Trade pickup Mikey Eyssimont scores in debut, but Kraken fall in Nashville

Kate Shefte, The Seattle Times on Mar 6, 2025

Published in Hockey

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Notable: Trade deadline pickup Mikey Eyssimont scored during his first game in a Kraken jersey, but there would be no unlikely comeback this time.

The Kraken took a quick lead, then allowed a steady drip of Nashville Predators goals in a matchup of Western Conference teams that fell well short of expectations this season.

Joey Daccord made 29 stops as the Kraken dropped their fourth of five.

Adam Larsson chipped defensive partner Vince Dunn’s rebound over Predators goaltender Juuse Saros (22 saves) 32 seconds into the game. It’s the second time Larsson has scored in back-to-back games since joining the Kraken. The other was midway through the inaugural season.

Filip Forsberg got it back seven minutes later for Nashville, which then scored three times in the second period for a 4-1 advantage. The Predators still have a worse record than the Kraken, but not by much. Both teams were big spenders in free agency last summer but that didn’t translate to consistent success.

Seattle’s Jared McCann connected on a third-period power play for his 16th goal of the season. The Kraken were within two, so Daccord remained on the bench in favor of an extra attacker with 3:58 left in the game and a faceoff coming in the Predators’ end. Luke Evangelista popped in an empty netter about a minute later.

Eyssimont scored to get the Kraken within two again with 1:46 remaining. Daccord went back to the bench, but the score remained the same.

This was once a national broadcast game, but ESPN dropped it. That moved up the start time to 5 p.m.

Quotable: “I didn’t realize it was his first (game) until he took that rookie lap,” Eyssimont said of linemate Jacob Melanson, who made his NHL debut.

“It was kind of a whirlwind of a day. And he definitely didn’t look like it was his first game. Even beforehand, he was calm and cool. It’s kind of impressive, actually.”

Goal of the game: Eyssimont’s first with the Kraken didn’t impact the outcome, but it made for a memorable debut.

Player of the game: Forsberg (two goals)

On tap: The Kraken don’t play Friday, but it could still be an eventful day. The wheeling and dealing of the trade deadline ends at noon. The big moves will resume in the offseason.

Then there’s another dreaded weekend back-to-back. The Kraken visit the Philadelphia Flyers and then the Washington Capitals. Seattle is 4-2 in the Saturday game, but 0-6 in the Sunday game of weekend back-to-backs this season. To make matters worse, Washington is tied for first in the league with the Winnipeg Jets.

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