Beniers irked by slumping Kraken's 'systematic errors' vs. Red Wings
The Seattle Kraken were behind the eight-ball after allowing four goals in the first eight minutes of Sunday's 6-2 loss to the red-hot Detroit Red Wings.
"We didn't come out to play," a frustrated Matty Beniers told broadcaster Piper Shaw postgame. "Weren't ready from the puck drop and you can't do that - especially at this time of year. We're at game No. (44), we're making systematic errors. We know how to play, we're not in the right spots. What can you do, you need to learn from it, move on, but that just can't happen."
Red Wings forward Marco Kasper drew first blood three minutes in, and J.T. Compher doubled the lead just 11 seconds later. Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane capped off the flurry of four goals in a 4:31 span.
Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer was pulled after he was beat three times on four shots, giving him an abysmal .250 save percentage on the night.
The damage didn't stop in the game's opening 20 minutes, though. Erik Gustafsson and Dylan Larkin added another two goals in the middle frame to put the Red Wings up 6-0.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Beniers eventually got Seattle on the board, but it was too little, too late.
"I think sometimes we just, we're getting away from our game, we're getting away from what makes us have success," Beniers said. "It doesn't work, it doesn't work at all. Teams take advantage of it, they put in four on us in the first six shifts of the game. It's very, very difficult to come back from four in the first and get that momentum back."
The Kraken have now lost 10 of their previous 13 games. They mustered two goals or fewer in nine of those defeats.
Seattle is eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, and the latter has two games in hand.
The Kraken missed the playoffs by 17 points last season and held a 19-16-9 record and .534 points percentage through the first 44 games of the campaign. Seattle owns an 18-23-3 record and .443 clip in 2024-25.
"We need to talk as a team," Beniers said when asked about what needs to happen to turn things around. "There's a lot of things that we need to fix. Every guy in that room, including myself, just needs to be better, needs to be more accountable for themselves, their plays, and executing. That's what it comes down to."
Next up for the Kraken is a date with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.