The Kraken can’t return home from their current road trip with anything less than six points out of a possible eight.
Considering their position in the standings, a .500 mark on this four-gamer is unacceptable. This sea monster can’t tread water.
They took a solid first step on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes with a 4-2 victory. The Canes have dropped three games in a row while the Kraken moved to within one win of .500 for the season overall.
“It takes a 60-minute effort to beat a Carolina team, something we hadn’t done in this building in a long time,” Seattle head coach Dan Bylsma said postgame. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but the battle and the compete all game long, giving that team (just) 16 shots the entire game, five in the first, two in the second, that’s not something that happens very often.”
Bylsma considered it his club’s best 60-minute performance so far this season.
Seattle faces an inconsistent New York Islanders team on Thursday evening — both the Kraken and the Isles have earned 25 points on the season — the dynamic New Jersey Devils the next night, and the schizophrenic New York Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Seattle needs to finish with some version of a 3-and-1 record. Maybe 2-0-and-2? That’s a tall order with three games in four nights in hostile environments, but the Kraken have proven to be road warriors in the past.
The juggled forward lines – story coming – proved effective on Tuesday night. That, and Vince Dunn legitimately finding his legs and his game after a prolonged absence, should be elements that work in Seattle’s favor.
