Already a 2026-27 National Hockey League (NHL) season series for the Seattle Kraken has come to a close. The Kraken beat the Red Wings on Oct. 9 in Detroit, and on Oct. 20, the Kraken hosted the Red Wings for their final game of the season.
The Kraken started out strong, with one goal in the first period and two in the second. The Kraken collapsed in the third period, allowing the Red Wings to score three goals in the final frame. With the game tied, the two teams went into overtime to decide the winner. Neither team scored in the five minutes of 3-on-3, so to a shootout they went. After four rounds, the Kraken came out as the winners, beating the Red Wings 4-3.
Montour excels in return game
Brandon Montour missed the last game on the Kraken's road trip against the Florida Panthers. He was injured against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and it was unclear how severe the injury was. Luckily for both him and the Kraken, Montour returned to the lineup against the Red Wings.
Montour's presence was certainly welcomed back. He made a huge impact on the team, scoring the team's third goal, extending Seattle's lead at the time to three goals. On top of this, Montour spent a total of 30:44 on the ice. He played in just over a full half of a game and now holds the record for the most ice time of any player in Kraken history. Montour came back and made the strong impact any player would want to make on a team: strong defense, scoring goals, and plenty of ice time.
After the game, the Kraken always share a video of the player who receives the helmet, signifying they made the biggest impact in the game. Ville Ottavinen, who received the helmet in the Kraken's last win, passed it off to Montour. In the clip the team shared, Montour stated that it is now a year since he lost his brother. It was clear that the anniversary was hitting Montour hard. The fact that Montour was dealing with all of this emotional weight, yet still pulled out an impressive performance, goes to show the kind of team player he is.
Kraken collapsed in third period
Despite Montour's impressive performance in this game, the overall experience of a hockey game is a full team effort. Montour might have pulled his weight, but some other players on the Kraken did not.
The Kraken allowed the Red Wings three goals in the third period, while they were maintaining the lead up until this point. Seattle had only one penalty in the first two periods. In the third period, they took three and gave up two power-play goals to Detroit, which allowed them to come back. It was this late third-period collapse that almost cost the Kraken the game.
Seattle needs to play a full 60-minute game, and they didn't against the Red Wings. They picked it back up and secured the win in overtime against Detroit, but this game should have resulted in a regulation win for the Kraken, provided they kept the pressure up in the final 20 minutes. The Kraken need to keep up the momentum and not let their foot off the gas when they have the lead.
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