Kraken vs. Golden Knights PREVIEW: Loaded up vs. Stay the course

The Need To Knows

• The Time: 7pm PT
• The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Beautiful Seattle, Washington
• Place to Watch: ROOT Northwest, SCRIPPS, ESPN+/SportsNet+ my beloathed
• Place to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM
• An Opposing Viewpoint: Knights On Ice

Know Your Enemy

• The Knights have actually fallen quite a bit here with a record of 34-23-7; tied for third in the Pacific Division with 75 points, but are in the 1st Wildcard spot due to having a lesser goal differential than LA.
• This slump they’re on has been an absolute killer for them; they’ve gotten pumped by the Sabres, lost crushingly to Boston and Columbus…a wet fart of a game against the Canucks. Their most recent game against the Red Wings was actually pretty solid…but still, a 3-6-1 record coming out of your last 10 is rough. Thank god something resembling a negative consequence has happened to the Vegas Golden Knights. I prayed for this, and it happened.
• Their point and goal leader this year is Jonathan Marchessault; who has 56 points in 64 games. 35 of those points are goals, which has him tied at 7th in the league.
• Part of the reason the Knights were allowed to get all those big names at the deadline is that they are beat to hell right now: Mark Stone, Alec Martinez, Brett Howden, William Carrier, and even Tomáš Hertl are all on Injured Reserve. I am sure some of that will change the minute they have to go to the playoffs, but for right now they’re very much on the mend and a lot of those guys are expected to be contributors.
• Adin Hill is at long last coming back down to earth…in that he’s now down to 4th overall in the league in SV% at a .918.

Game Preview

If there’s one thing those damn Golden Knights do whenever it comes to hockey; it’s spend every last dime they have trying to get better; even if they were pretty good to begin with. They take an NBA approach to the NHL and it’s kept them competitive for every year they’ve been a team, and they did just that by adding a preposterous number of high quality players to their roster on the same day: Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Anthony Mantha. All for picks and prospects they don’t plan on using.

That is just about the only thing about the Knights I respect. Everything else? Burn in the Nevada sun, you goofy gold nuggets.

But the Kraken better be ready for this one, and better be ready to skate hard, because while the Knights are slumping badly, they are a heady combo of “recently upgraded” and “desperate for points”. The Kraken are desperate for points as well, but they’re just trying to get in; Vegas is trying to stay in after a catastrophic post-All Star game run of play. Combine that with famously tough coach Bruce Cassidy, they’re looking to prove that their decision to load up was the right one again. Seattle hasn’t slipped entirely out of the running thanks to just about every other team around them having just as rough struggles, but you gotta get these 2 points tonight to stay in the game; Calgary lost badly on Sunday night, Minny got an Overtime winner on Nashville, and St. Louis blew out Boston.

If you really want another crack at May hockey, then the Kraken need to expunge a bunch of their losing habits now.

Also it’s a milestone game for Jordan Eberle! 1000 games, where does the time go? I’m just glad he gets to do it in a Deep Blue uniform.

Puck drop might be pushed back a bit for that, so keep it in mind!