The Need to Knows
- The Time: 2pm PT
- The Place: TD Garden, Boston, MA
- Place to Watch: KHN, KONG, NESN (thru ESPN+)
- Place to Listen: Kraken Audio Network via KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Stanley Cup of Chowder
Know Your Enemy
- The Boston Bruins are 5-6-1, which is good for 11 points, and are tied for 5th in the Atlantic Division.
Game Notes
The Boston Bruins are an extremely uneven hockey team this year.
At long last, we’ve gotten what we all wanted; Boston Suffering as their eternally good team finally experiences some issues.
And it…isn’t really a particularly exciting disaster?
I think part of it is that the B’s just kind of gambled on Elias Lindholm being the center of the now that they could ease out of with time while the B’s center depth improves over time, and he just…hasn’t been that guy. David Pastrnak is producing, but he’s struggling big time to be the single playdriver for his line, and Brad Marchand is struggling quite a bit coming off of multiple surgeries. After that? Just about every last player is a woeful inadequacy generator. If there is any team that is going to cede the puck to the other team in front of them this year, it is the Boston Bruins.
Then again, they could probably take lessons in futility from a Kraken team that has struggled with controlling the puck throughout the last couple of games.
The Kraken will need to summon everything their offense can be in order to beat Boston; the Bruins are struggling with a severe case of slow skating, and that can be a major boon to them if they put their anchors into their strides and attack the net as fast as they can. Their defense has decided to live up to the stereotype of Boston teams by being big, slow, and full of physicality, so if they can force them to pivot and backcheck at speed, they can find openings against them.
After that? Keep an eye on their 4th line. Yes, their 4th line. While the Top 9 has been pretty mediocre, their bottom line has actually been a damn strong group that’s able to do real damage when on-ice.
The Kraken have been pretty disappointing lately, but if they can take advantage of the issues their opponent faces, they can come away from this with two points, which they are badly starting to need.
Let’s do some course correction.
LET’S GO KRAKEN