Then, with Grubauer back in the game, Nikolai Kovalenko added his sixth Colorado marker with less than two seconds left.

While it may be a little early to worry about the optics of the team’s win-loss record, Kraken coach Dan Bylsma was clearly hoping to create positive momentum at Ball Arena after being eliminated in consecutive games.

“I think there’s a clear expectation for the team,” Bylsma said after his team’s morning skate. “I don’t think anyone thinks we’re at our best yet. And we haven’t given our best 60 minutes in 13 games yet. Especially the last couple.

“This goes for the team, it goes for the players,” he added. “I think everyone out there should feel that way.”

Bylsma then showed he wasn’t messing around, substituting Winterton and bringing in John Hayden alongside Oliver Bjorkstrand and Tye Kartye. Defensive pairings were also restructured with Brandon Montour joining Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak and Will Borgen reuniting, and Cale Fleury replacing Josh Mahura.

“Yeah, we expect (Winterton) and John (Hayden) to come in and bring a little bit of that competition and a little bit of that to our roster and our team mentality,” Bylsma said. In their previous game, against Boston, they would not take a shot on goal until more than 17 minutes had passed.

And this time the Kraken responded to their new coach’s challenge, at least initially. Jaden Schwartz scored the first Kraken goal in nearly seven periods by redirecting Beniers’ shot at the 13-minute mark, then Jared McCann tied things 2-2 on the power play with just 23 seconds left in the middle frame on a pass from Chandler Stephenson. .