Seattle Kraken, San Jose Sharks

Kraken NHL Daily: ‘Must Win?’, Angry Goaltender

Kraken Must Win?

The Seattle Kraken are back on the road where they seem most comfortable, with the third most wins away from home in the National Hockey League, looking at what some might call an opportunity on Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks.

Others might call it a ‘must win’.

The Western Conference playoff chase is getting a little tighter for the lads from the Emerald City and sometimes the proverbial grip on the sticks can become a bit tighter as the standings get closer. With the Kraken having lost three in a row, we should get a pretty good idea early on in the proceedings at San Jose whether or not nerves and confidence are playing a part in it.

Since the March 3rd NHL Trade Deadline the Kraken are 3-and-3, with all three of the losses coming at home following a victory at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday, March 7th against the Anaheim Ducks.

With the Nashville Predators just six points back of Seattle for a wild card spot with two games in hand on the Kraken, Seattle’s game against the Sharks, a Pacific Division also-ran like the Ducks, takes on a certain level of urgency.

Philipp Grubauer is expected to start in net for Seattle with James Reimer going for San Jose.

The last time the Kraken went in to play the Sharks on February 20th, they were shut-out by Reimer 4-0.

Puck drop is a little after 7:30 pm pacific.

Temper Temper

Speaking of goalies; an angry one just picked up a two-game suspension. St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington will miss out on a couple of matches after picking up some secondary discipline from the NHL for his roughing and unsportsmanlike match penalty against Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild.

The 2019 Stanley Cup champion back-stop snapped at 12:25 of the 2nd period on Wednesday night at home during an 8-5 loss.

Here’s the video explanation of the incident from the NHL Department of Player Safety. It’s pretty entertaining for everyone except Hartman.

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.