With Seattle Kraken starting goaltender, Joey Daccord, missing the past four games due to an upper body injury, head coach, Lane Lambert, has looked towards the tandem of Matt Murray and Phillip Grubauer to defend the crease. In those games, the Kraken are 2-1-1, earning them 5 points in 4 games. Let’s take a look at how their play has allowed the Kraken to keep moving forward in a tightly contested Pacific Division.
Phillip Grubauer – November 8th @ St. Louis Blues (3 goals against, 16 saves, 19 shots against, .842 save percentage)
Grubauer let in two goals early on in the first 10 minutes of the game to Dylan Holloway and Dalibor Dvorsky, however, he made some key saves, allowing the Kraken to claw back and earn an overtime victory due to a heroic late goal by Chandler Stephenson with 2 seconds left in regulation and a Shane Wright OT goal. Final score, 4-3.
Matt Murray – November 9th @ Dallas Stars (1 goal against, 23 saves, 25 shots against, .920 save percentage)
Murray played impressively in his second start as a Seattle Kraken. After Jaden Schwartz put them up 1-0 in the first, the Kraken could not find the back of the net for the rest of the game. The Stars ended up putting two goals behind Murray from Wyatt Johnson and Tyler Seguin, and escaped with a 2-1 win.
Matt Murray – November 11th vs Columbus Blue Jackets (1 goal against, 33 saves, 34 shots against, .971 save percentage)
Murray was almost perfect in this game, with the exception being an Adam Fantilli power play goal during a 5-on-3 penalty kill that just grazed Murray’s glove and trickled in. With the only offensive production of the night being a goal by Ryan Winterton, the game was forced into an eventual shootout, where the Blue Jackets came away with the win, 2-1. Even with Murray’s outstanding play, he is still looking for his first win in a Kraken sweater.
Phillip Grubauer – November 13th vs Winnipeg Jets (3 goals against, 23 saves, 26 shots against, .885 save percentage)
The Jets had the lead going into the 3rd period, 3-2, but the Kraken offense was able to wake up with 3 goals in the 3rd to steal the win, 5-3. Grubauer started off a bit slow in the first and second, but his play in the third allowed the Kraken to wrestle the lead away and keep it for their first regulation win since November 3rd against Chicago.
It remains to be seen when Joey Daccord will return from IR, but the ship continues to move forward with Murray and Grubauer at the helm. If both goaltenders can keep up their tempo, and the offense can consistently produce, the Kraken might be able to make a push four a playoff berth later this season.
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