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Kraken vs. Blackhawks PREVIEW: Continue to get Right

  • The Time: 7pm PT
  • The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Beautiful Seattle, WA
  • Place to Watch: KHN, KONG
  • Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM via the Kraken Audio Network
  • An Opposing Viewpoint: Second City Hockey

Know Your Enemy

The Blackhawks are, well, not very good. They’re still in a rebuild, and even though they drafted a future superstar in Connor Bedard, there’s still a lot of work to do to get this roster back up to competitive, and they aren’t there yet. The Blackhawks drafted #1 overall in 2023 and #2 overall in 2024, and they’re currently a top 5 lottery team again per Tankathon.

The other player of interest in original Kraken Ryan Donato, whose list of accomplishments include:

  • Scoring the first goal in Kraken franchise history
  • Assisting on Matty Beniers’s first goal
  • Assisting on Shane Wright’s first goal

(He also assisted on Connor Bedard’s first goal.)

Donato is a fan favorite and he’s got a really nice shot.

Game Notes

This is a weird Kraken team so far. Seattle has worked so much on the transition game and leading scoring chances off the rush that they have been really susceptible to teams counterattacking by leaving defenders back, taking away the middle of the ice, and forcing shots to the outside. Seattle really struggled against this on the road trip, and then again in the first period against Columbus, where they generated zero high quality chances.

Then in the second period, they found their game and got pucks to the front of the net, created chances off the cycle, and they looked completely different and scored four goals in the period.

One thing that seems to be true: the Kraken are more resilient under coach Bylsma. Last season the Kraken didn’t come back from a two-goal deficit at any point during the year. This year, it’s happened three times in just 16 games, including the last two! This is Firebirds hockey (baby). Under Coach Bylsma, the Firebirds were never out of it and they always felt like they could come back. Bylsma is taking his Firebirds experience and graduating it to the big club, and we’re starting to see that already.

Seattle had a strategy: get pucks up the ice quickly and score in transition. Teams deployed a counterstrategy. Now Seattle has to deploy a counterstrategy to the counterstrategy, and that’s the big test they’re going through right now.

This will determine the Kraken’s success for tonight’s game and moving forward. Can they generate shots from all over the ice? Can they look at what the team is focusing on to stop the Kraken and say “that’s great, but we will zig while you zag.”

The year hasn’t started out great, but it hasn’t been awful. The Kraken are just two points out of a playoff spot and there’s a million hockey left to play. Seattle hasn’t buried themselves with the start.

The difference between looking pretty bad and looking really good isn’t that big. If the Kraken can execute a little better, have a little better timing, and defend the net front a little better, that will open up a lot of what the team is trying to do and with it, the floodgates of success. Okay, maybe not a Stanley Cup with this roster, but at least a playoff spot.

Chicago is not the most talented team, and this is a good spot to continue to get right and build some of those habits they are still trying to find early on in the season. Seattle can hopefully pick up a couple of points against weaker competition, an necessity for any team hoping to make the postseason.

You gotta win the easy ones.

Talking Points