Kraken's Penalty Kill Is Collapsing and Winnipeg Just Proved Why It Matters

The Seattle Kraken's downward spiral continued Monday night in Winnipeg, and it was ugly. The Jets scored on all three power play chances and cruised to a 6-2 win, putting another nail in what's looking more and more like a coffin for the Kraken's season. This is the second time in a week the penalty kill got shredded three times in one game. That's not a coincidence, and it's not sustainable.

The Penalty Kill Is Broken

Over the past three games, the Kraken have killed just five of 12 penalty opportunities. Worse, they've allowed at least one power play goal in each of those contests. Meanwhile, the Kraken's own power play is scoreless in eight tries over the past week. Winnipeg didn't even give Seattle a chance on the man advantage Monday. When you're losing games and your special teams are getting torched like this, you're not winning hockey games. It's that simple.

The damage has piled up fast. Seattle has dropped five straight and nine of 10 overall. Regulation losses to Utah and Chicago last week basically ended any realistic playoff hopes. With six games left, the Kraken would need to win out and catch breaks everywhere else just to have a shot. The math is brutal.

Desperate Times in the Lineup and Behind the Bench

Coach Lane Lambert made a move that shows just how desperate things have gotten: he split up Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn. Those two have been Seattle's top defensive pairing for over four years. The fact that Lambert broke them up for a non-injury reason tells you the panic level. Larsson started the game with Ryker Evans while Dunn played with Cale Fleury. Even original Kraken player Jamie Oleksiak hit the healthy scratch list.

Up front, Lambert keeps shuffling and reshuffling the lines, but nothing is clicking. Captain Jordan Eberle scored early on a wraparound attempt where he snatched the puck back and drifted to the slot. That goal opened the scoring for Seattle. But Eberle has managed just three goals since March started across 17 games, despite leading the team with 25 goals and 53 points on the season.

Goaltending Trouble Adds to the Chaos

Philipp Grubauer started in net and made 15 saves before apparently getting injured. He tried to deny Winnipeg's third goal by sliding over and looked to be in pain afterward. He stayed in the game briefly, then headed to the bench while Joey Daccord got ready to come in cold during the second period. Grubauer didn't return, even as a backup. Lambert gave no update on the 34-year-old German Olympian.

Daccord made 10 stops in the loss, which was his second straight appearance after Seattle's 6-2 loss to Utah on Thursday. This likely messes with the goalie rotation heading into a Tuesday game in Minnesota. Matt Murray could be in line for action if the Kraken don't want to run Daccord out again.

Forward Jared McCann summed it up after the game: "Obviously, we're all pretty frustrated with the way things have gone the past month and a bit. We're gonna stick together and we're gonna stay as a team." Right now, that togetherness is being tested like never before.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.