Seattle Kraken
Starter
Three Takeaways – Kraken take down Flyers, ride four-game streak back into playoff picture
Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/12/2...e-four-game-streak-back-into-playoff-picture/
Believe it or not, the Seattle Kraken have stormed their way right back into the playoff picture. While still on the outside, they’ve climbed to within a single point of the final wild-card spot, currently held by the San Jose Sharks, who actually have a lower points percentage than Seattle. The Kraken reached that position thanks to a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, stretching their season-long win streak to four games and giving themselves their first named win streak of the season.
By the way, we heard back from the National Win Streak Service, and although I was hopeful we could call it Win Streak Darren, they have informed us that this streak is called Win Streak Caroline. We will explain the thought process of the NWSS on the next Sound Of Hockey Podcast.
In this game, the Kraken once again leaned on outstanding goaltending from Philipp Grubauer, plus the offensive production of their three hottest hands: Jordan Eberle, Chandler Stephenson, and Eeli Tolvanen (who potted not one, but two empty-net goals).
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-1 Kraken win over the Flyers.
Takeaway 1: Tolvanen, Eberle, and Stephenson are rolling
The lack of offensive production from the Kraken has been maddening for long stretches this season. The last few games haven’t been all that different in this area, but Seattle now has a few players who’ve gotten hot and are creating just enough offense to fuel the winning streak.
Eberle has four goals in his last three games, Tolvanen has points in six straight (3-7=10), and Stephenson has 12 points in 11 games (6-6=12), with his lone scoreless outing coming in Seattle’s 3-1 win at Anaheim on Dec. 22.
Eberle and Stephenson both scored pretty goals Sunday, with Stephenson’s coming directly off an outstanding play by Tolvanen.
On Eberle’s icebreaker at 3:48 of the second period, Matty Beniers—facing a 1-on-3 disadvantage at the blue line—drove low to buy time for Eberle and Kaapo Kakko to catch up. He then dished to Kakko in the right circle, and Kakko lofted a perfect saucer pass into Eberle’s wheelhouse. Eberle once again picked the top right corner.
O, CAPTAIN!
What a setup by Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko, and Jordan Eberle places his shot perfectly inside the post.
1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/zseBdor8v8
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 29, 2025
“We’re just finding ways to score,” Eberle said. “I think on that goal, Matty did a good job, driving in and finding Kaapo, and then he did a great job finding me.”
Clinging to a 1-0 lead deep into the third period, it felt like the next goal would decide the game—and Tolvanen and Stephenson made sure it did.
After a stretch of back-and-forth in Seattle’s zone, Adam Larsson settled the puck and sent a forehand lob up and over everyone to the far blue line. It was too far for Tolvanen to sprint onto, but he didn’t quit on the play. Dan Vladar misplayed the puck behind his net, and Tolvanen beat Travis Sanheim to it, hit the brakes, one-handed the puck off the back of the net—sending Sanheim crashing into the boards—and found Stephenson streaking down the slot. Stephenson buried it for a 2-0 lead.
STEVIE DOES IT!
What a play by Eeli Tolvanen to bank the puck off the back of the net to himself, then feed Chandler Stephenson cruising down Lenny Wilkens Way.
2-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/zU265dTYJ0
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 29, 2025
“The biggest thing about the goal for me, and he’s been doing it all year long, is [Tolvanen] got in on the forecheck,” coach Lane Lambert said. “He separated the puck from the man and made a heads-up play to Stephenson in the slot. But he’s moving his feet, and he’s heavy on the forecheck.”
While no Kraken player will sniff the top of the NHL scoring charts, Eberle is now up to 14 goals, Stephenson has 10, and Tolvanen leads the team with 18 assists. Tolvanen also paces the Kraken with 25 points (7-18=25), while Eberle (14-10=24) and Stephenson (10-14=24) are tied for second in scoring.
Takeaway 2: McCann and Dunn return
Jared McCann and Vince Dunn both returned to the lineup Sunday after injury-related absences of different lengths. Dunn missed just one game following a high hit by Ross Johnston in Anaheim, while McCann missed seven in his second extended absence of the season. It was only his 12th game of the campaign, which has been derailed by two separate lower-body injuries.
“It’s kind of tough,” McCann said. “Obviously, this is the first time in my career I’ve kind of gone through something like this. Mentally, it’s been tough, but I’ve got great teammates here who’ve been supportive with me, and I’m just trying to make it through a game at this point. So, I’m looking forward to the future.”
I liked McCann’s shooting mentality in this one—any time he found himself in a position to put the puck on net, he didn’t hesitate—but there were also some miscues between him and linemates Shane Wright and Berkly Catton.
“I thought we had some good chances,” McCann said. “Obviously, Cats made some good plays tonight; you can see the offense coming for him. And me and Wrighter are still trying to work with each other and create good offense.”
There were a few noticeable misfires, including a first-period 2-on-1 where Wright got handcuffed and couldn’t get a shot away. If that trio sticks together, expect the execution to improve in the coming games.
“I liked his performance,” Lambert said of McCann. “He adds an element that we need. I think that line becomes that much more dangerous right now. And I thought he did a lot of good things, thought he was good on the walls, made some heads-up plays, had some opportunities. So, obviously, he’s a key player for us, and it’s good to see him back.”
McCann finished with two shots on goal in 13:27 of ice time.
Takeaway 3: The PK (and Grubauer) came up huge
Grubauer earned first-star honors, frustrating Flyers shooters into just one late, largely inconsequential goal that spoiled his bid for his first shutout of the season. He finished with 31 saves on 32 shots and improved to 6-3-1, with a 2.44 goals-against average and .917 save percentage—stellar numbers from a goalie who had never previously topped .900 in a Kraken uniform.
“The numbers are always a reflection of how the team plays,” Grubauer said. “So without the team in front of us, we couldn’t do this, right? The way we played, the way we blocked shots, boxed out, let us see the puck, the way we worked back in our zone as a five-man unit. Without that, it wouldn’t be possible [to have these stats].”
Grubauer was especially impactful during Seattle’s three penalty kills—twice in the opening period and once in the second after Catton jumped on early, and the Kraken were nabbed for too many men.
While Grubauer made a few acrobatic saves during those kills, the penalty killers deserve a ton of credit for eliminating seam passes and applying pressure up top.
I’ve written about it several times now, but the formation change has completely transformed this penalty kill, which bottomed out during Losing Streak Camille. The new diamond setup still stretches when the puck goes high, but it puts two players across the slot instead of one, and those two have worked in tandem to erase passing lanes and force perimeter shots.
By the way, Lambert was not thrilled with that too-many-men penalty, and I ended his presser on a sour note by asking why it bothered him so much.
Here’s why Lane Lambert got so mad about the too-many-men penalty.#SeaKraken https://t.co/6b5LL6jhhv pic.twitter.com/CO0WZXOSZE
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) December 29, 2025
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].
Read more from Darren
The post Three Takeaways – Kraken take down Flyers, ride four-game streak back into playoff picture appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
Source: https://soundofhockey.com/2025/12/2...e-four-game-streak-back-into-playoff-picture/