Kraken’s Jaden Schwartz scores cathartic first home playoff goal

Was the standing ovation for Jaden Schwartz? For the entire team, who toiled for 82 games to complete the turnaround and bring them Stanley Cup playoff hockey? For the spectacle of the thing?

The Climate Pledge Arena crowd was in the moment and on its feet for about 20 seconds, roaring for the Kraken’s first-ever home playoff goal just 6:08 into Game 3. It felt like the start of something.

“We were all looking forward to tonight, just like the whole city was,” Schwartz said.

The Kraken have scored the first goal in all three playoff games. Schwartz was up Saturday night. He took three swipes at the puck, finding Colorado Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev’s pads, empty ice and air, respectively.

The puck spat out to the point, and the Kraken tried again. Defenseman Justin Schultz sent a shot through traffic and Schwartz lunged after it, tipping it past Georgiev and setting off the wild celebration.

“Loved our start. Loved the atmosphere, the fans, the feel of the building,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “It was a playoff atmosphere.” 

It’s appropriate that it was triggered by the steady hand of Schwartz, who has the most career playoff points on the Kraken roster. He’s amassed 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 91 Stanley Cup playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, leading the team in goals during those playoffs (12).

He scored first and last Saturday night as the Kraken fell, 6-4, to the Avalanche.

If he appears in Games 4 and 5, he’ll match Andre Burakovsky — idle following surgery that will keep him out of the first round and beyond — with a team-high 93 playoff games. All before this season were with the Blues, where Schwartz spent his entire career before signing with the Kraken as a free agent in the summer of 2021.

He’d been a member of a St. Louis team with a rich playoff tradition, built over 50 years, although he helped the city win its first Stanley Cup. The lead-up to Seattle’s playoff debut in its second season, had to have felt different.

“It was one of those moments where you don’t try to think about it too much,” Schwartz said. “You just try to enjoy it and stay present.”

Schwartz was the Kraken’s leading scorer against the Avalanche this regular season, totaling four points (one goal, three assists) in just two games. He kept that going in Game 1. Schwartz set up Alex Wennberg for the Kraken goal that made it 2-1. He was on the ice, but didn’t register an assist, for linemate Morgan Geekie’s third goal of a 3-1 victory.

The first goal, no matter how cathartic, hasn’t been indicative of much as the series churns on.

“Obviously it doesn’t feel as good right now,” Schwartz said after the latest letdown. “Still did a lot of good things, just [made] a couple mistakes.” 

Colorado erased a two-goal deficit to win Game 2, then went up 2-1 before the end of Saturday’s first period. The Kraken rallied but never led again. They find themselves in a series deficit, two games to one. The best-of-seven series remains in Seattle for Monday night’s Game 4.

Schwartz was out trying to force the Kraken’s second two-goal comeback of Game 3. They allowed an empty-netter before his second redirection goal of the evening. He barely reacted to that one, rubbing his nose and resetting for the next faceoff without celebrating with the bench.

The crowd cheered, but without that early, boundless optimism behind it. Seattle pulled goaltender Philipp Grubauer again on principle, but they had too much ground to make up.

The fans filed out. They’d done their part.

“We’ve just got to feed off of that for a while 60 [minutes],” defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said.

The Kraken relied on tales and motivation from their veterans to prepare the rest of the locker room, most of which had scattered postseason experience. But it hadn’t been through this grind together.

Among active players, no one has more experience to draw on than Schwartz.

“Regroup tomorrow. Get some energy. Get some rest,” was Schwartz’s advice Saturday night.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We’ve got a lot of faith in our game, a lot of belief in each other. Get ready for that next one — it’s obviously big.”