SEATTLE — The Western Conference chess board was given a good shake Thursday night, but the pieces wound up back in the same places.
The Vegas Golden Knights sent Seattle off to its first NHL postseason with two consecutive defeats to ponder, including Thursday night’s 3-1 decision at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken had won five straight games before the home-and-home with Vegas, which clinched first in the Pacific Division.
The hierarchy in the Eastern Conference is set, but the order in the West – and the Kraken’s first-round opponent – will come down to the final game of the regular season. The Colorado Avalanche will face the Nashville Predators on Friday, and a Colorado victory would allow the Avalanche to overtake the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche would win the Central Division and face the Kraken next week.
If Colorado takes home anything less than two points, Seattle will meet the Dallas Stars in the first round.
The announced sellout crowd in Seattle was active and engaged, but there was no judgment if a hand or two drifted down near the cupholder, holding a phone, periodically refreshing the NHL scoreboard.
The Kraken’s long-held first wild-card spot looked less solid for a few hours. The league-worst Anaheim Ducks went up on the Los Angeles Kings early in the first period and refused to bow out of the game. A Kings loss paired with a Kraken win would result in a tie in points, and Seattle owned the first tiebreaker. That would send Seattle into the third playoff spot in the Pacific Division and secure them a potential first-round date with the Edmonton Oilers.
But the Kings maintained the natural order of things, finishing off the Ducks 5-3. Seattle clinched the first wild-card spot even before it lost to Vegas.
The Kraken no longer controlled any part of their own destiny, but the Kings may have done them a favor by taking on the white-hot Oilers. Edmonton floundered in the standings for a while before charging back to nearly win the Pacific Division. The Oilers haven’t dropped a game in regulation since March 11 – a 15-game point streak.
The Golden Knights scored on their first “shot on goal” Thursday. It will be recorded as such, but it was a Vince Dunn pass that nicked Reilly Smith’s skate and slid behind unsuspecting Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer. There was a flick of Smith’s foot that looked rather like a distinct kicking motion, which would negate the goal. But Smith was faced away from the net and that conversation between the officials was brief, if it took place at all.
Seattle center Alex Wennberg then settled into the curve of the boards and waited for linemate Jaden Schwartz to move into scoring position. He fed Schwartz for the tying goal with less than four minutes left in the first period. It was Schwartz’s 21st of the season.
There were no calls during the first period but five in the second – two against Seattle, three against Vegas. During an eventful Kraken power play midway through the second period, Matty Beniers was denied an open net, Daniel Sprong was stopped on a short breakaway and the Kraken promptly took a too-many-men penalty.
As Sprong finished serving that bench minor and rejoined the play following a 4-on-4, Vegas’ Alec Martinez bounced a puck over Grubauer for a shorthanded goal. The Kraken later allowed an empty-net goal.
Grubauer made 16 saves for Seattle. Laurent Brossoit had 31 for Vegas.
The Kraken were expected to announce after the game that forward Andre Burakovsky, who left a game Feb. 7 and missed the final 32 games with a lower-body injury, won’t be available when the Kraken begin their postseason run next week. Burakovsky was the team’s leading scorer when he was injured.
