No details yet, but just as two Seattle Kraken forwards returned to the line-up, the club may have lost its leading scorer.
Andre Burakovsky, with his 39 points in 49 games to lead the well balanced club, left Tuesday night’s 4-0 loss to the New York Islanders early in the 1st period and didn’t return. It’s a lower body injury and based on the lack of contact during his brief appearance, we won’t assume, but we’ll just suggest a possible groin issue.
Players can be particularly susceptible to such things when coming off a long break, such as ten days without a game, and then jumping back in full speed. The club likely won’t announce a prognosis but we may get a loose timeline.
Kraken Returnees
NHL rookie leading scorer Matty Beniers returned to the line-up after missing two Kraken games prior to the NHL All-Star break. The “garbage” hit that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers delivered to Beniers on January 25th at Climate Pledge Arena ultimately cost Beniers a trip to those All-Star festivities.
He returned and played 15:52 against the Isles, picked up one shot-on-goal and delivered two hits. Active physicality is a good sign as it relates to his full recovery. Rusty in the face-off circle, Beniers loss almost 80% of his draws.
Jaden Schwartz returned from a lower body malady that saw him miss eight games. He ended up playing 16:31 with three shots on goal and three blocked shots.
As a team, the Kraken took some time to find their legs coming out of the bye week and All-Star break. The Islanders had played Monday night in Philadelphia in a win against the Flyers, and definitely had a better rhythm and feel for things.
The Kraken remain without defenseman Justin Schultz, who has been skating but could miss a bit more time with an acute upper body issue.
