Seattle, WA
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.
“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.
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
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.”
Patrick Mahomes and 2025 MVP candidate Drake Maye are set to make trips to Lumen Field to face the Seattle Seahawks next season.
The Seahawks’ nine home and eight road opponents are now set for the 2026 campaign. They will face what on paper will be a tough slate after securing the NFC West title this year, which means they will take on the reigning division champions from the NFC North, NFC South and AFC East in addition to their home-and-home series with their NFC rivals and matchups against each team from the NFC East and AFC West.
The numbers behind Seattle Seahawks’ defensive masterpiece vs 49ers
The full schedule with dates for games has yet to be released. The NFL typically unveils the following season’s schedule in May.
Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and Maye’s New England Patriots coming to town are among the highlights of the Seahawks’ 2026 slate. They could also be in line for a reunion with former coach Pete Carroll, as a trip to Las Vegas to face the Raiders is on the docket. However, the Raiders are not expected to keep Carroll for a second season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is in line to square off with one of his former mentors when Seattle hosts Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh was the head coach at the University of Michigan when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator in 2021. Harbaugh is also the dad of Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh.
Seattle has three trips to the east coast next season where they will face the reigning NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles, reigning NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders. The Seahawks also faced the Panthers and Commanders on the road this season.
Here’s a full look at Seattle’s 2026 home and away opponents.
Home
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Chicago Bears
• New England Patriots
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants
Away
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Carolina Panthers
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Denver Broncos
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Washington Commanders
Find more info on how each team’s opponents are chosen here.
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Santa Clara—When Seattle’s defense stepped on the field for the Week 18 matchup against the 49ers, they had a few goals in mind, winning was of course one of those, but they wanted to show everyone watching they are the best defense in the league.
“We made up our mind that we were going to be the best defense in the NFL,” linebacker Uchenna Nwosu said. “We were going to show the world tonight and that’s what we did.”
As has been the case for the entire season, the Seahawks’ defense was once again a highlight in their 13-3 win. The Seahawks won, in part thanks to a dominant performance by the defense that held the San Francisco 49ers to just three points. The last time Kyle Shanahan’s offense was held to just three points was in his 49ers head coaching debut in 2017. Since then, San Francisco has scored at least 6 points in every game, until Saturday.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the 49ers were riding a three-game streak of great performances by its offense. Throughout all three of those games, San Francisco was averaging 42.3 points per game, 455.3 yards per game and 29.3 first downs per game.
Seattle’s defense held San Francisco to just 53 rushing yards, which included 21 yards from quarterback Brock Purdy, 127 yards through the air, a lone field goal, and just nine first downs. They also picked off Purdy once, sacked him three times and forced the 49ers to punt four times.
“They’re a tremendous offense,” head coach Mike Macdonald said following the game. “Probably top whatever in the league and have been doing it for a long time. They have great players, they have great coaches, and the numbers back it up. Our guys played great complimentary football today. They really did. I can’t say enough, but I can’t wait to watch the tape. There’s a lot of assists going on in there, guys rushing unselfishly to free somebody else up or to let somebody else have a two-way go so they can cover for them. How we played in the back end, it felt like we were ahead of plays. These guys did a great job. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Christian McCaffery, one of San Francisco’s top offensive playmakers in both the run and passing game was held to his lowest rushing yards all season with 23 yards through the night and his fourth lowest receiving yards with 34.
Nick Emmanwori who had a team high seven tackles, as well as a tackle for loss and quarterback hit said, “Our front seven is the best in the world. Our D-Line is the best in the world. Got dudes like Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy. Our edges are dogs. They handle business every week. We’ve got the best run defense I the league. It makes it easy for us on the back end.”
We’ll have to wait one more day to learn who takes the NFC South crown.
The Buccaneers, losers of seven of their last eight coming into today, were able to piece together a tough, 16-14 win in bad weather against the Panthers. It was a calming three hours for the Bucs and their fans, who had seen their team go from theorized Super Bowl contender in the early months of the season to bottomless freefall.
Had the Panthers found a way to win today, the NFC South, and the #4 seed in the NFC, would have been determined. Instead, we’ll have to wait another day, as a matchup between the two NFC South rivals who are eliminated from the postseason entirely will now determine everything. Certainly ironic, but great for drama.
The New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow to wrap up their respective seasons, and while they’re not playing for much more than pride, both the Buccaneers and Panthers will be watching with great interest. If the Falcons win, today will prove to be little more than a minor setback for Carolina, and they’ll win the division regardless.
However, should the Saints get the road upset, everything gets flipped. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were seemingly skidding towards a shocking early offseason, would be awarded the division on tiebreakers. Their Week Eight 23-3 victory over New Orleans, at the time seemingly innocuous, would end up salvaging their playoff spot.
Both Atlanta and New Orleans are on hot runs right now, the Falcons winners of three straight and the Saints on a four game streak. It’s a surprisingly compelling game given that both teams are guaranteed losing records on the season.
And this is very relevant to the Seattle Seahawks, because depending on tonight’s result in San Francisco, the NFC South division winner will either possibly, or definitely, be the team they play in their first playoff game.
If Seattle prevails tonight and takes the top seed in the NFC, it is entirely possible that their Divisional Round opponent is whoever comes out on top here. As the top seed, they play the lowest remaining seed, which would be either Carolina or Tampa Bay if all three home teams win on Wild Card Weekend. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s entirely possible.
On the other hand, if the Seahawks drop their game tonight and end up the #5 seeded NFC squad, then they’re drawing the winner of the NFC South in the first round for sure. Seattle has already played both teams this year, dropping an early-season bout to Tampa Bay 38-35, and just last week handling Carolina 27-10.
Of course, the Buccaneers were a far better team in that Week Five matchup, and the Seahawks have changed radically over the last three months as well, so it’s a matter of debate which team Seattle matches up better with. I imagine most Seahawks fans would feel good about either opponent, but there’s probably a preference somewhere in there.
Regardless, we’ll be waiting one more day to find out who the opponent will be, by which Seattle will already know if they’re watching the first round of the playoffs on a bye, or facing off against the south’s winner on the road.
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