Kraken Break
The Seattle Kraken will catch a quick breath at home for an off-day on Sunday before lacing them back up for a Martin Luther King Day matinee special at Climate Pledge Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. The next night they’re in Edmonton to take on the Oilers who will be seeking revenge for a 5-2 loss to Seattle that started the Kraken’s amazing seven-game road trip.
“We’re a good team, we play hard together,” Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said Saturday night. “We’re in the hunt for a playoff spot, it’s nothing more, nothing less than that. I’m not trying to downplay or overplay anything, that’s what it is. We’ve made progress since last year. This is a team that takes pride in playing hard together and they deserve the results they’ve gotten to this point.”
Seattle went undefeated on the trip, outscoring opponents 37-15 along the way. With Saturday night’s 8-5 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Kraken have now scored eight-plus goals in a game on four occasions this season. The next closest NHL team are the Buffalo Sabres with two eight-goal games.
“It’s been a lot of fun, it’s been a special road trip for everybody,” Seattle Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen said with a smile after the Chicago win. “We knew it was going to be a tough trip and I think we did pretty well on this trip.”
The newest member of the organization, picked up on waivers from the Nashville Predators in mid-December, the 23-year-old native of Finland has scored five goals and added two assists over his first eight games with the club. Since he joined the line-up on January 1st, Seattle remains undefeated.
Kraken “Canner”
Sniper Jared McCann, an eight-year pro’ and a 2nd-year Seattle Kraken, tallied his first career hat trick on Saturday night in Chicago.
“It’s great, but we’ve gotta move on,” McCann said. “We take it one game at a time, I know it’s cliché to say that all the time, but we’ve gotta focus on Tampa next and then we have to focus on Edmonton.”
The Seattle Kraken will finally get a break from this gruelling yet productive stretch a week from Sunday. After the games against the Lightning and Oilers, Seattle plays the New Jersey Devils at home on Thursday night and then hosts the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. They begin a three day break on the game calendar starting on January 22nd.
