The Need to Knows
The Time: 7:00 pm PT / 10:00 pm ET
The Place: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA
Where to Watch: ROOT Northwest, NBC Sports Philadelphia, ESPN+/Sportsnet+
Place to Listen: KJR 93.3fm
An Opposing Viewpoint: Broad Street Hockey
Know Your Enemy
Not much has changed since Em Rupp laid things out on the weekend, other than a statistically significant number of folks probably punched their flat screen TVs in Philadelphia on Super Bowl Sunday. I’m not saying it wasn’t holding, but…
Anyway, the Kraken beat the Flyers on Saturday because they’re a better team:
Goals for:
Goals Against:
Standings Points:
Goaltender Save Percentage:
Uhhhh, let’s not talk about this one.
The Flyers have an outside chance at drafting Conner Bedard, while the Kraken should be adding talent at the deadline in preparation for the franchise’s first post-season run. The upcoming game, at home, and at a decent hour, should give Seattle an even bigger edge. The Pacific division has tightened up, and these are two points the team needs to put in the bank.
Game Preview
Morgan Frost is listed as the number one center on the Flyers’ depth chart. He was a late first round pick in 2017 and while he has decent advanced numbers, he’s not known for massive offensive outputs. Meanwhile the team’s “top” defenseman, Ivan Provorov, besides being scared of rainbows, is not performing at an NHL level. His Corsi and Fenwick numbers are well below 50% and he’s minus 7 in plus/minus as well.
Netminder Carter Hart is having a better year than last, and he may face his old backup if Martin Jones gets the start for Seattle. All the scales tip in the Kraken’s favor except for goaltending, so Philadelphia’s path to victory requires Hart to stand on his head.
As we approach the trade deadline, and ultimately the season’s end, games like this are simple. Get the points, nobody get hurt, and we can move on to Detroit.