Seattle Kraken, Andre Burakovsky

Kraken Daily: The Hurricane Challenge, Hot Rookie

If one watches the Seattle Kraken game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday evening, it won’t take long to realize something. The Canes pressure the puck like few teams in the NHL.

They’re as aggressive as you’ll find, especially noticeable on their penalty kill as they attack the puck regardless of where it’s located. They’ll take the chance of leaving the weak side open by charging the point of attack.

Kraken fans at Climate Pledge Arena saw it firsthand back on October 17th when the Hurricanes skated in and defeated Seattle 5-1. Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov scored twice. A rare stat from that game: The Canes had 0 giveaways.

Last season the two clubs split their season series with a couple of one-goal games. The Kraken won on home ice 2-1 in November 2021 while the Hurricanes picked up a 3-2 victory in Raleigh in March.

A Kraken win Thursday night would not only even up this year’s season series, but it would give Seattle a 2-and-2 record on this challenging four game road trip before returning home to take on the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.

Seattle defenseman Jamie Oleksiak will sit out his third and final game of his three-game suspension. We’ll learn of D-man Justin Schultz’s availability at the morning skate. He missed the game in Tampa due to an upper body injury and is considered day-to-day.

Matty’s Mark

Matty Beniers of the Kraken continues to lead all NHL rookies in scoring with 23 points and in the goals category with eleven.

Matias Maccelli of the Arizona Coyotes is second in the race with 20 points.

Beniers is third in overall Kraken scoring, one point behind Jordan Eberle and four behind Andre Burakovsky. Jared McCann leads the team in goals with 13.

Speaking of 13, that’s how many road points Beniers has this season, a point-per-game clip that leads the club.

Birthday Boys

Kraken PR came up with this nifty one. In their history on game days that coincide with player birthdays, the Kraken are 4-and-1. They bring up the topic because Thursday marks Yanni Gourde’s 31st birthday.

Thursday’s start time in Raleigh is a little after 4 pm pacific.

Enjoy the Hockey Action!!

Rob Simpson

Rob Simpson has covered the NHL in five different decades. He’s authored 4 books on hockey and is a veteran TV and radio play-by-play man and reporter.