Kraken Conquer The East, Face New Challenges

From Friday, October 9th to last Saturday, October 17, the Seattle Kraken got well acquainted with the Eastern time zone. All said, the Kraken fared well in their dalliance with the East Coast.

In their five-game swing, the Kraken went 3-1-1. This included victories over the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals and a shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

The trip also saw the Kraken drop a game to the Tampa Bay Lightning in overtime and a lopsided game to the Florida Panthers.

The Good

Most teams in the NHL would take these results given the length and distance of the trip. This is especially true for a team like the Kraken, who entered the season hovering between contenders and the future.

The beginning of the trip also saw the team continue their impressive offensive output, scoring six goals against the Red Wings and five goals against the Capitals. This was an encouraging sign for a team that has surprised the NHL with their offensive prowess early on.

Room For Improvement

Goals were a bit harder to come by as the road trip ended. That is to be expected to a degree as the competition picked up with the Lightning and Panthers. This is especially true when you consider Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jacob Markstrom were the net-minders for Tampa Bay and Florida, respectively.

The contest against the Panthers provided the Kraken with their most glaring opportunity for improvement.

Florida put eight shots in the net en route to a lopsided 8-3 victory. Included in the eight goals was a rare double hat trick as both Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett both accomplished the feat. Two of Florida’s goals, Verhaeghe’s second and Sam Reinart’s, came on the power play.

There was only so much room for scoring for Florida. Of note, none of the Panthers’ eight goals came off the stick of either Matthew or Brady Tkachuk. Granted, the Tkachuk duo was busy assisting goals. The Matthew end of the duo was responsible for three assists, with the Brady end of the duo chipping in two of his own.

With all factors considered, it was a successful road trip for the Kraken. Yet, the Panthers game specifically provided ample room for improvement – which will be key for Lane Lambert and his staff.

The upcoming week will see Seattle return home for three contests.

Playing It Back

Later this evening, the Kraken will welcome the Red Wings to Climate Pledge Arena. This will be the second time the two teams have played in October. Detroit comes into the contest with a record of 3-3-2. The Kraken figure to need to limit Alex DeBrincat’s production.

DeBrincat leads the Red Wings in both points – with nine and goals – with five.

On Saturday in Detroit’s game with the San Jose Sharks, Detroit pulled their goalie, allowing for an extra skater. DeBrincat made the most of the opportunity, putting the puck in the net and sending the game to overtime. Detroit ended up defeating the Sharks 4-3 in a shootout.

Kraken Face A Mammoth Challenge

On Thursday, the Kraken will play host to the Utah Mammoth.

At the time of writing, Utah boasts a 7-3-0 record, good for fourteen points, and finds itself sitting atop the Central Division. The Mammoth have been paced by their center, Nick Schmaltz. The Madison, WI native leads Utah in points and goals, with thirteen and seven, respectively. Clayton Keller leads the team with nine assists.

Both Schmaltz and Keller are impressing league-wide. Schmaltz’s seven goals put him third in the NHL. Keller’s nine assists is good for ninth in the NHL.

In their most recent game, the Mammoth defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 yesterday night.

In holding off a third-period charge from the Penguins, the Mammoth received more contribution from the aforementioned Schmaltz, who was responsible for a goal and assist. The first star of the game went to Nate Schmidt. The defenseman was responsible for a goal and assist of his own.

And A Wild Challenge

In their final game of the upcoming week, the Kraken will host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

While the Utah Mammoth find themselves atop the Central division, the Wild are hot on their heels, just a point behind the Mammoth in the Central standings. This, of course, means the Kraken will play back-to-back games against the top two teams in the Central Division. Along with Western Conference stalwarts Las Vegas and Edmonton, the Mammoth and Wild round out the top four teams in the West at the time of writing.

Kirill Kaprizov is leading the Wild charge.

The winger is doing more than that, however. His ten goals aren’t just good enough to lead the Wild; they’re good enough to lead the NHL. Kaprizov scored that NHL-leading goal on Minnesota’s 2-1 home victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In addition to Kaprizov, the Kraken will have to deal with defenseman Quinn Hughes. The 27-year old continues to prove why he’s an elite player in the league, tied for fourth in the NHL with ten assists on the young season.

Another Wild challenge for the Kraken will likely come in net from Minnesota. The Wild are dealing with injuries at the goalie position, so it’s entirely likely the Kraken will be dealing with Jesper Wallstedt. The Swedish goalie is one of the very best in the NHL thus far. At the time of writing, Wallstedt has the best goalie record in the NHL at 6-1-1. He sports a 1.99 GAA and a .922 SV%.

Seattle will be happy to welcome the Kraken home after their long road trip.