Kraken hold off the Jets
The Kraken earned it — the game and the expected-goals battle both.
The underlying story
The Kraken beat the Jets 5-3 with fewer shots—just 41% of the total—but far more dangerous ones. Their expected goals (3.60–2.55) revealed Seattle's superior quality of chances. P. Grubauer's 0.885 save percentage (23 of 26) extended this control; C. Hellebuyck's 0.765 (13 of 17) compounded Winnipeg's deficit.
The Kraken generated 7 high-danger chances against 3 for the Jets. Off the rush, Seattle scored 4 goals on 20 chances; Winnipeg scored 3 goals on 23 chances—still dangerous, but outpaced. Jordan Eberle's wrist shot from the top of the circles (P3, 18:25) was the turning point.
The danger ladder
SEA went 3-for-10 from medium danger on 1.13 expected goals — 1.9 above expected.
Finishing vs expected
WPG finished +0.5 against expected, SEA +1.4 — P. Grubauer (SEA) allowed 0.4 more goals than expected.
Shot diet
Wrist shots carried the volume: WPG went 1-for-19, SEA 2-for-22. SEA scored 4 of theirs off the rush.
- WPG generated higher-quality looks than the shot total suggests.
- SEA generated far more dangerous chances — 0.077 xG/shot vs 0.049. Quality over quantity.
- SEA was lethal off the rush — 4 goals on 20 rush chances.
- WPG was lethal off the rush — 3 goals on 23 rush chances.