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Kraken vs. Blue Jackets PREVIEW: A meeting of the desperate

The Kraken have a date with the extremely desperate Columbus Blue Jackets at CPA tonight!

The Need to Knows

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

Know Your Enemy

  • The Blue Jackets are 5-7-2; which is good for 12 points, and 7th in division.
  • Kirill Marchenko is the man to keep tabs on when backchecking; he leads the Jackets in points with 15 in 14 games.
  • Both Marchenko and Sean Monahan are the leading goalscorers for the Jackets, with 6 goals in 14 games.
  • Keep an eye out for this Mathieu Olivier character; he’s a real tough guy. He gets penalized far more than anybody else on that squad and the fights he’s getting into are a big reason why.
  • Daniil Tarasov and Elvis Merzlikens have both started 7 games, and are sub-.900 in terms of SV%, though Merzlikens is closer to being acceptable; sitting at .899% through 7 starts. Tarasov started their most recent game against the Ducks, so it’s reasonable to expect Merzlikens to be the starter.

Game Notes

Any snark I might have for the Jackets this year has been completely blunted by the terrible circumstances of which Columbus had to start their year; losing an expected franchise corner stone to something as terrible and random as a drunk driver is heartbreaking, and any concern for their play after such a traumatic event is completely warranted.

But you know what? To the Jackets’ credit; they are playing leagues better than they were last year, even if it hasn’t quite translated to consistent wins. They’re above water in possession (something they very much weren’t last year), they’ve turned over the reigns of the offense to their hot young prospects like Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, and Yegor Chinakov and have given hope to an otherwise deeply scarred fanbase.

That said…Columbus is coming into this game needing a win and badly.

Being out here and also playing in November seems to disagree with their midwestern values; as they haven’t won a game yet this month, and that has followed it on their way out to the West Coast. If there’s a culprit, it may in fact be their goaltending; as neither Daniil Tarasov nor Elvis Merzlikens are performing at a .900 SV% or better clip, and as I think any Kraken fan can attest; playing your best game at even strength may not matter if your goaltender can’t meet them halfway.

To that end, the Kraken will need to weather those young guns like Marchenko and Chinakov’s offensive creativity in order to use their transition game to attack the Jackets where they’re weakest. If they can crack that, then there’s two points to be had.

LET’S GO KRAKEN, LET’S GO SQUIDS

Talking Points