The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7pm PT
- The Place: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
- Place to Watch: ROOT Sports Northwest, ESPN+/SportsNet++
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Five for Howling
Know Your Enemy
Belittling tonight’s opponent may come easy to some, given the Yotes’ reputation as a frequent at the bottom of league standings and their hassle to secure a permanent arena to play in. It would be wise to keep in mind these two teams have more in common than first meets the eye.
Arizona sits merely six points behind Seattle in league standings, and both clubs have already been mathematically eliminated from postseason. Both teams struggle to finish their chances and create them in the first place. Both teams have won three of their last five games, finding solace in a late performance improvement after horrendous winless streaks– Seattle over eight games, Arizona over 14. Both rosters, for all their collective trouble, tout a handful of explosive scorers: Clayton Keller is scoring at exactly a point-per-game pace, Jared McCann slightly under (0.8).
Don’t forget that the last time these two met, it was Arizona who pulled the rug from under Seattle late in the game– with a minute and eight seconds to go, Keller tied the game at one and Dylan Guenther swooped in to score the overtime game-winner.
Game Preview
Seattle took the weekend off once they’d returned to their stomping grounds. Practice Monday morning was the first time the Kraken had taken the ice since meeting the Ducks in Anaheim on Friday– but the skate hardly brought good news.
According to head coach Dave Hakstol, both Jared McCann and Vince Dunn are considered day-to-day and are doubtful to dress against the Coyotes. While neither skater is technically being ‘shutdown’ for the season, there’s no rush in getting them back on the ice, what with six games remaining (including tonight) and several AHL reinforcements already with the team.
Arizona cruises into Climate Pledge Arena looking to further their winning mentality after a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday and a 7-4 win over the Vegas Golden Knights the Friday prior. Although, they likely won’t be deploying the same roster.
Barrett Hayton and Travis Boyd are also considered out for tonight’s game, per Daily Faceoff.
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