Just the Facts
The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
The Place: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
Where to Watch: ROOT Sports NW, Altitude, ESPN+ and Sportsnet+
Where to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
An Opposing Viewpoint: Puck Yeti
Know Your Enemy
Considering the Kraken last played the Avalanche only four days ago, I would assume we are all familiar with tonight’s enemy. There are only two major differences between then and now. The first is that the Avalanche announced they signed Joel Kiviranta to a one-year deal. Kiviranta is best known for bursting out onto the scene with 5 goals during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs with the Dallas Stars en route to the team’s Finals appearance that year. Earlier this year, he was signed to a Professional Tryout contract with the Avalanche during training camp but reported to the Colorado Eagles of the AHL.
The second major change is that Artturi Lehkonen is out for the Avalanche after Jamie Oleksiak’s hit on Thursday night. The Avalanche are reportedly still gathering information about the extent of Lehkonen’s injury, but on Saturday, Coach Bednar stated he would be out for weeks but it is at least not a head injury. Between this, Jordan Eberle’s hit on Andrew Cogliano in round one of the 2023 playoffs, and Cale Makar’s hit on Jared McCann during those same playoffs, the Kraken vs Avalanche rivalry is turning into one that can be scarily dangerous at times.
The Avalanche have also slipped slightly in the Central Division standings. After losing to both the Kraken and the Blues, the Avalanche still sit at the same 16 standings points that they did prior to Thursday night’s game. This has allowed for the Dallas Stars to leapfrog them, but second in the Central is still an enviable place to be.
As for players to watch, Mikko Rantanen continues to be the team’s leading scorer and Nate MacKinnon has the ability to turn the game on a dime. Cale Makar is one of the league’s brightest young talents and an outstanding offensive defenseman, but his partner in Devon Toews is someone not to ignore either.
The season series between these teams is on the line tonight, with the current record being 1-1.
Game Preview
It probably doesn’t need saying that this season hasn’t started off as planned for the Kraken, but I’ll repeat it anyways. While there have been flashes of play where the team is clicking and scoring goals at a good pace, the team hasn’t been able to string along enough consistency to start building winning habits.
A case in point is watching the Kraken have only have 9 shots on goal in 40 minutes against the Oilers on Saturday night. At risk of sounding like the obnoxious fan sitting behind you at the game shouting “Shoot!” when there’s no obvious lane for it it, the team needs to shoot more. Dave Hakstol knows this and sees this. During practice on Sunday, Hakstol interrupted a drill to shout at the team about their shooting identity, then followed up about how it’s important to shoot the puck, but there’s also more to be done after so it’s “not just a wasted shot.” The team needs to put together a stronger offensive effort. Shooting the puck just to shoot it isn’t the most effective, but not shooting at all gets a team nowhere. Tonight’s game will be a test of whether the team absorbed Hakstol’s message or not.
The Kraken made an AHL-related move of their own during Sunday’s practice as well. Devin Shore was assigned back to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. There were no specific updates as to why this move was made, but Brandon Tanev was a full participant at Sunday’s practice on a line with Jared McCann and Alex Wennberg. Any updates on his status to return would likely happen later on today, but with the number of injuries the team has been going through, having someone like Tanev back in games would be a major boost for the Kraken.
Leave a tip to support our writers and staff!