:05
  Speaker 8: towards the end of the season. And that was the
• 19:07
  Speaker 8: night when Berkeley cat and got in a fight. So
• 19:08
  Speaker 8: I think we just need to see Berkeley cat and
• 19:10
  Speaker 8: drop the glove. That's probably the key to success. But no,
• 19:16
  Speaker 8: I think, you know, the Kraken though, they did win
• 19:18
  Speaker 8: against Philadelphia, obviously, but I don't, Lane Lambert didn't sound
• 19:22
  Speaker 8: particularly thrilled with how they played. You know, he said
• 19:25
  Speaker 8: there were times when we should have been for checking.
• 19:27
  Speaker 8: We were backing up things like that. So yeah, To
• 19:30
  Speaker 8: some degree, I think there's a similar sentiment on the
• 19:32
  Speaker 8: Kraken side as well coming out of this past game
• 19:35
  Speaker 8: that I think they should have, you know, won by
• 19:38
  Speaker 8: more than they did. It shouldn't have come down to
• 19:40
  Speaker 8: a coin toss shootout situation for them. And, you know,
• 19:44
  Speaker 8: I always thought that Philadelphia was going to be a
• 19:46
  Speaker 8: little bit of a trap game just because of the
• 19:48
  Speaker 8: desperation that that team had. And so they crack and
• 19:51
  Speaker 8: get through it. They get the win, they get the
• 19:53
  Speaker 8: two points and who knows, maybe they were already looking
• 19:55
  Speaker 8: ahead to these games a little bit anyway, because of
• 19:58
  Speaker 8: just that's human nature. I think you can't help, but
• 20:00
  Speaker 8: think about, okay, we got the worst team in the league.
• 20:02
  Speaker 8: And then we got two of the better teams in
• 20:04
  Speaker 8: the league, theoretically. um, coming up. So, um, I think
• 20:07
  Speaker 8: there'll be ready for it minimally. I think there'll be competitive.
• 20:10
  Speaker 8: Will they end up winning both of these games?
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: Who knows?
• 20:14
  Speaker 8: Um, you know, they're, they're on a nice little roll
• 20:16
  Speaker 8: here and coming home with three to maybe four out
• 20:20
  Speaker 8: of five wins. If that's how it ends up shaking out, uh,
• 20:23
  Speaker 8: that's still a successful road trip. So, um, yeah, you
• 20:26
  Speaker 8: have to, you have to hope for the best, but
• 20:28
  Speaker 8: also I think, um, you know, these are, these are
• 20:32
  Speaker 8: tough tests as you, as you said, no question about it.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Kraken won that last matchup, as Darren referenced, 4-3 in overtime.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: That was a Brandon Montour overtime game-winning goal as well,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: which the Kraken shook off a two-goal rally by Tampa.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: Looking for similar results coming up here for the Thursday matchup. Darren,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: you've got a plane to catch. Appreciate your time, my friend.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: And again, for the folks looking around here, tell them
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: where they can find your work.
• 20:54
  Speaker 8: Yeah, soundofhockey.com is probably the main spot where we have
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: our podcast, Sound of Hockey Podcast. Um, and actually that
• 21:01
  Speaker 8: one is, uh, we've gone to video here in the
• 21:04
  Speaker 8: last couple of.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: Months on that.
• 21:05
  Speaker 8: So we can check it out on YouTube. I think
• 21:06
  Speaker 8: it's really fun medium to be playing around with. I
• 21:09
  Speaker 8: know we're not exactly new to that, uh, or we're
• 21:11
  Speaker 8: not exactly first, first into that medium, but, uh, it's
• 21:14
  Speaker 8: been a lot of fun to experiment with that. So
• 21:16
  Speaker 8: go check us out on YouTube as well.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Support local journalism, folks. Darren, appreciate you. We'll get you
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: back on soon.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 21:22
  Speaker 8: Thanks for having me, Mike.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: All right, Darren, thank you very much.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: The Kraken again facing Tampa Bay, who under head coach
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: John Cooper still have plenty of valuable parts to a
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: team that has won two Stanley Cups under Cooper's tenure. Yes,
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Tampa Bay is 4-2, but they come off a 4-1
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: loss to the New York Rangers back on Tuesday where
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Cooper said the execution was, quote, dreadful, end quote. Andre
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Vasilevsky took the loss in net with a 19 save effort.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: Save percentage right now is under 900, but he has
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: been incredibly difficult on the Kraken for his career, owning
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: a 7-0-1 record in eight appearances with a 9-3-2 save percentage.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: And one shutout.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: The Lightning also own the best record at home in
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: the NHL going over the last 10 years at 242 wins,
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: 83 losses, and 27 losses heading into overtime. However, the
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Kraken have found their way to win in that building,
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: getting two of the last three matchups, including last season's
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: victory in sudden death overtime. How good would a 4-0
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: road trip feel? Well, we'll find out if they can
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: get there later on today as we have face-off coming
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: your way at 4 o'clock, airtime at 3.30 all across
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: the Global Credit Union Kraken Audio Network.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: We certainly hope that you can join us.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Big thank you to Darren Brown for hanging out with
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: us and for Kraken this morning.
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: I'm Mike Benton. Enjoy the game. Your home for the Kraken.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.