One: Getting Power Play Back on Track
ST. LOUIS – In the first of back-to-back road games against Central Division foes this weekend, the Kraken aim to get back in the business of earning standings points. The Good Guys squad has gained at least a point in 10 of its first 13 games, which translates to staying among the top three teams in the Pacific Division. One express route back to PointsLand is getting results on power plays awarded to the visitors in St. Louis on Saturday.
Seattle went zero-for-six during man advantage in Wednesday’s disappointing loss to San Jose. Coach Lane Lambert liked the three third-period attempts more than the three earlier power plays meted out in the first 40 minutes.
From a power play standpoint, I didn’t think, at least the first three of them, we didn’t shoot the puck enough,” said Lambert. “Our execution was off a little bit. We started shooting toward the end of the game, mustered up a few shots there, but it was too slow, just like the rest of our game … we have to understand that we’re not going to pass our way into the net.”
Putting pucks on net is not a new concept, and the Kraken have succeeded with both goals, like Jamie Oleksiak knuckling in a shot in last Monday’s Chicago win and Vince Dunn routinely sending pucks to the net (or slipping the puck to partner Adam Larsson or Brandon Montour late in games when a goal can tie a game (Oct. 28 Montreal).
Two: Forward Progress in Mind
Kraken have likely noticed Lambert favors switching lines in-game or next game to spark more offense. He also switches up some line combinations when protecting a lead late in games. Many NHL coaches juggle offense/defense, too, and most try to keep a successful pair together (one recent Kraken example has been Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle). In Thursday’s practice before Friday’s travel day, Chandler Stephenson was between Eberle and Berkly Catton, while Beniers was working with Jaden Schwartz and Kaapo Kakko. Schwartz has played plenty with Beniers, and the Kakko/Beniers duo was productive in the second half of last season after Kakko came over in the trade with the New York Rangers. Shane Wright was centering between Mason Marchment and Ryan Winterton, who played frequently with Wright at Coachella Valley. Saturday’s morning skate will be telling about how Lambert will align his forwards against the Blues.
“They do have a little bit of a history, right?” said Lambert when asked about Beniers and Kakko together on line rushes Thursday at Kraken Community Iceplex. “We are challenged to score goals at the moment. I like to keep lines pretty consistent, but when you’re not scoring, you have to make some changes.”
Lambert said Wright and Winterton having played together a lot in the AHL and previous NHL segmemts “does go into it” and that Winterton is good fit for Marchment as well for Winterton’s skating and “he drives the play and he works [at defending]. He added keeping familiar pairs together is a preferred practice but reinforced “we’re looking for a spark.”
Three: Know the Foe: St. Louis on the Upswing?
After suffering through a seven-game losing streak that garnered just two of 14 possible standings points, the Blues have won two of their last three games. Thursday’s 3-0 road victory was wrested from Buffalo, and without leading scorer Jordan Kyrou, who was a healthy scratch and a human wakeup call generated by STL coach Jim Montgomery. The Blues coach praised goalie Joel Hofer’s standout and shutout effort. Perhaps he plays the hot hand. Team Canada hero Jordan Binnington was blitzed 6-1 in his road start in D.C., which included a whole caper about the St. Louis goalie possibly keeping the Alex Ovechkin 900th goal. Binnington was in net for the Edmonton victory that ended the losing streak.
Projected Lines/Pairings (not official):
Check back here and the Kraken App following morning skate on Saturday for the projected lineup.