Nashville Just Broke Seattle's Heart And Now They're Tied For The Wild Card
The Kraken had a golden opportunity. Nashville's star goalie Juuse Saros was out with an upper body injury, and backup Justus Annunen was between the pipes for what should have been a winnable game to kick off a critical six-game road trip. Instead, Seattle laid an egg and lost 3-1 to the Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night, and now Nashville is tied with them in the standings for the final Western Conference wild card spot. This is bad. Really bad.
The Kraken Couldn't Capitalize On The Best Chance They Had
Seattle came out firing with energy early. Freddy Gaudreau buried one with just 80 seconds left in the first period thanks to a beautiful net front setup from Chandler Stephenson. That tied it up 1-1 after Ryan Usko had given Nashville the early lead on a deflection. The Kraken looked like they had momentum heading to the break. And then the second period happened.
Two successive penalties early in period two turned the game on its head. Steven Stamkos' point shot got blocked, but Filip Forsberg found Ryan O'Reilly loose at the net front seven minutes in, and O'Reilly didn't miss. That one goal ended up being the difference. Seattle managed just six shots in the entire second period and looked completely out of sync offensively. Even with Jani Nyman inserted into the lineup on an emergency call-up after Seattle lost forwards Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen, the Kraken just couldn't generate the kind of quality scoring chances they needed.
A Fight And A Failed Power Play Summed Up The Third
The final period started with the Kraken on a power play for the first 86 seconds, but again they came up empty. Things got chippy when Ryker Evans took a boarding penalty for sending Matthew Wood into the boards, and Jonathan Marchessault immediately went after Evans. The two wrestled it out, with Evans actually holding his own and dragging Marchessault to the ice. Marchessault got a two-minute roughing call out of it, which negated Nashville's power play. Small victories, right? Not when you lose 3-1.
Joey Daccord faced 43 shots total and had no chance on any of them. Filip Forsberg sealed it with an empty netter in the final two minutes. Seattle finished with just 13 shots over the final 40 minutes. That's not going to cut it when the wild card race is this tight.
Here's the brutal part: the Kraken came in tied with the Los Angeles Kings but held the final wild card spot because of more wins. They were also just one point up on the San Jose Sharks, who had a game in hand. Now Nashville is tied with them at 31-27-9, and the race is an absolute log jam. The road trip just started, and Seattle is already behind the eight ball.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.