OTTAWA — It was hardly surprising to hear the Kraken asked questions by local media here about the identity the team was seeking to forge in its debut season.
When the Ottawa Senators were formed 29 years ago, they were a catastrophe on the ice and in the owners’ box, a last-place franchise that nearly went bankrupt. Well, the Kraken aren’t nearly that big a mess and in Thursday night’s 4-3 overtime loss showed some of what they hope that identity will become in a stunning third-period comeback from three goals.
Jared McCann and Colin Blackwell scored just 36 seconds apart midway through the third, then Mason Appleton — who’d had a first-period goal nullified by a video challenge — saw his bad-angled shot sneak by goalie Anton Forsberg just 3:10 later to tie the game. The three goals in just under four minutes left the Canadian Tire Centre crowd, which contained thousands of empty seats despite COVID-19 capacity restrictions having been lifted last week, shaking their heads in disbelief.
