‘Where can we get better?’ Head coach Dave Hakstol, Seattle Kraken hunt for solutions as losing streak continues

As the losses continue to pile up — five in a row now — the Kraken are still searching for answers.

During a difficult stretch, head coach Dave Hakstol said the coaches will dig into everything in detail, looking at the underlying numbers and the areas that most need to improve. Talking to the media after Thursday’s practice at Climate Pledge Arena, Hakstol pointed to odd-man rushes as one of those areas.

And that’s not surprising.

Even after outplaying Chicago for most of the second period on Wednesday night, Seattle allowed a breakaway goal that gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. It was the only goal of the period. Patrick Kane then gave Chicago a 3-0 advantage in the third with another breakaway.

The game before, a 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, Rem Pitlick finished with a hat trick. Two of those goals came on breakaways.

“When you really look at a lot of our defensive numbers, we’re top four or five in the league in a lot of categories,” Hatskol said. “Top one, two and certainly — the vast majority — we’re there in the top 10. We’re a good defensive team in a lot of respects. So, where can we get better?

“For us, the one area that we can identify right now … we’re giving up too many out-numbereds. When I look at the league average, we want to be better than that. Not only with that, when you do give those up, we need to find a way to defend and get a stop on one more of those.

“And when I say get a stop, that’s a team conversation. That means a forward trapped in that play can make a play, it’s means the (defense) can do a little better defending it and we can do a better job as a group of five before he even gets to our goaltender. And then it’s your goaltender’s job and they know that — to make it save for us at the right time.”

Hakstol admitted that part of the issue is players still getting completely comfortable in the offensive system. Sometimes, he said, it’s a blatant turnover that leads to an odd-man rush. Most times, though, it comes off a change of possession down low or a failed forecheck that allows numbers.

“Over the last few games, we haven’t been happy overall with our forecheck,” Hakstol said. “We feel like we need to be better there. We’re not a heavy team when we go in on the forecheck so we have to do it in an effective way for us. We need to have good reads. We need to be quick. It all starts with placement of the puck, putting it into a good area where we have an opportunity to forecheck.

“There are going to be times when the other team flat-out makes good plays. … Off of those, you’re not always going to come up with possession and get a great scoring chance. Sometimes the best you’re going to do is going to be to track that thing back to the neutral and get it back to that area in the ice. It’s an area we feel like we need to get better in.”

The Kraken will look to show improvement against Colorado on Friday — the fourth game of their six-game home stand. Seattle is still searching for its first victory in the stretch, and its first lead after the first period.

“At the end of the day, that could be a good area of focus of us to come out — especially in our home building — and work,” Hakstol said. “It’s not just about the first goal. It’s that that data of not leading after the first period in half of our games is one that should catch our attention. It’s an important step for us to address.”