Seattle Kraken Takeaways: Episode 3 Of "Road To The Winter Classic"

Dave Hakstol Reveals Best Five Minutes Of A Coach's Day

Editors Note: The best of what we learned during episode three of "Road To The Winter Classic," airing on TNT and the Max streaming service.

Matty Beniers and Will Borgen are not just teammates, they're also roommates. Hitting a snag in some holiday cooking, they call Yanni Gourde to ask if he's got an electric mixer. 

Not only does he, Yanni actually drives it over and delivers in person. (Not shown during the episode, the Gourdes also hosted Beniers and Borgen at Christmas.)

A half-dozen members of the Kraken coaching staff, at the team hotel in Los Angeles, are gathered around a large circular table. Dave Hakstol and assistants, including video guru Tim Ohashi, each have an open laptop. 

One slide prepared for a team meeting is labeled, "Winning Mindset." Edited game video is also prepared.

In that subsequent team meeting, Hakstol references a 4-3 loss to the Dallas Stars in which the Kraken rallied late to force overtime. "Poor starts happen," says the coach. "Character, and the will to dig out of that hockey game is what really counts, right? That says a lot about this group." 

Hakstol briefly speaks again before the Kraken take the ice at Crypto.com Arena. "Let's be the harder team, the hungrier team defensively." Offensively, "We're playing off the goaltender, we're finding retrievals, we're getting it back to the net all night long. Let's go!"

To the documentary cameras, Hakstol praises goaltender Joey Daccord. "Joey has given our bench that extra bit of confidence. The right save at the right time." A whole bunch of them during the first period in L.A., where the Kings at one point are outshooting the Kraken 18-2. Only a remarkable blocker save on a 2-on-1 keeps the game scoreless.

At the break, Hakstol asks for video to be cued up so he can see how the 2-on-1 against happened. During the first 10 minutes of intermission, coaches discuss among themselves what they saw in the replays. Then Hakstol shows the video to players while explaining what they must do better. "Grind 'em down, fellas," he says, as Seattle prepares for the 2nd period.

"C'mon, white," Hakstol prompts his charges on the bench, wearing their road white sweaters. "Got to make a difference every shift. Got to make a difference every f***ing shift." Brandon Tanev and Jordan Eberle make that difference, scoring goals in a hard-fought 2-1 victory.

In a hallway leading to the dressing room, Kraken media manager Lindsey Brown informs the coach that goalie Daccord has set a franchise record for number of saves (42) in a win. 

Having rejoined the players in the room, Hakstol says, "Greasy road win. Nothing better than that."

Too soon, the joy from this victory must fade into preparation for the next contest. "You don't get very much time to enjoy victories in this league. That 3, 4, 5 minutes in the coach's room (actually, a tiny, cinder-block square more akin to a holding cell) right after is probably the best time as a staff. Then it's on to the next one."