The Need to Knows
- The Time: 7pm PT
- The Place: Climate Pledge Arena in Beautiful Seattle, Washington
- Place to Watch: KING-5, KHN, KONG, TSN3
- Place to Listen: Kraken Audio Network through KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Arctic Ice Hockey
Know Your Enemy
- The Jets are one of the few teams that are undefeated in this early season, which is good for 12 points, snugly atop the Central Division standings.
- Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers both lead the team in points with 8 in 6 games. However, Mark Scheifele is the goals leader for Winnipeg with 5 in 6 games.
- The Jets have some serious playmakers; Ehlers, Josh Morrisey, and Neal Pionk all have 6 assists in 6 games.
- The Jets are the poster children of “league average” when it comes to the analytics side of the game; being 17th in Shot Attempts-For-%, 17th in Unblocked Shot Attempts-For-%, and 19th in Expected Goals-For-%. Where they’ve managed to find their strength is in where they shoot, which so far is almost exclusively in front of the net, or from the middle of the ice; the most dangerous places to shoot.
- Connor Hellebuyck is probably going to be Team USA’s #1 goaltender at the 4 Nations Tournament this January with how well he’s played. He’s rocking a .948 SV% through 5 starts and no losses.
Game Preview
Ah, the Jets. My old nemesis. I don’t even have a good reason to dislike them. I just do.
Unfortunately for my hater brain, they are actually living up to the hype for once and now present a helluva test for the resurgent Kraken.
The Jets are a damn fine team this year; their young talent has blossomed into exceptional NHLers, they appear at least to have smoothed over whatever concern they had with Nikolaj Ehlers, they managed to keep all of the players that were important to their attack, and it seems like their defense can hold the fort just enough to allow Connor Hellebuyck to clamp things down. They attack hard, they attack fast, and while they do allow the opponent into the game somewhat, according to their most recent games against Pittsburgh and St. Louis with some mediocre 2nd periods, they eventually clamp things down. It’s what’s made them such an early powerhouse in Manitoba.
So! What do the Kraken need to do in order to beat them?
Well, they could pray for an Eric Comrie start, for one.
Failing that, one thing that the Kraken could try doing is attacking the net-front as best they can. Seems simple enough, right? That’s what most teams should try to do; regardless of opponent.
Here’s the thing: it may just be the ticket to breaking down their wall and hand them a gut-wrenching first loss. The reason Connor Hellebuyck has been so good is because they’ve kind of needed him to be. While the Jets defense is impressive…it’s not perfect when it comes to net-front presence, as seen in this heat map from HockeyViz.com:
Seems like a lot of open ice to work with, if you don’t mind me saying.
Of course, the Kraken need to do a little of this themselves; they’ve had the worst time in actually breaking up plays and then re-establishing possession once the opponent’s play has been disrupted, so if they can keep the second, third, or even fourth chance opportunities to a minimum for Winnipeg, then they can have as good a chance as any team has had in this early season to ground the Jets for the first time.
Of course, then they have to solve Hellebuyck once they start to carve into that defense. Of which I can only say…good luck.
Still! Ought to be a good game and a good test for these Kraken! Let’s see if they can break another Canadian team’s undefeated streak!