Bathing in the Limelight
Post-game, Wright talked on-air for the famed Hockey Night in Canada broadcast donning a network-branded towel around his neck. When done, he asked if he could keep the towel.
Soon after was the usual scrum for game reporters and Wright clarified he’s not only keeping the towel but “it might be framed.” Fair enough, and good for a player who has been on the Canadian hockey-mad radar since 14 years old.
“It's a gutsy win,” said Wright, sounding very much like a veteran. “It's two points, a huge win before break. You feel a little better going into the break now.”
When Calgary scored early third period to go up 2-0, Wright admitted the bench was “a little down” but clearly not defeated: “We were still battling. We're still working. we still had a lot of really good opportunities to score. It was right there for us ... and we were able to find a couple.”
That’s putting it mildly. The Wright line of Burakovsky and Jared McCann upped their battle level, with Wright and Burakovsky pressuring the Flames to generate the scoring chance on the tying goal. Wright has upped his goal total to 12 in recent games and has definitely been focused on shooting more. Besides the goal, coach Dan Bylsma noted a “shallow shot” on goal first period that “he probably doesn’t take” six weeks ago. That three-game reset was pivotal by all accounts and Wright acknowledged he’s been feeling confident and then some in the last month or more.
“I’m just playing,” said Wright to the scrum. “I'm just being myself, going out there and playing my game, playing the way I know I can and just doing the things I know I'm good at. What brings me success is, just learning and competing and skating. Those are the biggest messages from the coaches as well. I’m enjoying it and having fun.”
In the last dozen-plus game, Wright has playing up to the lofty expectations, something GM Ron Francis and his development staff have long believed was on its way. Same for Kraken coach Dan Bylsma, who watched Wright score 20-plus goals at AHL Coachella Valley last season and mature quickly into the Firebirds’ best player in the Calder Cup final last spring.
“You're seeing more and more pictures of Shane doing his thing,” said Bylsma who also praised linemates Burakovsky and McCann. “That in the third period is not a place you would normally look to get a shot from. And in a tight, tight game, he's playing hard in the defensive zone. That's not a typical Shane Wright goal that he got tonight, getting in the inside, getting into the dirty area, and finding a puck and scoring a goal.”
Not to be overlooked in the Wright line heroics, Beniers has been playing his own brand of his best hockey self since Kaapo Kakko joined his line with fellow alternate captain Jaden Schwartz on the other side. Beniers notched his 13th goal of the season (and ninth since Kaako came over from the New York Rangers) and is one ahead of Wright (feel free to have friendly competition, guys). Beniers circled the slot on the game-winner and went full shot-mentality (Bylsma loves to see that) to beat Dustin Wolf on his left side.
“I was just trying to move their triangle,” said Beniers about 3-on-3 play. “Try to get them out of position...Schwartz had a great screen, and I was able to kind of just walk down and shoot it. I had no idea where the puck was. Huge, huge game, divisional game. We're hoping to catch these guys and now we're going to the break with a little bit of momentum, a nice win. It's, it's good for the morale. Good our team gets a little reset."
Starting and Finishing the Week
These two teams faced each other to start the week and finished the schedule before players dispersed by the 4 Nations Faceoff break. Both squads were hungry for a win and played like it in a spirited first period. The Kraken killed an early power play and Calgary snuffed overlapping Kraken power plays that included more than a minute of a 5-on-3 Seattle advantage.
It should be noted the upcoming Team Finland winger Kaapo Kakko almost broke the scoreless during the late power-play segments, but Flames rookie and former WHL Everett Silvertips star goaltender Dustin Wolf made a Grade-A save on Kakko’s net-front backhand attempt (give credit to the Kraken trade acquisition’s consistent and most43e welcome presence at what coach Dan Bylsma regularly refers to as the “blue paint” of the crease. Several shifts after Wolf’s impressive stop on Kakko, SEA goalie Joey Daccord, making his fifth straight start, made a similar big-time save on Calgary forward Ryan Lomberg’s similar backhand shot. The period ended 0-0 with a late Kraken power play not panning out.
Frost Opens Scoring for Flames – Again
The scoreless tie ended two-and-a-half minutes into the middle period with Morgan Frost carrying the puck left side into the Kraken zone with Vince Dunn straddling between the new Calgary Flame and forward Joel Farabe. Joey Daccord had a similar will-he-shoot-or-pass split decision to make. Frost kept the puck and fired it past Dacord on the far glove side with Farabee serving as a decoy.
Frost and former Philadelphia teammate Farabee were acquired on Jan. 31. Frost has scored two goals in his first five games, both against Seattle. Farabee scored last Tuesday in a 6-4 home loss to Toronto.
Calgary added an insurance goal early in the third period on a Nazem Kadri tip-in goal (his 19th score of the season) on Jonathan Huberdeau’s shot to the front of the net, proving an extremely hard save for Daccord to make with Kadri speeding laterally at net-front.
Taking a Break, Except for Kakko, Watch Party Planned
The Kraken now head into a nine-day 4 Nations Faceoff break that ends Feb. 18 when the Kraken are due to fly to Florida for three days of practice in Fort Lauderdale before squaring off with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers Saturday, Feb. 23, then traveling to Tampa Bay post-game to face the Lightning Sunday night. The opening road trip of the season’s “second half” finishes Feb. 26 in St. Louis. The next Kraken home game is March 1 against division rival Vancouver with the two-game homestand welcoming the Minnesota Wild on March 4.
The one exception among Kraken players on break is relative newcomer Kaapo Kakko, who will represent Team Finland. Kakko and his countrymen face Team USA this coming Thursday with 32 Bar and Grill hosting a watch party at Kraken Community Iceplex. Puck drop is at 5 p.m. (perfect timing for dinner and the beverage of your choice). Finnish food specials will be on the menu.
Big Nights for Prospects This Weekend
A pair of high Kraken draft choices turned in monster games Friday night in Canadian Hockey League play. Forward Carson Rehkopf, a 2022 second-rounder, recorded a hat trick and added three assists for a six-point night for the Ontario Hockey League Brampton Steelheads in a 10-3 win over Erie. Brampton teammate and Kraken 2024 seventh-rounder Jakub Fibigr notched two assists. Rehkopf scored again and Fibigr logged another assist in a 6-0 shutout win over Kingston.
In the Western Hockey League, Seattle’s first-round pick (No. 8 overall) in last summer’s 2024 NHL Draft, racked up four goals and an assist Friday night as the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds, 9-1. Catton scored twice more Saturday, including a tying goal to force overtime. Visiting Victoria, BC, won in overtime.
