Just the Facts:
- The Time: 3pm PDT
- The Place: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FLA
- Place to Watch: ROOT-Sports Northwest
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Litter Box Cats
Know Your Enemy
Last the Seattle Kraken encountered the Florida Panthers they’d fallen to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final by way of a crushing 9-3 loss. Now the cats are back on the prowl and seeking revenge, namely in the form of a successful Cup campaign. Punching a ticket to the postseason will require conquering an Eastern Conference somehow more fearsome than ever, but the Panthers are gunning to prove they’re built to last.
Florida has played only six games so far this season, sitting at an even .500 in points % (3-3-0). Fresh off a win over the San Jose Sharks leaves the Kraken as their final opponent on the home stand before they ship up to Boston.
On the ice, Florida hasn’t accomplished anything outlandish in terms of scoring, notching only 17 goals and yielding 18 in all situations this season. Middling special teams– a 25th ranked power play (12.5%) and the worst penalty kill in the league (65.4%)– leaves the Panthers without much leverage outside of five-on-five.
Doesn’t look like they’ll need it, though. Florida has excelled at generating and capitalizing on shot quality by hitting the net accurately and frequently: they rank 7th in shots per game (33.3) and 10th in smallest % of missed unblocked shot attempts (27.7%). An excess of Panthers shots are fired from the left wing, top of slot, and low slot. Although strangely, they lack offensive presence between the faceoff circles– likely a result of a rush-focused offense broadening its scope to include chances off the cycle. Know one thing: if they can get their paws on a loose puck in or directly outside the paint, they’re putting it past the goaltender.
Possession in the offensive zone is the name the Panthers’ game. Florida spends more time in the offensive zone than 84% of the league and sits a little better than the median in giveaways. When they do surrender the puck, 63.16% of the time it’s in the defensive zone.
Game Preview
Panthers head coach Paul Maurice confirmed that Sergei Bobrovsky would take the starter’s net on Saturday; the Kraken have yet to name a starter. Given that Joey Daccord has taken the last two games, Philipp Grubauer may be the man for the job. In 11 career games against the Panthers, Grubauer has recorded a 3.08 Goals Against Average and a .898 SV%.
Seattle will, obviously, be missing Brandon Tanev and Andre Burakovsky for their eighth and third games, respectively. One of several top-scorers, Brandon Montour (16-57-73), will be out until at least December, along with Aaron Ekblad (14-24-38), as both are still dealing with injuries from the postseason.
Aleksander Barkov and Dmitry Kulikov were absent from practice Thursday, victims of an illness making its way around the locker room– sounds like Barkov is good to go after skating on Friday, but Kulikov was officially ruled a game-time decision. Sam Bennett will also be a game-time decision. If you’re keeping track, that’s three defensemen and two centers in total possibly out. Pretty big hit to the depth chart.
Sam Reinhart will be the forward to keep an eye on, riding a five-game point streak (seven goals, two assists) entering Saturday’s game. Matthew Tkachuk is scoring at a point-per-game rate (six assists in six games), although he’s yet to find a goal this season. 👀