Joey Daccord and the Kraken held off a late flurry from Chicago, making Kraken 2023 second-round draft pick Oscar Fisker Molgaard’s debut even more memorable.
Lambert's Message Gets Through
The second period here against a red-hot Blackhawks club told a story about which Kraken coach Lane Lambert turned the page to a new chapter. After a tightly contested and scoreless first period, the home squad got to work lighting up the scoreboard with two goals and 13 shots on goal, including four high-danger chances.
Meanwhile, in the middle period, the Kraken managed just five shots on goal. None were Grade-A scoring chances, nor were any of the nine shots on goal in the opening period. While Chicago had those seven shots in the first frame, five were high-danger opportunities, per Natural Stat Trick.
After watching his team tally just 11 shots in the final 40 minutes Tuesday night in Detroit, Lambert outlined the message delivered to his group before facing the Blackhawks.
“Again, it's seeming to be a little bit of an everyday struggle here, with us generating offense in terms of shot volume,” said Lamber. “You know, at some point, our guys are going to have to figure that out, because you can't score if you don't shoot the puck. Can't score if it's not on that stick. We’ve had opportunities to shoot the puck, and we, for some reason, choose to defer. We've got to stop that. So the message is the message is the message. It's always the same.”
That was post-game, and you figure the quote wouldn’t change much after just five shots in the middle period when Chicago was running express trains to the Kraken net. But the third period shifted the narrative big-time.
In the first 40 minutes, I thought we were slow to do things,” said Lambert. “Give our players credit. They got the message. They took charge and got the job done.” Ryker Evans scored his third goal in the seven games he has been back in action. The tying goal was similar to his previous scores this season—pucks to the net, threading through bodies and a screened goaltender. Shane Wright and Berkly Catton, on the wings with Freddy Gaudreau centering, earned the assists, and their head coach noticed. We continue to talk about it. We didn't have enough shot attempts in the first two periods,” said Lambert.
“Our ‘D’ did a way better job in the third period. For Ryker, it was great play by Catton to get to him in the middle and then a great screen from Shane Wright.” Going Fourth with Fisker Molgaard American Hockey League call-up Oscar Fisker Molgaard won’t forget this night, and neither will his parents, whose 30-hour journey from Denmark was rewarded with their son’s first NHL point and a rally of rallies. Lambert was happy for his 20-year-old center and the family. “I liked him,” said Lambert about Fisker Molgaard’s debut. “I thought he was good. I thought he was responsible. It was great to see him get his first NHL point with his family in the stands. Fantastic.” Fisker Molgaard thought it was pretty fantastic, too: “It was pretty surreal. It's a childhood dream coming through. I have been waiting for this moment my whole life.”
For his part, Fisker Molgaard was calm from the start: “I felt pretty good. The guys were doing a good job of supporting me and keeping me loose out there. Just tried to keep it simple on the first couple of shifts. It felt so good to do this in front of family. I mean, that's unreal. My parents have been there my whole life so it's powerful. I'm really proud to have them here. I'm glad they came.”
