Sunday marks the home opener for the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken will continue their Alberta-centric schedule against the Calgary Flames.
The first two contests of the season saw the Kraken split games with Alberta’s NHL teams, winning on Thursday in Calgary and coming up short in Edmonton yesterday.
On the Calgary Side of the Province
There were goals aplenty for the Kraken on opening night, powering them to a 6-1 victory over the Flames. The opening period saw goals from Jordan Eberle, Vince Dunn and Frédérick Gaudreau. After no goals were registered from either side in the second, things picked up in the third period with Chandler Stephenson, Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko each lighting the lamp.
The Hockey HotStove player to watch in the contest, Joey Daccord, was excellent in the opener. The netminder stopped 24 shots while allowing just one goal. The first star of the game went to Vince Dunn, who recorded 2 assists to accompany his goal.
From the Calgary Flames side of things, their lone goal came in the third period off the stick of Ryan Strome. In the net for the Flames was Dustin Wolf, who stopped 26 of the 32 shots sent his way, for a .813 save percentage.
While the Kraken took the advantage in shots at 32-25, the Flames recorded 24 hits to Seattle’s 20. Kraken players saw less time in the box, recording 4 penalty minutes to Calgary’s 12.
On the Edmonton Side of the Province
The Kraken’s tour of Alberta continued two nights later when they traveled to Edmonton to face the Oilers. The Pacific Division clash saw the Oilers best the Kraken 3-1. The lone Seattle goal came courtesy of Bobby McMann in the second period. Philipp Grubauer was in net for his first start, stopping 22 of the 24 shots that came his way. Leading the Kraken in shots was captain Jordan Eberle and Bobby McMann with 3 each.
Edmonton opened the scoring in the first period thanks to Owen Michaels. Grubauer held the Oilers scoreless in the second, but Edmonton had a much busier third period, with goals from Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, the latter on an empty net. Anytime a team faces the Oilers, they’ll have to deal with the lethal combination of Draisaitl and McDavid, and this evening was no different for the Kraken.
Still in the Pacific, This Time Stateside
Things continue in the Pacific Division this evening, as the Kraken welcome the Calgary Flames in a rematch of their contest from Thursday. This will be Seattle’s first chance to see this year’s edition of the Kraken on home ice, with the contest being shown nationally on ESPN+.
This evening’s lineup for the Kraken projects to be:
Jared McCann — Matty Beniers — Kaapo Kakko
Bobby McMann — Chandler Stephenson — Jordan Eberle
Ryan Winterton — Berkly Catton — Shane Wright
Mackie Samoskevich — Frederick Gaudreau — Ben Meyers
Vince Dunn — Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans — Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren — Josh Mahura
Joey Daccord
The Calgary Flames will counter with a lineup that projects to be:
Matvei Gridin — Morgan Frost — Matt Coronato
Samuel Honzek — Mikael Backlund — Joel Farabee
Brennan Othmann — Ryan Strome — Yegor Sharangovich
Maksim Tsyplakov — Martin Pospisil — Adam Klapka
Joel Hanley — Simon Nemec
Kevin Bahl — Zach Whitecloud
Jake Middleton — Zayne Parekh
Dustin Wolf
Pacific State of Mind
With this being the third game of the season, it’s far too early to talk about standings. Still, each of the three games have come against Pacific Division rivals. It’s never too early to put division wins in the bag and set a proper tone for division play.
This is especially the case as the Pacific trend will continue Tuesday when the Kraken will get a visit from the Golden Knights.
It’s perhaps especially important considering the Kraken’s performance in the division last season. The team recorded a .635 points percentage in the Pacific. That included a .654 points percentage at Climate Pledge Arena.
The contest between the Kraken and Flames can be seen locally on KONG and Prime Video, and heard on Sports Radio 93.3 KJR.
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