The Need to Knows
- The Time: 5pm PT
- The Place: Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
- Place to Watch: ROOT Northwest, ESPN+, SportsNet+
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Anaheim Calling
Know Your Enemy
“It was a bad night. We couldn’t make a pass, we couldn’t shoot a puck— I think it was the worst game we played all year in terms of execution,” Anaheim Ducks’ head coach Greg Cronin reviled Thursday, fresh off a shutout loss to the Calgary Flames.
The sleepless nights Cronin’s complained of over his tenure don’t look to be stopping anytime soon for the first-time NHL coach. Granted, having three of his biggest skaters— Jamie Drysdale, Mason McTavish, and Trevor Zegras— miss a combined 47 games due to injury doesn’t leave much for him to work with. But even having Drysdale and McTavish back in the lineup, a sloppy offensive effort was all that could be mustered against a middling Pacific Division rival.
Anaheim is neck-deep in a rebuild and they play like it; Cronin’s comments discuss a single game yet apply to the season as a whole. Easily banished to the perimeter by any opponent with a defensive backbone and converting a minority control over seasonal hot quality into only 1.86 goals per game, it’s clear Anaheim lacks on-ice authority.
Worse, the injuries have yet to relent. Leo Carlsson, the Ducks’ 2023 2nd-overall pick and first-line center, sustained a lower-body injury which left him unable to exit the game on his own two feet. Nothing is known publicly about the nature of his injury aside from reports by Hockey News Sweden claiming it’s an MCL tear. Regardless, Carlsson will miss time— and he’ll miss the Seattle Kraken.
It’s a dog eat dog world for the wild card in the West, and Seattle would not be amiss to indulge in a little schadenfreude in Anaheim. In six of seven all-time matchups, Seattle’s scored at least four goals, something they should be able to accomplish once again.
Game Preview
… Key word is should. Anaheim, specifically Troy Terry (10 points in 6 career matchups), has been known to give Seattle plenty of trouble. And although they’re coming off of an affirming 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, the temptation to play down to worse opponents must be resisted.
If whiffed shots, a disconnected attack, poorly timed passed, and weak offensive zone positioning are what Anaheim brings to the table, a colossal effort won’t be required for Seattle to take home two points. That said, the Kraken have been known to slump in the face of weak opponents— see: losses to the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens earlier this month— and are perpetually in need of dominant performances to hang their hat on.
While Los Angeles’ only goal came shorthanded and off a minor defensive mistake committed by Justin Schultz, Seattle controlled only 49.54% of the total shot quality. On the season they control barely a majority of shot quality and still struggle to finish, undoubtedly a driving factor behind having 17 of their games decided by one goal.
Seattle averages only 2.21 goals per game. Dominance is the aim tonight. Grade the Kraken’s effort based on whether they can do more than just squeak by with a win.
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