Kraken win first game with preseason W

*Photo from the Seattle Times*

   Release the Kraken. They're here now. Normally, you won't be seeing preseason game recaps on this site, but this was no ordinary preseason game. It was the inaugural game for the Seattle Kraken, their first game as a team. Riley Sheahan scored, Morgan Geekie scored twice, and the Kraken defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Sunday night.

   The first starting lineup for the Kraken featured Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann, and Jordan Eberle as forwards, with Mark Giordano and Jamie Oleksiak on defense, and Philipp Grubauer starting in goal. Grubauer made the first save in Kraken history with 14:04 remaining in the first period, and Seattle started the game with an early 7-1 advantage in shots on goal.

   Kraken CEO Todd Leiweke said of opening night that "Tonight is validation that our market isn’t just the Seattle DMA. The amount of people wearing Kraken merchandise, the sincere enthusiasm, there couldn’t be a better place to start. This is just magnificent. It’s heartwarming. It’s stirring and I feel emotional just walking that concourse."

   It didn't start out so much in favor of the Kraken. On the second shot of the game from the Canucks, Jack Rathbone scored on a breakaway and it was 1-0 Canucks. Brock Boeser made it 2-0 shortly after, getting one past Grubauer. With 17:28 remaining in the second, Sheahan scored the landmark first goal for the Kraken, scoring right in front of the net to make it 2-1 in favor of the Canucks. Linemate Nathan Bastian gets credit for the first assist in Kraken history.

   Later in the second, the Kraken converted their first power play goal, with Jared McCann tying things up at 2-2. Ryan Donato also converted on a power play goal, which, followed by two goals from Geekie, in between a Canucks goal, made it 5-3 to finalize things. 

   Donato spoke about the atmosphere for their first game, saying it was "Unbelievable. I'm from the east coast. It shows how much hockey is growing out here, to see all the Kraken jerseys."

   The Kraken open their season on October 12 against the also new Vegas Golden Knights, a matchup of the NHL's youngest teams. Grubauer is expected to start against Robin Lehner for Vegas. The Canucks face the Edmonton Oilers on October 13, with Thatcher Demko likely to start on opening night.