Seattle Kraken fans get the rare treat of seeing the most exciting player in the world on Saturday afternoon when Connor McDavid brings his Edmonton Oilers to Climate Pledge Arena.
McDavid touts stat totals for the season far and above those of mere mortals, 57 goals and 131 points, 30 more than the next guy, teammate Leon Draisaitl.
It’ll be interesting to see how Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol handles match-ups with McDavid. It’s dangerous to just roll lines and hope for the best. The opposite extreme, particularly with the advantage of last change on home ice, is to shadow McDavid with the same player and group whenever possible, each and every time he’s on the ice.
The last time the Oilers stopped by on January 30th, it didn’t go so well. Edmonton scored three goals in the first 3:55 of the first period, starting Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer got yanked and replaced by Martin Jones at that point, and the Oilers went on to win 7-2.
The teams then split a pair of games two weeks apart in Edmonton, the Kraken winning 5-2 on January 3rd and the Oilers winning by the same score on the 17th. This is the final regular season meeting for the clubs. They’re both on a trajectory that could see them face each other in the first round of the playoffs.
Kraken And Mr. Dunn
Speaking of players doing things others haven’t been able to do this season, Vince Dunn has definitely worked some magic for the Kraken from the blueline. That includes scoring Thursday night’s game winning goal in overtime against the Sharks in San Jose.
Dunn enters the game versus the Oilers riding an 11-game point streak, one in which he has tallied four goals and 12 assists along the way. It’s the longest point streak in Kraken team history and the longest of the 26-year-old lefty’s career.
If he picks up a point against Edmonton, he would join Erik Karlsson of the Sharks as the only NHL D-men this season to have point streaks of 12 games or longer. Karlsson’s lasted 14 games, involved 22 points tallied, and was snuffed out on January 7th against the Boston Bruins.
A Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, Dunn also just happens to lead the Kraken in scoring with 56 points, three more than forward Jared McCann.
— Puck drop for the Saturday matinee is a little after 1 pm pacific.
