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Kraken Tie It, But Can’t Stop Josi | Seattle Kraken

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Kraken Tie It, But Can’t Stop Josi | Seattle Kraken


One of the Kraken’s elements of success last season was not losing more than three games in a row. Saturday’s defeat makes it 0-4 on the current homestand with Buffalo in town already, bags stored at Climate Pledge Arena, here to play Monday. The homestand represents the third four-game losing streak of the season to go with an eight-game winless streak that was quickly followed by an 11-0-2 point streak that stoked playoff hopes while a two-game sweep of Calgary and Winnipeg right before this homestand did the same.

“Our work ethic was good tonight, our compete was good in our defensive zone,” said Dave Hakstol post-game in a short meeting with the media. “We just spent a little bit too much time in our D-zone. There wasn’t enough time in the offensive zone, especially in the first two periods. We came up with some good opportunities and when we were able to come up with the puck, we made some good things happen. But it’s tough to score in the offensive zone off the cycle in this league.”

Nashville’s defensive corps was intentional and physical from the early shifts Saturday. One example: Luke Schenn knocked down Jared McCann early in the first period and doubled with a hard check late in the opening frame.

Hakstol acknowledged Nashville is a “big team” while focusing less on net-front hits and more on how the Predators were winning puck battles and getting pucks out along the walls of their own zone. They weren’t giving up many retrievals and second sets of plays to Seattle. Not glamorous or always noticed by fans, but coaches study video closely for wall play.

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“That’s an area where we weren’t efficient enough tonight,” said Hakstol. “They’re a heavy team there … we had too many plays die there, rather than be advanced.”

Momentum Swings in First 20 Minutes

The Kraken brought early energy to the start of Saturday’s game, another must-win proposition. They nearly scored at the five-minute mark when defenseman Jamie Oleksiak joined the rush and then some. He outskated a couple of Nashville defenders and beat elite goalie Juuse Saros.

Just one problem, the rising shot rang off the crossbar and kept the scoresheet without entries until Nashville’s Tommy Novak looked to pass cross-ice and net front to wide-open linemate Luke Evangelista at SEA goalie Philipp Grubauer’s “back door.” But Novak’s feed never made it to his teammate, instead caroming off Kraken D-man Justin Schultz’s skate. The puck slid past Grubauer, first hitting his leg pad. Bad luck and a second straight goal over two games that the opponents scored without shooting directly on net.

The first period finished with Nashville showing why it started the night with a 13-game point streak, sitting atop the Western Conference wild-card standings. The Predators, well rested after a 4-2 win at Winnipeg last Wednesday, doubled the home squad’s shots on goal, 10 to 5.

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Nashville Rising

When 33-year-old Ryan O’Reilly center signed with Nashville last summer, he had several reasons for the move, including previous relationships with new GM Barry Trotz and coach Andrew Burnette. He also liked the blend of Nashville veterans such as Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi, plus two-time Stanley Cup-winning Ryan McDonough, playing on a roster with promising young players, including Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista.

It didn’t hurt O’Reilly’s enthusiasm when Trotz (he coached Nashville for its first 15 seasons with seven playoff appearances) added defenseman Luke Schenn and Gustav Nyqvist to the lineup. During O’Reilly’s introductory press conference, he asked a question himself: “Why can’t we contend?” Nashville turned its season around from sellers to buyers at the trade deadline with the ongoing 14-game point streak.

O’Reilly and Nyqvist are making Trotz look wise in his inaugural turn as an NHL GM – and profoundly supporting O’Reilly’s summertime musing – by teaming up with Forsberg to put up some gaudy first-line numbers: Forsberg (35 goals, 36 assists), Nyqvist (already a career-high 59 points with 18 goals and 41 assists), O’Reilly (24 G, 32 A).

Kudos to Kraken Fans

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The Seattle squad did not reach double-digits in shots on goal until less than five minutes in the middle period. To its credit, the Climate Pledge Arena crowd didn’t deter from supporting the home squad throughout the first 40 minutes. Lots of boos for Nashville D-man Luke Schenn for decking Jared McCann early in the game and then slamming the Kraken’s leading scorer into the end boards of the Predators zone late first period.

When former Kraken defenseman Jeremy Lauzon hit fan favorite Brandon Tanev late second period, Lauzon held his former teammate too long and watching a replay shows Tanev was vulnerable and fortunate it wasn’t worse. Linemate Kailer Yamamoto took exception and raced to confront Lauzon despite giving up six inches of height and some 70 pounds. The Kraken faithful loved Yamamoto’s moxy and roared approval.

Yamamoto, always the pro and happy to get a start at third-line center between Tanev and the aforementioned Andre Burakovsky, was matter-of-fact about his rush on Lauzon, size mismatch and all: “Just didn’t like the head, trying to stick up for my teammate.”



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Seattle, WA

Luis Castillo Made Seattle Mariners History in Friday Night Victory

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Luis Castillo Made Seattle Mariners History in Friday Night Victory


The Seattle Mariners got a dominant start from starting pitcher Luis Castillo on Friday night in a 2-1 over the rival Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park.

Castillo earned his seventh win of the year by going 6.2 innings and strikng out eight. He allowed just one run on two hits and two walks. He’s now 7-9 on the year with a 3.72 ERA.

He also struck out the side in the top of the first inning to make some Mariners team history.

Per the Mariners television broadcast, Castillo has recorded 400 career strikeouts with the Mariners. He did this in 63 appearances, which is the fewest in team history.

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Luis Castillo

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Any time that you can best Randy Johnson or Felix Hernandez in team history, you’ve something well and Castillo certainly has since arriving in a trade during the 2022 season. While he’s been a little more rocky this season, Castillo has generally been solid during his Mariners tenure. He earned the first win for the M’s in the 2022 playoffs, which was the first win for the franchise since 2001. He also represented the Mariners in the All-Star Game in 2023 at T-Mobile Park.

The win was massive as it sets up the Mariners for success over the rest of the weekend. Seattle is just 3-4 on this nine-game homestand and they’d love to take the next two games to make it a winning one.

Rookie Emerson Hancock takes the ball on Saturday afternoon against fellow rookie Yariel Rodriguez.

First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. PT.

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Brady on “X” @wdevradiobrady

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Seattle, WA

Seattle FD adds new watercraft to its fleet

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Seattle FD adds new watercraft to its fleet


By Caitlyn Freeman
The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — The Seattle Fire Department is adding a new tool to its water rescue arsenal: two customized Sea-Doos.

The Jet Ski-like personal watercraft were donated to the department by the Seattle Fire Foundation as part of the department’s new rescue watercraft program. The goal of the program, which began on Monday, is simple: speed up water rescue response times.

“As we all know, every second counts in a response [and in the] worst cases that can be a lifesaving difference, a matter of seconds,” Foundation Board Member Samuel Murr said. “So these will help cut down the time to respond. We can get folks on the scene faster to start extrication or support.”

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The watercraft will be kept at the Leschi North Moorage on Lake Washington and will cost the foundation about $64,000, a Fire Department spokesperson said in an email.

During a news conference Monday afternoon, fire Chief Harold Scoggins said the Sea-Doos create “almost limitless possibilities” as they expand the distance rescue divers can travel. Currently, divers are only certified to swim 300 feet offshore.

The department sees an average of 70 water rescues per year, a news release states.

“It means a lot to the community,” Scoggins said, standing on the docks. “We’re so fortunate here in Seattle to have a fire foundation that supports the men and women of the Seattle Fire Department. And this donation today is another testament to that.”

To use the Sea-Doos, which can go up to 52 mph, firefighters at Station 5 underwent 20 hours of training. Dietrich Hauge, the fire captain overseeing the program, said the department decided to store the Sea-Doos in the Leschi marina because it is central to Lake Washington.

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He said driving 3 miles from the fire station on Seattle’s waterfront to the marina takes six to eight minutes when using lights and sirens. Once there, it takes another couple of minutes for firefighters to suit up and get the Sea-Doos on the water.

Both Sea-Doos are deployed during each rescue as one vessel has a driver and diver and the other takes a support role. The victim can either board the Sea-Doo with the driver or latch onto a sled-like device on the back of the watercraft.

Hauge said the overall reaction among firefighters using the Sea-Doos has been positive. He said there’s potential to add them to other stations in the city, depending on how the first year at Station 5 goes.

“I think a lot of people have recognized that this is a service that we can provide the community that we can improve on,” he said.

(c)2024 The Seattle Times
Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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The Community Connect feature allows citizens to provide critical information to Newburyport firefighters

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Two former Lexington firefighters were awarded payments following claims they were fired for reporting misconduct in the department

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Tacoma Fire Chief Tory Green led the department through the coronavirus pandemic and created a behavioral health crisis program

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Castillo's strong start leads Seattle Mariners past Blue Jays 2-1

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Castillo's strong start leads Seattle Mariners past Blue Jays 2-1


SEATTLE (AP) — Luis Castillo limited Toronto to two hits over a dominant 6 2/3 innings, Luke Raley had a two-run double in the third and the Seattle Mariners beat the Blue Jays 2-1 on Friday night.

Seattle Mariners 2, Toronto Blue Jays 1: Box Score

Castillo (7-9) was nearly untouchable in his 200th career start, retiring each of the first nine Blue Jays hitters, and not allowing a hit until Kevin Kiermaier hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth.

Castillo’s only blemish before Kiermaier’s homer was a leadoff walk to Toronto first baseman Spencer Horwitz in the fourth inning.

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After Kiermaier made it one-run game with a 379-foot shot to right field, Horwitz quickly hit a single back up the middle for Toronto’s final hit of the night. But Castillo escaped trouble, with Bo Bichette hitting into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Castillo departed to a standing ovation after walking Daulton Varsho in the seventh, having allowed one run on two hits, with eight strikeouts.

A big reason for Castillo’s success was a new grip for his slider, which made his already tough pitch come in a few miles per hour slower than usual and threw Toronto’s hitters off-balance.

“It helps a lot, the fastball coming in around 96, 97, and that changeup coming in around 85,” Castillo said. “But then this new slider that I’ve got coming in even slower, it gives me three different varieties of speed to play with. It just keeps them on their toes.”

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Austin Voth and Ryne Stanek combined for 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, and Andrés Muñoz pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

“These guys pitch,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “They’re up there with the best arms in the league. There weren’t many opportunities.”

The Mariners struck first when Raley clubbed the double off Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman (6-8) in the third.

Cal Raleigh drew a two-out walk, and Julio Rodríguez reached base on an infield single. Rodríguez was originally called out on a throw from third baseman Ernie Clement, but the call was overturned on replay.

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Manager Scott Servais credited replay coordinator Andy Bissell for seeing that Horwitz had come off the bag, which put Rodríguez aboard and kick-started the rally.

“It turned out to be a huge call in the game tonight,” Servais said. “Hats off to (Bissell). That is a tough job. It happens super fast and he’s on top of it and helped us win a game tonight,”

One batter later, Raley hit a fastball to the left-center field gap to put the Mariners up 2-0.

“It’s important for us to start getting some guys in and scoring some runs for our pitchers,” Raley said. “Even two runs, we still need to keep putting up more runs, but it’s nice the last two days to see us break through and get a couple of those big hits.”

Gausman finished with two earned runs allowed on six hits over six innings, with 10 strikeouts.

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TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was back in the lineup Friday after being scratched Thursday with a right forearm contusion … RHP Yimi Garcia (elbow) will make a rehab start on Saturday after Triple-A Buffalo.

Mariners: RHP Bryan Woo (hamstring) will make a rehab start in Single-A Everett on Saturday, while RHP Gregory Santos will make an Everett rehab appearance in relief.

ROSTER MOVE

Toronto recalled RHP Ryan Burr from Triple-A Buffalo, and optioned RHP Jose Cuas.

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UP NEXT

Blue Jays RHP Yariel Rodríguez (0-3, 4.63 ERA) will start Saturday against RHP Emerson Hancock (3-3, 4.79 ERA).

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Why Seattle Mariners could go new route with first-round draft pick
• ‘Classic slump’: MLB insider diagnoses what’s wrong with Julio’s swing
• How much will Gregory Santos’ arrival to bullpen help the Mariners?
• Mariners president of business operations Catie Griggs resigns
• Seattle Mariners Roster Notes: OF added on waivers; Woo, Speier updates



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