Kraken Drop Important Home Result to Ducks in 4-2 Defeat
By Jayd Serdy, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The Seattle Kraken spent most of Friday night chasing the game, and by the time they found their footing, the Anaheim Ducks had already controlled the game enough to walk away with a 4–2 win. Seattle came out of the gate sloppy and disjointed, playing a game filled with mistakes. Considering where these two teams sit in the Pacific Division and the proximity to the Olympic break, there’s no other way to describe the Kraken's performance but frustrating. There was hope that Seattle would start stacking results after a losing skid through the middle of January, thanks to a 4-1 win over the Islanders on Wednesday and the return of gritty forward Jacob Melanson, but the Kraken delivered the exact opposite of a positive effort.
“Quite a bit, quite a few things. Terrible, terrible hockey game for our team. Terrible first 40 minutes. You know, we had a push at the end, but I don’t have a logical explanation for any logical event. That was the worst 40 minutes we played all year.”
Scenes from warm-ups and pregame introductions for the Seattle Kraken ahead of their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, January 23rd, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Anaheim wasted no time setting the tone, scoring early and forcing Seattle into a reactive team, rather than a proactive team, almost immediately. The Ducks’ speed through the neutral zone gave the Kraken trouble right out of the gate, and a breakdown less than two minutes in put Seattle behind with a goal from Anaheim’s Cutter Gauthier before fans could blink.
“They’re fast, they play north, and they’re one of the best transition and odd-man rush teams in the league. Continuously, we turn pucks over and give them opportunities to go the other way. That’s just gonna happen. In my opinion, we weren’t finding ways to get in behind them and then forecheck, and that’s what happens.”
“There’s a few things you could probably attribute it to. But you know, from my standpoint, the focus going into the first five minutes of the hockey game was to get the puck into their zone, behind their defense and forecheck, and we turned the puck over about four times. So, you know, there’s a point in time where we have to figure this out, and players have to understand there’s a certain way to play, certainly at the start of the game, and we’ve got to be a lot better, because, you know, if you look at teams records, when they score first as opposed to when they get scored on first, there’s a staggering difference, and it holds true with us.”
Things continued to unravel in the first period when Anaheim capitalized on a short-handed chance from Ryan Poehling. What could have been a chance for Seattle to reset instead became a reminder of a power play still searching for rhythm and execution. The Kraken went to the intermission trailing by two, with the momentum firmly on Anaheim’s side.
Seattle finally found life early in the second, a goal from Jared McCann, pulling the Kraken within one and briefly energizing the home crowd. A penalty for Ryker Evans gave Seattle the chance to tie it up. Instead, Anaheim struck again, with a goal from Chris Kreider, ultimately restoring their two-goal lead on the power play and further showing a Kraken penalty kill that struggled to clear the zone, allowing second chances around the net.
This exchange, Seattle failing to find success with the man advantage, and Anaheim doing exactly that, summed up most of the night.
The Kraken pushed harder in the third, generating more offensive-zone time and finally breaking through again with a goal from Jaden Schwartz to make it a one-goal game. For a stretch, it felt like Seattle might finally take control, but the finish never materialized. Anaheim clogged the middle, forced pucks wide, and limited the Kraken to perimeter looks as time slipped away.
The Seattle Kraken surround forward Jaden Schwartz after his third period goal against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, January 23rd, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
An empty-net goal from Pavel Mintyukov in the final minutes sealed any hope of Seattle taking the lead late, punctuating a night where they simply couldn’t win the details, whether that was starts, special teams, or situational moments that often decide games like this.
Losing in this fashion, in a big divisional game, highlighted an ongoing issue for Seattle – when special teams fail to support five-on-five play, the margin for error shrinks fast. Even with a stronger push late, the damage had already been done.
Seattle will look to reset quickly, knowing the process improved as the game went on, but also knowing that against any NHL opponent, falling behind early and losing the special-teams battle is a tough hole to climb out of.
Goaltender Philipp Grubauer of the Seattle Kraken during the game against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, January 23rd, 2026, at Climate Pledge Arena. (Photos by Bryant Garduque for Circling Seattle Sports)
Quick Kraken notes
Seattle is now 2-1-0 against the Anaheim Ducks this season after tonight's game. The teams will conclude the 2025-26 season series in less than two weeks on Feb. 3 in Anaheim before the Olympic break.
Jaden Schwartz extended his point streak to three games after netting his 10th goal of the season tonight.
Matty Beniers continues to lead all Kraken skaters in points (33).
The forward has four points (2g/2a) in the past four games, playing at a point-per-game pace during that time.
His 33 points (11g/21a) are three points shy of the pace he set (36 pts; 17g/19a) through his first 50 games of the 2022-23 season, in which he posted 57 points (24g/33a) and won the Calder Memorial Trophy. If Beniers continues playing at this pace, he is expected to end the regular season with 54 points.
With his goal tonight, Jared McCann now has goals in consecutive games and has recorded three points (2g/1a) in his last two contests.
Kaapo Kakko has points (1g/1a) in consecutive games, and four points (1g/3a) in the past five contests.
Jacob Melanson recorded a new NHL career single-game high with 10 hits.
What’s next?
Following a putrid performance in tonight’s defeat to the Anaheim Ducks, the Seattle Kraken will have a day of practice tomorrow at the Kraken Community Iceplex before returning to game action on Sunday. The fourth contest of a six-game homestand comes on Sunday, January 25th, against the New Jersey Devils with a 12 PM PST puck drop, moved up an hour to accommodate the Seattle Seahawks hosting the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship game at Lumen Field, which kicks off at 3:30 PM PST. The Devils will come into this contest having won three consecutive games and five of their last six, including a win back in New Jersey against the Kraken. While they’re dealing with a few injuries, the Devils have been able to grind out one-goal wins over Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary to put themselves on their current winning streak.
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