Carolina 5, Seattle
HELSINKI, Finland — Two games in Finland, two losses to Carolina, and a long flight home for the Seattle Kraken faithful.
The Kraken closed out their NHL Global Series trip Saturday with a 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes at Veikkaus Arena. Carolina completed the sweep after Thursday’s 4-1 victory, exposing Seattle’s struggles against one of the NHL’s toughest teams.
The night started with promise, but Carolina quickly took control. Jackson Blake opened the scoring on the power play before Mark Jankowski made it 2-0 late in the first. Andrei Svechnikov added two power-play goals in the second, putting the game out of reach.
Seattle’s lone bright spot came from Matty Beniers, who finally got the Kraken on the board with a second-period goal. Bobby McMann and captain Jordan Eberle picked up the assists.
But every time Seattle looked ready to build momentum, Carolina had an answer. Jankowski added his second of the night in the third to seal the 5-1 victory.
The Hurricanes finished 3-for-5 on the power play, while Seattle struggled to generate offense, managing just 14 shots on goal.
There were a couple of positives for Kraken fans. Ryan Lindgren returned to the lineup after missing 13 games, and Jagger Firkus made his NHL debut. Firkus made franchise history, becoming the first Kraken player to make his NHL debut outside North America.
Joey Daccord surrendered four goals on 14 shots before giving way to Philipp Grubauer, who stopped 22 shots in relief.
A trip to remember, but not for the hockey.
The Kraken leave Finland with two losses, a three-game losing streak and a 9-8-1 record. The international experience was special, particularly for Seattle’s Finnish players, but the results were anything but.
Now it’s time to head home, regroup and get back to playing Kraken hockey.
The Deep deserves better, and hopefully the next time these guys hit the ice, we’ll see a much different effort.
Finland was beautiful. The hockey? Not so much.
Game details verified against the official Kraken recap and NHL game report.
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