LOS ANGELES — Still scratching their heads over blowing a winnable season opener, a determined Kraken group notched their first victory Thursday night by cleaning up some of the mistakes that had previously derailed them.
The Kraken tightened up considerably in their 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, putting an early chokehold on what was a 99-point Pacific Division playoff team last season. Gone was the run-and-gun style of relentless back-and-forth action that permeated Wednesday’s opener against the Anaheim Ducks, with the crosstown Kings playing a more disciplined formation that clogs up the neutral zone and requires patience to circumvent.
The discipline by both teams was evident, with just 21 combined shots between them by the game’s midway point. But one of them, a nice effort by Brandon Tanev to dig the puck out of the corner before jamming it past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, snapped a 1-1 tie early in the second period and helped send the Kraken to their first victory of their sophomore campaign.
