Kraken Game Facts
Monday Evening: Boston Bruins at Seattle Kraken
Where: Climate Pledge Arena
When: 7:00 pm pacific
TV/Radio: Root Sports / FM 93.3
Key Factors:
Starting goalies: Linus Ullmark vs. Philipp Grubauer
Eleven nights ago the Kraken beat the Bruins 4-1 in Boston. That didn’t sit well with the Atlantic Division leaders, particularly since they lost to Seattle on home ice last season as well.
In their most recent game on Saturday, the Bruins blew a two-goal, late 3rd-period lead in Vancouver and lost 3-2 to the Canucks in overtime.
Let’s just say the visitors to Climate Pledge Arena on Monday night won’t be lacking motivation.
By the way, the Bruins have gone to overtime in five straight games, winning two of them. Two of the games went to a shoot-out.
Boston is tied with the most points in the Eastern Conference (81) with the New York Rangers, just one point behind the NHL leading Canucks.
The Bruins lost veteran defenseman Hampus Lindholm to an undisclosed injury last week and he’s considered week to week.
Meanwhile, this is the 4th game for the Kraken on their current six-game homestand and the first of five overall for the club prior to the NHL trade deadline on March 8th.
Seattle looked like world beaters in handling the Vancouver Canucks on Monday before falling flat against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday. Now in the early portion of the playoff push, it’s not a time for inconsistency.
The Kraken remain healthy. Head coach Dave Hakstol has options and it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see a change or two to the line-up from two nights ago.
Who’s Hot? And Not?
Before going pointless in his last two games, Bruins leading scorer David Pastrnak had 15 points over his previous ten games. He’s 4th in the NHL in scoring with 82 points.
Boston Captain Brad Marchand, the team’s 2nd leading scorer (52), has just two points over his last six games.
Forward Charlie Coyle (pictured) had two goals in Calgary against the Flames on February 22nd, but overall has just three points over his last eight games. He’s the club’s 3rd leading scorer (48).
Veteran winger James van Riemsdyk is pointless in his last five games.
For Seattle, Jared McCann picked up an assist on Thursday night and now has a career high seven-game point streak. He has 25 points over his last 17 games.
Jordan Eberle is averaging a goal-a-game over his last four and is averaging a point-a-game over his last 15.
Fellow veteran forward Jaden Schwartz has just one point over his last nine games, while winger Andre Burakovsky is frozen. He hasn’t scored a goal in 16 games and has just four assists during that span.
Special Teams
Boston went 0-for-4 on the power play on Saturday in Vancouver while allowing the Canucks to go 1-for-2 on their man advantage. The Boston PP clicks a solid 22.8% of the time on the season, 10th best in the NHL, while the PK is also a respectable 81.5%.
Saturday night was not pleasant for the Kraken on special teams. They went 0-for-5 on the power play against a Wild team that came in with the 3rd worst penalty kill in the league. Meanwhile, Minnesota went 2-for-6 on the power play, one of the goals coming on a 5-on-3 advantage.
The season percentage for Seattle on the PP is 20.9%. The penalty kill operates successfully 79% of the time.
Coming In:
Bruins: 34-12-and-13, in 1st place in the Atlantic Division with 81 points. Boston lost 3-2 in OT on Saturday evening to the Vancouver Canucks.
Kraken: 24-22-and-11, in 6th place in the Pacific Division with 59 points. Seattle lost to the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Saturday night.
Recent Kraken:
— An Ugly Night For The Kraken Across The Board
