The Need to Knows
The Time: 7pm PT
The Place: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
Place to Watch: ROOT Northwest, Streaming on ESPN+/SportsNet+
Place to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM
An Opposing Viewpoint: Fear the Fin
Know Your Enemy
Point night!
The San Jose Sharks are allowing 4.24 goals per game. They have one of the league’s bottom five penalty kills, and their starting goaltender has a save percentage below 0.900 (it gets as bad as 0.765). These guys are the slump busters, and while the Seattle Kraken are coming off a tough loss to the Calgary Flames on Monday night, another lead lost in the third period, and to a divisional rival yet again. It’s an unwelcome trend, and may speak to the team’s post-season chances with the current roster.
But that’s a problem for another day! Today, we face the worst team in the league. A team that kicked November off by allowing 20 goals in two games. And while their goals against have dropped back into earth’s atmosphere, they’re still losing, most of the time. There are a whopping two Sharks players who have a point total greater than their (negative) plus/minus. Every line combination leaks goals.
When it comes to scoring goals, the Sharks aren’t much better. They are running at 1.5 goals per game, which should mean putting two past whichever goalie wears teal virtually guarantees the win. Saying that, however, it’s safe to assume the St. Louis Blues thought they’d skate out of San Jose with two standings points, only to lose 5-1. And the Oilers and Flyers found a way to come out on the wrong side of the score as well. Sustained effort and pressure should mean the Sharks’ suboptimal roster folds, and the Kraken come out on top.
A silver lining to this game, is that an overtime win would be just as good as a regulation one. No fears of the Sharks using the single loser point to leap past the Kraken into a wildcard spot. San Jose is a lottery team and, for at least a little while longer this season, that isn’t something we’d say about the Kraken. That said, putting a touchdown on the board sounds like the better option. Go Squids!
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