Kraken Get Torched 8-3 in Florida as Panthers Make Us Look Foolish

Well, that was embarrassing. We backed Seattle at +150 expecting Joey Daccord's solid goaltending and the Kraken's 3.875 goals-per-game to exploit a Panthers squad missing Barkov, Marchand, and Gadjovich. Instead, Florida hung eight goals on us and turned Amelie Arena into a shooting gallery.

So much for Akira Schmid being the weak link. The Panthers' backup—who we hammered for his .876 save percentage—apparently didn't get the memo about struggling. Meanwhile, Daccord and the Kraken defense that we trusted? Absolute sieve mode. Eight goals against will do that.

The injury excuse evaporated quickly. Turns out Florida's depth doesn't need their stars to dismantle a Seattle team that looked completely overmatched. The Kraken managed three goals, sure, but this was never competitive. The Panthers controlled play, buried their chances, and made our plus-money value play look like fool's gold.

Credit where it's due: Florida's next-man-up mentality crushed our narrative. We leaned too hard on goalie stats and missed the forest for the trees—the Panthers at home, even depleted, have more firepower than we gave them credit for. Seattle's 5-3 record looked great on paper. Their defensive structure in Sunrise? Nonexistent.

Tough loss. Moving on.