The Need To Knows
- Time: 7:00 PT / 10:00 ET
- Place: Climate Pledge Arena at Seattle, WA
- Where to Watch: KHN, KONG, ESPN+ (all other U.S. areas)
- Where to Listen: Kraken Hockey Network on KJR 93.3
Know Your Enemy
The Senators are a perfectly middling team at 15-3-2, a goal differential of +4, and are currently in the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference for the final playoff spot. They recently made news when their Emergency Backup Goaltender got the call and had to run down the street with his gear to make the game.
They also drew the ire of Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry by…playing hockey normally.
The Senators have three point-per-game players in Brady Tkachuk, Drake Batherson, and Tim Stützle. Tkachuk and Batherson are on the same line, which has a very nice 69% expected goal share when on the ice together this season. That’s the line to really make a note of when they are on the ice.
Game Notes
The Kraken have been playing better as of late even if they did drop games to two Florida teams recently. The power play is back, Seattle has more of a defensive identity, and the lines are starting to gel. It’s also not a coincidence that the winning happened with the return of Vince Dunn, who has an outsized effect on the performance of the team.
Joey Daccord and Yanni Gourde should hopefully be available. Gourde has missed the last two games with an undisclosed, lower-body injury but was available at practice yesterday. Daccord has missed time with an illness, but he also practiced yesterday.
Matty Beniers, congratulations! Today’s game will already be Matty’s 200th. They grow up so fast.
Four Kraken players are hovering near the 200 assist mark and all it takes is one nonsense 7-goal game for all of them to hit. Yanni Gourde and Chandler Stephenson have 199 assists. Brandon Montour and Oliver Bjorkstrand have 198.