A tantalizing tidbit from Kraken PR; Seattle owns a 5-1-and-1 record in games played north of the border. That’s where they are Tuesday night in what should be a very entertaining match against the Winnipeg Jets.
— Watch Simmer preview the game live, or on tape later, at 11 am pacific on Winnipeg Sports Talk —
It’s the first time the Kraken will play this season at the Canada Life Centre. The two previous matches unfolded at Climate Pledge Arena.
There was the infamous Sunday, November 15th game that saw the Jets prevail in overtime 3-2 after Andre Burakovsky coughed up a puck after holding on to it for too long.
Good came out of it. Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol called a special practice to work on 3-on-3 overtime that week, with the team never having won a game in the NHL OT format. The Kraken would win the very next two, on Thursday 3-2 over the New York Rangers and on Saturday by the same score against the LA Kings.
On December 18th, the Kraken beat the Jets in regulation 3-2, with Jared McCann scoring the game winner with four-and-a-half minutes remaining. Seattle trailed 2-1 entering the third period.
Ouch Matty
Originally a “game time decision” it appears Matty Beniers will play in Tuesday night’s game according to Hakstol. The NHL’s leading rookie scorer blocked a shot in the closing seconds of the win at Philadelphia on Sunday that almost kept him out of the line-up.
Fortunately his issues had nothing to do with the head injury he sustained back on January 25th that forced him to miss two games. He’s been back for four, including the 4-3 win over the Flyers.
Kraken So Special
While the Kraken penalty kill has gradually improved over the previous three weeks, the power play has slipped some. Neither would be considered in elite territory. The PK is above 70% but still next-to-last in the NHL. The power play is now operating at just under 20%, looking to find itself as the playoff stretch drive begins in earnest.
The Jets feature the league’s 2nd-best penalty kill at an impressive 83.7% while their power play is a very respectable 22.5%, 13th best in the NHL.
Philipp Grubauer will get the start in net for the Kraken.
Puck drop is a little after 5 pm pacific on Tuesday.
Enjoy the Hockey Action!!
