10 for 10: 10 data points from Seattle Kraken games 51–60
The Seattle Kraken’s signature win on Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes marked Game 60 of the season, which means it’s time for another 10 for 10. If you’re new here, this series pulls together 10 data points from the last 10 games to help show where the Kraken are trending, what’s working, and what still needs attention as the playoff race tightens.
Let’s jump in.
Data Point 1: How they fared
The Kraken went 7-3-0 over their last 10 games, beginning on Jan. 25 against the New Jersey Devils. When you compare that stretch to the other Pacific Division contenders and the wild-card hopefuls, you can see how they’ve positioned themselves firmly in the playoff race.
Data Point 2: Change over the season in the Pacific Division
One fascinating trend this year is the shifting landscape of the Pacific Division. The top five Pacific teams from last season have all seen significant dips in points percentage, while the bottom three have taken major steps forward and are now in playoff contention. No other division has seen a swing this dramatic.
Data Point 3: Holding on to leads
This chart is a bit of an eye-sore, but I stumbled across it over the weekend and couldn’t look away. The Kraken have won 100 percent of the games in which they held a two-goal lead at any point. They’re one of just three teams with a perfect record (23-0-0) in that situation.
If you look one column to the left, their 69.0 percent win rate when holding a one-goal lead is right around league average.
Data Point 4: Goals against (minus empty-net goals)
We knew in the offseason that new head coach Lane Lambert would bring a more defensive mindset and structure to the 2025–26 Kraken. That was on full display early in the season as Seattle squeaked out low-scoring wins by minimizing goals against. Things slipped a bit in Games 21–30 and 41–50, but the last 10 games have been outstanding in terms of limiting goals allowed.
Data Point 5: Goals for (minus empty-net goals)
Goal scoring remains an area of opportunity for the Kraken. They’ve struggled for much of the season, and it’s been a recurring theme in national media skepticism about their playoff chances.
Their 2.9 goals for (minus empty-net goals) over the last 10 games is still in the bottom half of the league, but it’s encouraging to see improvement.
Data Point 6: Goals by player (excluding empty-net goals)
Digging deeper into the scoring, Shane Wright and Matty Beniers led the way over the last 10 games with four goals each, excluding empty-netters. Jordan Eberle scored five goals in that span, but two came into an empty net.
Data Point 7: Home is where the wins are
If you’ve been attending games this season, you’ve probably felt a little extra pep in your step walking out of Climate Pledge Arena.
It gets better: in calendar year 2026, the Kraken are 8-2-1 at home.
Data Point 8: Winning in the division
The Kraken are also showing up against their Pacific Division opponents, posting the best points percentage within the division.
Data Point 9: Expected to lose
It’s no secret that much of the national media is betting against the Kraken making the playoffs. With so many analysts based in the Eastern time zone, I’m guessing they’re not staying up late for Kraken games, and if they are, they might be more inclined to watch the flashier West Coast teams like the Sharks or Ducks. I’ve got no problem with that, but it does mean they lean heavily on publicly available advanced analytics.
One category they often rely on is “expected goals” models. For those unfamiliar, expected goals (xG) estimates the likelihood that a given shot becomes a goal based on factors like shot location, shot type, pre-shot movement, game state, and more. They’re useful directional indicators of how well a team played, regardless of the actual result.
In a single game, the sum of expected goals for minus expected goals against is often used to determine who “should have” won. Over the season, these accumulate into an expected goal differential.
The Kraken rank 29th in expected goal differential but 17th in actual goal differential (excluding empty-net goals). Knowing how these stats are used, it’s easier to understand the national pessimism.
Public models are great tools, I use them all the time, but they’re incomplete and can sometimes be misleading. I’m not declaring this a playoff team with certainty, but I’ve long believed the Kraken do something different that public models don’t fully capture.
Data Point 10: Signature win and shot suppression
This 10-game segment closed with a signature win in Game 60, when the Kraken beat one of the NHL’s best teams, the Carolina Hurricanes. Some fans expressed concern about the shot count, but I felt comfortable with how Seattle was playing. After the first period, I thought they had a formula to win. Sure enough, they scored twice in the second (and had a third goal negated by an offside challenge) and held on for a 2–1 victory.
The reason I believed they had a shot was the way they limited Carolina’s quality opportunities. To illustrate, look at the Hurricanes’ shot attempts over their last four games.
It’s clear Seattle did the best job of limiting high-danger attempts in front of the net. Don’t get me wrong — it wasn’t easy, and Joey Daccord still had to play a terrific game, but it was a full-team effort to suppress Carolina’s chances.
Taken together, these 10 games showed a team sharpening its defensive identity, finding just enough offense, and banking points at the right time. There’s still plenty to prove, but the Kraken continue to hang around and make things interesting.
