The Need To Knows
- The Time: Noon PST
- The Place: Little Caesar’s Arena, Detroit, Michigan
- Place to Watch: KONG, NHL Network, KHN-affiliated channels, ESPN+
- Place to Listen: The Kraken Audio Network via KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Winging It In Motown
Know Your Enemy
- The Red Wings are 19-18-4, which is good for 42 points in the standings, 7th in the Atlantic Division, and 12th in the Eastern Conference.
- The goalscoring for the Wings is currently tied up in three players: Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, and Alex DeBrincat. Raymond and Larkin have 17 goals, and DeBrincat has 18; all in 41 games.
- Lucas Raymond has ended up the principal playmaker for the Wings; having 44 points in 41 games, 27 of those being assists; a team-leading tally.
- The Red Wings have a terrifying power play; being 3rd in the entire league in Power Play-% with a 27.3%. However, that power play is tempered by having one of the worst penalty kills in the entire league; with only a 69.4% success rate.
- The Wings have been using Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot for their netminders, and both have been enormously mercurial. Both are sitting at or around .901 SV%. Talbot has more starts with 20.
Game Preview
The Kraken finally broke an agonizing streak of lost games against the Buffalo Sabres by never giving up even after playing a pretty poor first period. They got multiple 2 point nights out of their roster and had a solid rebound performance from Joey Daccord!
That said, they need to keep that up coming into today; because Detroit is not to be trifled with right now.
The East’s wildcard picture is rapidly clumping up with teams who have anywhere from 47 to 42 points, and while Detroit is well behind a lot of their compatriots, they’re charging up the standings pretty quickly and on a 6 game winning streak; most recently against the Blackhawks, Senators, and the Winnipeg Jets. They’ve leaned into their north-south game as a devastating weapon against their foes, and even if they give up a goal or two (and their goalies will do that), they will happily turn straight up ice and try to get it back.
The Kraken need to take advantage of 2 things: one, the Red Wings are perfectly comfortable giving up shots, and that atrocious Detroit penalty kill. The Kraken power play isn’t exactly a world-killer, but the PK of the Wings is so bad that it would be almost criminal not to get at least a couple goals from the experience. They also need to hammer Lyon/Talbot in tight, as neither of them are especially great with the puck in the slot and high slot. If they can do that, there’s a chance we can take one win, and make it two. They just need to keep the pace from the last two periods of hockey they played going.
LET’S GO KRAKEN