The Seattle Kraken season winds down at Climate Pledge Arena. The club hosts the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night and the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
There’s no pressure whatsoever on the local boys, yet there should be motivation.
The Kraken have already proven to be effective spoilers late this season, dealing the rival Canucks a deadly 5-0 loss at Rogers Arena on April 2nd. Vancouver has since officially tumbled out of playoff contention.
Meanwhile the Blues are feeling a bit of pressure. They’re sitting in the 2nd wild card spot in the Western Conference, but they haven’t locked it up yet. A win against the Kraken would put them one point away. A loss in Seattle means they lose control of their own destiny.
Calgary sits just three points back with a game-in-hand coming off Friday night’s 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild are clinging to the 1st wild card spot, via tie-breakers, even with St. Louis with 93 points.
A recent 12-game winning streak catapulted the Blues into a playoff position, but they’ve dropped two games in a row since then and only have two remaining.
The Kings are battling for something completely different, but to them, just as important. They know they’re going to the playoffs, but they need to hold off the Edmonton Oilers for home ice advantage in the first-round. The Oilers have defeated the Kings in the 1st-round three consecutive years.
LA is two points ahead with a game-in-hand on the Oil’, and may or may not need the win on Tuesday.
Other than spoiler motivation, the Kraken are wrapping up a disappointing season that will see them finish somewhere between four and eight games under .500, depending on the results coming up.
They’ll turn their attention to a break, then the draft, free agency, and development camp for a strong group of prospects.
See you at the rink. Saturday is a 7 pm start, Tuesday 7:30.
