WASHINGTON — There was concern in beginning a tough road trip here Friday night that these four Kraken away games could undo much of what they’ve largely accomplished thus far.
Despite one of the NHL’s best road records, the Kraken have only prevailed in just one of the four buildings they’ll play in this next week. And though they somehow kept things close in this one, the Kraken still dropped their third in a row, 4-1 to a Washington Capitals squad that outplayed them for vast swaths of action.
The Kraken had entered the night 8-1-1 on the road, the only team besides New Jersey to register just one away loss in regulation play.
Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer — who stopped 34 of 36 shots fired his way before Lars Eller and Alex Ovechkin sealed it with empty-net goals late — had done an exceptional job of keeping things tied 1-1 until defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was assessed a five-minute match penalty late in the second period for a head shot on Capitals’ defenseman Alexander Alexeyev. It seemed lost on some of the booing Capital One Arena fans that former Caps’ Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Stevens used to routinely knock opponents senseless with similar hits to resounding applause.
But that was in a different era and this one doesn’t tolerate blows that can lead to concussions. So, Oleksiak was sent packing and his teammates were forced to scramble around for the next five minutes killing a penalty minus one of their best defensemen.
They’d fended off more than three minutes’ worth before onetime Kraken forward Marcus Johansson took a pass from Sonny Milano and fired a point-blank shot on Grubauer. The netminder got a piece of the puck, but it deflected up and over him and bounced into the net to put Washington ahead.
Grubauer would be a busy man through the first two periods, turning aside 25 of 27 shots. His team was outshot 12-5 in the opening frame, but Grubauer stood tall and his work allowed the Kraken to take a late lead when Adam Larsson’s wrist shot from the left point found its way through a screen.
But the 1-0 lead didn’t last long as a shot came in from the right point just five minutes into the middle period and Grubauer couldn’t snag the rebound. A wild scramble ensued and Anthony Mantha wound up credited with the goal after the puck went in off Oleksiak’s skate.
It wouldn’t be the worst part of the period for Oleksiak, who would catch Alekseyev up around the head area with an attempted check behind the Kraken net.
The Kraken entered the night having lost their last two games of a recent homestand by 5-1 and 4-2 scores. They’d beaten the improving Capitals just before that, but had trailed 2-0 at one point and needed to fight back late before winning in overtime.
Much as they’d done in that affair, the Capitals in this one threw an early blanket around the Kraken’s forward lines and left them precious room to freewheel.
It wasn’t until the Caps finally took some third period penalties that the Kraken finally generated some sustained pressure in the offensive zone. But Capitals netminder Charlie Lindgren was up to the task.
Grubauer kept up his stellar play in the third, stoning three successive chances in close by Washington’s top line just before the six-minute mark. After an initial save on Conor Sheary, he made two more off Ovechkin and Dylan Strome while spread-eagled on the ice.
But the Kraken failed to draw any closer.
