One: We’re No. 4!
The past two Kraken wins over powerhouse Winnipeg and Edmonton squads were built on the foundation of solid fourth-line play. It started with strong forechecking in the offensive end, which limited the ability of the Jets or Oilers to get their high-flying offenses untracked.
They even topped it all off with a Tye Kartye goal in Saturday’s contest, while linemates Ryan Winterton and Ben Meyers drew assists. But it’s been the unrelenting forechecking work and solid defensive play in which the trio has stood out. Between Kartye, veteran AHL callup Meyers, and Winterton, the threesome has done an excellent job of setting the tone for strong shifts by the top line after them.
As a result, Jordan Eberle is again off to a strong start and had two goals against Edmonton the other night while his top line with Matty Beniers and Berkly Catton combined for five points.
Two: He’s No. 1
Looks as if Joey Daccord has this whole No. 1 goalie thing figured out for now. It’s a tribute to Daccord that the Kraken are averaging only 2.8 goals per game of offense, yet somehow that’s translated to a franchise-best 5-2-2 start. In four of the five Kraken victories, all started by Daccord, they’ve scored no more than three goals in each.
That requires a netminder to keep them tied or ahead in those contests, and Daccord has done that. His base stats show Daccord at a 5-1-1 record with a goals against average of 2.48 and a .915 save percentage. But realistically, 10 of his 15 goals allowed this season came in just more than five periods against Philadelphia and Montreal — meaning he’s actually played better than even his strong numbers indicate. The remaining five starts saw Daccord allow just five goals over nearly 15 ½ periods.
The Kraken need to be careful about allowing teams to pepper Daccord with too many shots, tempting as it may be to keep letting him save the day. They’ve been up over 30 shots allowed in the last two games. Granted, the Jets and Oilers have two of the better offenses in hockey, and the Kraken did a good job of keeping Winnipeg’s chances largely to the perimeter. But Montreal also has a very good offense – averaging a 6th-best 3.60 goals per game — and yet the Kraken managed to hold the Canadiens to just 22 shots when they played two weeks ago.
Montreal has the NHL’s second-highest shooting percentage at 13.7, so they don’t necessarily need that many shots to score – pumping five of their 22 shots behind Daccord the last time they played. In other words, the Kraken need to play a little tighter and hope their goalie keeps doing what he has in the last two outings.
Three: Know the Foe
Montreal has the NHL’s youngest team at 25.17 years of age on average and has looked very impressive this early season, putting up a 7-3-0 record that’s tops in the Atlantic Division and second best for points in the Eastern Conference behind New Jersey. Since losing their season opener in Toronto, they haven’t dropped another game by more than one goal.
Their offense has been the key, with team captain Nick Suzuki the top point getter at 13 and Cole Caufield leading in goals with seven. Ivan Demidov, the 19-year-old phenom from Russia, scored a late tying goal against the Kraken and set up another earlier on with a beautiful net front pass a couple of weeks ago. He’s tied for third on the team with nine points, courtesy of two goals and seven assists. The guy he’s tied with, defenseman Lane Hutson, won the Calder Trophy last season as the league’s top rookie.
Yeah, these guys can score. Defensively, they aren’t quite as strong in yielding 3.00 goals per contest, which puts them more mid-pack at 14th best among the 32 teams. But when you score as often as they do, it can make up for it. They’ve already had five games of four goals or more, reaching five goals in three of them. The Kraken, by comparison, have only had two games in which they’ve reached a season-high four goals.
So, slowing these guys down with strong forechecking and tight defense – as the Kraken have done in their last two victories – is once again key.
Projected Lines/Pairings (not official):
Catton-Beniers-Eberle
Marchment-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Schwartz-Wright-Nyman
Kartye-Meyers-Winterton
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Mahura- Oleksiak
Daccord
