The Seattle Kraken should assume nothing, always dangerous, but one would think the Montreal Canadiens might be a bit fatigued and discombobulated after Monday night’s 7-6 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Less than 24 hours after wrapping up a gong show at Rogers Arena, one in which the Habs blew leads of 4-0 and 6-5, the bleu, blanc and rouge will stumble into Climate Pledge Arena for a date with the Kraken, a team looking to bounce back from a 5-1 loss Saturday night to the Florida Panthers.
It’s also the Habs third game in four nights, having lost to the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Saturday.
One would expect to see Jake Allen and Martin Jones between the respective pipes.
As advertised, the game will feature the return of Kraken center Shane Wright to the NHL line-up following his five game stint in the American Hockey League. He had a been a consistent healthy scratch in Seattle, tallying one assist over seven games and having last played against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 5th.
With renewed confidence and some AHL ice time under his belt, Wright will get a fresh look. It doesn’t hurt that 4th-line center Morgan Geekie has been on the shelf for three games with an upper body injury, although the team likely planned to get Wright back into the line-up regardless.
Kraken Vs. Habs
The Kraken went 2-and-0 against Montreal last season. The first win happened to be the franchise’s first ever home victory, 5-1 on October 26th, 2021. Seattle also beat the Habs 4-3 in a shoot-out at the Bell Centre on March 12th.
The Canadiens feature a trio of young stars. First year captain Nick Suzuki leads the team with 28 points, 14 of them goals. The 23-year-old had a goal and an assist Monday night in Vancouver.
A pair of 21-year-olds, Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach are next with 23 and 18 points respectively.
The Habs run a power play ranked 29th in the NHL while the penalty kill rates 12th.
