SEATTLE — Anyone seeking a preview of what playoff hockey looks like in terms of sheer atmosphere rather than execution would be hard-pressed to top Thursday night’s thriller in which the Seattle Kraken went toe-to-toe with the NHL’s finest.
Sure, there were mistakes galore in this game, but also plenty of end-to-end action featuring two teams playing up to the rather high level of their opposition. It would be the league-leading Boston Bruins ultimately handing the plucky Kraken a 6-5 loss on a night Boston’s top skill players were just a little more efficient at capitalizing on their opportunities.
Jake DeBrusk redirected a Charlie McAvoy point shot with 1:38 remaining in regulation to snap a 5-5 tie and put Boston ahead to stay.
Jaden Schwartz had appeared to put the Kraken — who enjoyed a 41-33 edge in shots — ahead for good with 4:10 to go, redirecting a Will Borgen blast from the point. But as was the case with both teams all night long in a back-and-forth slugfest, the Bruins responded just 29 seconds later with Brandon Carlo tying it to set the stage for DeBrusk’s winner.
Much of the night was akin to a prize fight with the challenger Kraken trying to knock off the heavyweight champion Bruins, who entered on-pace for an NHL record 133-point season. The Kraken had already stunned the Bruins 3-0 in Boston six weeks ago and landed the first blow just 40 seconds into this one as Matty Beniers scored from the left circle off a 3-on-1 break.
But the Kraken failed to add to that lead despite several early point-blank chances against Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman. Boston would tie the score on a David Pastrnak goal right before the nine-minute mark and set the tone for a back-and-forth struggle in which neither side yielded an inch.
With a charged-up Climate Pledge Arena crowd of 17,141 — liberally filled with ample Bruins supporters — adding to the already-tense atmosphere, the two sides battled into the third period tied thanks to a plethora of response goals to answer the other’s tallies. Tensions brewing all game long began spilling over with under six minutes to play as Brad Marchand took some stick jabs at Oliver Bjorkstrand, who attempted unsuccessfully to wrestle the notorious Bruins pest to the ice — drawing a gathering of players clutching and jawing at one another.
Despite four goals apiece by both teams the opening two frames, Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer and Bruins counterpart Swayman each made a series of highlight reel stops to keep things even.
The way the teams kept matching one another’s goals was what made this game akin to contender artistry at times. Vince Dunn scored a go-ahead marker early in the second period off a clean faceoff win by Alex Wennberg, only to have Pastrnak tie it just 1:06 later by single-handedly waltzing around defenseman Adam Larsson for a highlight reel goal.
Boston then took its first lead of the night when Marchand scored from Grubauer’s doorstep just moments after the goalie had robbed him of a chance at point blank range. But the boisterous Bruins’ fans in the crowd had barely settled down before hulking Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak somehow was allowed to cruise up into the slot just 58 seconds later and fire one past Swayman to tie the game once more at 3-3.
The Kraken went on the power play with just over two minutes remaining in the period, but Patrice Bergeron stole the puck at the line from Dunn to start a 2-on-1 break and wound up capping the play on a pass from Marchand to give Boston back the lead. But just 1:02 later, with the Kraken still on the power play, Yanni Gourde attempted a cross-ice pass to Jordan Eberle that banked off defenseman Charlie McAvoy and into the net to make it 4-4 right before intermission.
The goal loomed large as the Kraken entered the night 21-4-1 in games in which Gourde registers a point.
The fierce-pitched battle ratcheted up a notch right before the second period ended as several gatherings broke out that featured plenty of pushing and shoving after the whistle.
Both teams had a flurry of power play chances in the final frame but failed to score. Carson Soucy saved a goal for the Kraken by getting in front of a point-blank shot with Grubauer out of position and scrambling to recover.
