Kraken Game Facts
This Evening: Ottawa Senators at Seattle Kraken
Where: Climate Pledge Arena
When: 7 pm pacific
TV/Radio: ROOT Sports / FM 93.3
Key Factors:
Expected starting goalies: Joonas Korpisalo vs. Joey Daccord
Ottawa has the worst penalty kill in the NHL.
The Senators were blown away, giving up five goals in the first period of their 6-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. Anton Forsberg started in net and was replaced by Korpisalo during the onslaught. The game turned into a slop-fest the rest of the way.
Jacques Martin took over as interim head coach of Ottawa on December 18th, replacing D.J. Smith.
Martin previously coached the Senators for eight-and-a-half seasons, a run that ended two decades ago. The oldest coach in the league at age-71, he’s running one of the youngest teams in the NHL.
With their win in the Winter Classic over the Vegas Golden Knights, the Kraken ran their current win streak to five games and their current point streak to nine. They’ve gone 7-0-and-2 during the stretch.
Daccord improved his goals against average (2.35) to 6th best in the National Hockey League, picking up his 2nd career shut-out on Monday.
Andre Burakovsky has been solid in two games since returning from injury while fellow winger Jaden Schwartz is expected back to play during Seattle’s six-game road streak. Thursday night will be his 15th game missed.
Forsberg and the Senators shut-out the Kraken 2-0 at home back on December 2nd.
Who’s Hot? And Not …
Former St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko, then a teammate of Kraken skaters Vince Dunn and Schwartz, had two goals against the Canucks on Tuesday, one week after having a two-assist affair vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has six points over six head-to-head matches against the Kraken.
35-year-old forward Claude Giroux has six points over his last five games. He has 31 points on the season, three behind team leader Tim Stützle.
For the Kraken, Eeli Tolvanen ended a four-game pointless streak with a goal and an assist against Vegas on New Year’s Day. D-man Vince Dunn, the club’s leading scorer with 31 points, added an assist.
3rd-line Center Yanni Gourde scored his first goal in 17 games.
Special Teams
The Senators went 0-for-1 on the power play against the Canucks two nights ago while allowing Vancouver a 1-for-1 evening on their man advantage. Ottawa’s PP is ranked 23rd in the league at 17.5%. Their penalty kill is dead last in the NHL at 71.4%.
The Kraken went 0-for-2 on the power play in the Winter Classic against Vegas. The Golden Knights went 0-for-1.
Overall, the Kraken are hovering around the 20% mark of respectability on the man advantage while their penalty kill has steadily improved from the start of the season, now at 79.8%.
Coming In:
Senators: 14-and-19 after Tuesday’s 6-3 loss in Vancouver. They have the 4th fewest points in the NHL.
Kraken: 15-14-and-9 following their 3-0 victory in the Winter Classic. Seattle sits 5th in the Pacific Division.
Recent Kraken:
— The Peaks And Valleys Of Kraken’s Justin Schultz
— Goalie Expert On Kraken’s Joey Daccord And Winning
