The Seattle Kraken skated into Calgary on Friday night carrying confidence and a winning record, but by the final horn at Scotiabank Saddledome, they were left searching for answers.
For one period, the game felt like a battle. By the third, it had become a lesson in missed assignments, lost battles, and a Calgary team eager for revenge.
The Seattle Kraken vs. Calgary Flames matchup opened with fireworks. Calgary struck first on a power-play goal from Morgan Frost, but Seattle answered midway through the opening frame when Frederick Gaudreau buried his seventh goal of the season. After 20 minutes, the teams were deadlocked 1-1.
Then everything changed.
The Flames seized control in the second period, overwhelming the Kraken with speed, pressure, and timely scoring. Goals from Aydar Suniev, Matvei Gridin, and Joel Farabee turned a tied game into a 4-1 Calgary advantage. Seattle briefly found life when Mackie Samoskevich scored on the power play late in the period, cutting the deficit to two.
Any hopes of a comeback lasted just 39 seconds into the third.
Calgary star Matt Coronato, who enjoyed the best offensive night of his young career, snapped home a goal after already collecting three assists. The marker restored the Flames’ three-goal cushion and silenced any momentum the Kraken hoped to carry into the final frame. Ryan Strome added another late goal to complete the 6-2 rout.
Coronato finished with a goal and three assists, while Farabee contributed a goal and two helpers. The Flames won their fifth straight home game and earned a measure of payback after Seattle had beaten them 6-1 twice earlier in the season.
For Seattle, the loss was about more than the scoreboard.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer surrendered four goals on 14 shots before giving way to Joey Daccord midway through the second period. The Kraken struggled on special teams, allowing Calgary to score on both of its power-play opportunities while generating little sustained pressure at even strength.
Afterward, coach Lane Lambert offered a blunt assessment, calling the final two periods “probably the worst 40 minutes” he had seen from his club since arriving in Seattle. The Kraken were outworked in puck battles, committed costly turnovers, and never regained their footing after Calgary’s second-period surge.
The final score read 6-2, but the story was simpler than that: Calgary played with purpose, Seattle lost its structure, and a promising road game unraveled over forty frustrating minutes. When the Kraken return to the ice, they’ll be looking to prove that Friday night’s collapse was merely a stumble, not a sign of things to come.