One of the fun byproducts of the Kraken being a second year franchise is setting new standards on a frequent basis. With success comes new records, records that will eventually be broken again and again one would think, unless of course this season becomes one big massive milestone.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but at the same time feel free to enjoy the spoils regardless of their depth and duration. The Kraken’s communications staff does more than a thorough job keeping track of what marks have been set and what other marks might soon be eclipsed.
Records Set
With the 8-5 win against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night, the Kraken set or tied a handful of records. It’s the third time in franchise history that the club has won three consecutive home games, the previous streaks having occurred starting in November 2021 and April 2022.
The eight goals was the most the club has ever scored in a single game and the total of 13 between the two clubs is also a record for a Seattle NHL game. Seven different goal scorers for Seattle is a single game record and 14 different point getters ties the franchise mark.
The Sharks are the first franchise the Kraken have defeated four times. On the flip-side, Seattle has never defeated Friday night’s opponent, the Vegas Golden Knights. Such a transition …
Record Approached
With a win in Vegas, not only would the Kraken beat the ‘Vegas Born’ for the first time, they would also have the franchise’s first ever four game road winning streak.
More important than all of the aforementioned, especially when considering playoff possibilities, is the fact the Kraken earned their 11th victory of the season on November 23rd. Last season they didn’t win their 11th until January 17th. To put it in even clearer terms; that’s 11 wins in 19 games rather than in 38, half as many.
Based on Edmonton Oilers GM Kenny Holland’s original loose hypothesis from years ago when he was still working in Detroit, teams in the playoffs at American Thanksgiving generally stay in the playoffs.
Naturally, the actual number of who hangs on and who doesn’t has been converted to digits.
It turns out Kenny was being a bit too generous, at least in today’s NHL. Now, approximately 75% of the teams that are above the playoff cut-off line the fourth weekend in November will remain there. Kraken fans can hope their club is part of the three-quarters.
As for individual accomplishments, the numbers reflect the young age of the franchise. Monitoring this can get a bit out of hand with 20 or so players setting new personal records each and every week depending on productivity.
A couple of the important one’s right now: Morgan Geekie is second in the league with three game winning goals, and the Kraken are the only NHL club with three defenseman with at least three goals. That would be Jamie Oleksiak, despite him missing four games, Vince Dunn, and Justin Schultz.
One gets the picture. Records are fun to break as long as one keeps breaking them.
