There’s always a little mental dance being done in warm-ups, as we watch carefully to try to determine if any Kraken players are missing. Absences typically reveal themselves during line rushes, which come about five minutes into the pre-game skate. When those line rushes start, we take inventory. Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson, check. Morgan Geekie, Ryan Donato, and Joonas Donskoi, got it. Haydn Fleury with Mark Giordano, ok. Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz… WAIT A MINUTE! Giordano and Fleury?! Where’s Jamie Oleksiak? That pretty much sums up what went through our minds as the Kraken prepared to take on the Oilers Saturday.
What a strange week this has been. As Giordano said, it felt like the beginning of the pandemic all over again, as news was breaking almost by the minute that more players, coaches, and staff had been added to COVID protocol, and more teams were being shut down. Even up until game time on Saturday, we still weren’t entirely convinced that the Kraken and Oilers would play.
Not that the pattern has changed in the past couple of days but since they've broken 100… pic.twitter.com/zwVCtYksf2
But play they did, even as Edmonton dressed fewer than the usual 20 players. With five guys in COVID protocol and more injured, the Oilers were out of cap space to fill their roster, so they played with 19.
Seconds after we noticed Oleksiak’s absence, Kraken public relations confirmed that he was in COVID protocol. After seeing how things have transpired around the league with such rapid transmission throughout teams, the news felt heavier than the previous times Seattle has made such announcements this season. With two games already postponed—Sunday’s game against the Maple Leafs and Thursday’s game in Calgary—the Oleksiak revelation felt especially ominous.
You probably aren’t here for a bunch of COVID talk, though, because you’re certainly getting plenty of it elsewhere, so let’s get to our Three Takeaways from a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Takeaway #1: Turbo Tanev injured
Adding injury to viral infections (is that the saying?) William Lagesson of the Oilers hit Kraken fan favorite, Brandon Tanev, hard into the boards behind the Edmonton net late in the third period. It was a good, clean hip check and looked innocuous. As the play went the other way, though, Tanev didn’t get up.
Our initial hope was that it was a bad Charley horse, and he would shake it off. But he stayed down on all fours until the training staff came and looked after him. He was then helped to the bench and down the tunnel putting minimal or no weight on his right leg.
Coach Dave Hakstol did not have an update after the game, but from our vantage point, it didn’t look good. Here’s hoping for a Turbo-speed recovery.
Takeaway #2: The structure was there, but the possession was not
This was a different type of loss for Seattle from what we’ve seen in previous defeats. The team didn’t make too many glaring mistakes, it got good goaltending from Chris Driedger, and it had opportunistic scoring. Goals by Donato, Jared McCann, and Carson Soucy came despite Seattle not throwing that many pucks at Stuart Skinner, who looked shaky early on but made some huge saves as the game progressed.
The problem on Saturday was simply puck possession, which isn’t a typical difficulty of the Kraken. Edmonton took a hair over 70 percent of the five-on-five shot attempts in the game, which indicates an enormous share of the possession time. Unsurprisingly, the Oilers more than doubled the shots on goal of the Kraken, registering 41 to Seattle’s 17.
Those numbers would also paint the picture of an utterly dominant performance by the Oilers, but it really didn’t feel like that. The Kraken did have pretty good structure, limited odd-man rushes, and kept most shots to the outside, but when you allow that many shots to get to your goalie, some of them are eventually going to find the back of the net.
The best example of what can happen when teams throw a bunch of shots at your net came on Warren Foegele’s controversial game-winning goal.
Evan Bouchard shot from well out, as was the case so many times on Saturday. Driedger made the save, but the rebound popped up in the air. Giordano leveled Foegele, but he did so right into his goalie and also propelled the puck into the net. It was waived off for goalie interference, but an Edmonton challenge was successful and brought the game to 4-3.
The Kraken don’t really make a mistake on this play. The shot comes from the perimeter, and Giordano is clearing the bodies out from the front of the net, exactly like he’s supposed to do. But again, if enough pucks get through, eventually a team gets a bounce, and it goes in.
Takeaway #3: Ryan Donato keeps producing
We thought we should close this one out with a slice of positivity because there’s just too much doom and gloom in the world right now. So let’s talk about Donato scoring goals in three consecutive games and playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with a young fan during warm-ups.
We wondered aloud in our preview for Saturday’s game if Donato’s move to the third line was a direct result of him scoring goals in two games in a row. Donato and Donskoi (Donnie and Donnie) moved back to a trio centered by Geekie. Geekie is more offensively dangerous than Alex True, who had been centering that all-former-Shark line, so we thought it might be a sign that Hakstol was trying to give Donato a chance to build on his offensive success.
“Yeah, you know, Donnie scored again tonight,” Hakstol said. “He also had a real good chance in the third period. We put that group back together because of the familiarity that they’ve had and some of the production that they’ve had together.”
Ok, so maybe that’s not quite the “we were rewarding Donato” answer we were looking for there, but Hakstol is at least saying that he hoped the trio would show some of the production that they’ve shown in the past. Regardless of the reasoning, Donato cashed in early in the first period, when Geekie dropped him a pass and he pulled the trigger from distance, slipping it through the wickets on Skinner.
It really is great to see Donato scoring goals and playing with confidence. He has worked hard, been a healthy scratch at times, and done everything asked of him in third- and fourth-line roles. “It just starts going in and you just got to continue to do the same work that you’re doing,” he said Saturday about the confidence he’s showing. “I mean, if you kind of take your foot off the gas, I think those opportunities and those chances don’t really come your way.”
He does need to work on his Rock, Paper, Scissors game, though.
Ryan Donato just lost a game of rock, paper, scissors for a puck. Delivered it through the camera hole.
Said Donato, “When you can do something like that, I mean, it’s so simple and easy, and it can make a kid’s day. I’m all for it.”
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Seattle Kraken versus Edmonton Oilers 7 p.m. Pacific Time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports, CBC, SportsNet Radio: AM 950 KJR
The Kraken are set to play the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday… we think.
The COVID situation around the NHL has predictably gotten worse. In response, the league and the NHLPA released a set of enhanced protocols on Saturday morning, which call for daily testing (except on off days), more masking and social distancing, and stricter rules for players and staff while they are traveling. So far, there has been no indication that a league-wide pause is coming, but it remains a possibility, as more and more players are entering COVID protocol and more teams are being temporarily shut down.
One team that has had its games suspended is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were supposed to be Seattle’s opponent on Sunday. That game has been officially postponed with no makeup date announced so far.
As of the writing of this story, we’re still expecting the Kraken to play the Oilers on Saturday, but even that has felt tenuous. The team sent an email shortly after 1PM confirming that the game would go on.
Jesse Puljujarvi went into protocol on Saturday, bringing the Oilers to five players on the COVID list, plus head coach Dave Tippett. They delayed their flight out of Edmonton on Friday while they awaited test results. They then came to Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday morning, got tested again for COVID, and left without holding a morning skate.
Keep your expectations managed, just in case, but signs are still pointing toward a contest happening on Saturday. So, with that in mind, it’s Kraken game day!
Chris Driedger gaining trust?
The Kraken did hold morning skate on Saturday, but it was optional. In all, 10 skaters were on the ice, along with netminders Chris Driedger and Philipp Grubauer, who left Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Anaheim early due to a minor injury. He returned to practice in full on Friday and apparently avoided missing any time, saying the malady was, “Nothing crazy, just kind of an awkward hit.”
Grubauer gave up another tough goal against the Ducks, one night after Driedger played great in a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. That’s three wins in three starts for Driedger, who looks like he is moving beyond some early-season hiccups. Grubauer, meanwhile, has shown flashes of what we believe he will be for this team long-term, but there’s no question there have been some questionable goals along the way.
Coach Dave Hakstol had continued to stick with Grubauer for the lion’s share of starts, but we’re wondering if this is starting to shift as Driedger is commanding more time. Remember, Driedger got two starts in a row in Florida and Buffalo, and now gets the only start of the weekend with the postponement of Sunday’s game.
Ryan Donato’s role increasing
Since Saturday’s morning skate was optional, we’re predicting the Kraken lines and defensive pairs based on what we saw Friday at practice (see our projection below). During that session, the Triple-J line of Jaden Schwartz, Jared McCann, and Jordan Eberle remained intact, as did the Marcus Johansson, Alex Wennberg, Mason Appleton line. Ryan Donato looks like he has moved up from the all-former-Shark fourth line that he had been skating on and has ascended to the third line with Morgan Geekie and Joonas Donskoi.
We try not to read too much into these types of things because line shuffling happens all the time on every NHL team. But we’ve always wondered what it is about Donato’s game that leads him to healthy scratches and fourth-line minutes, as has been the case on his previous teams as well. Donato’s biggest strength is his shot, so he needs to be using it and scoring goals to earn more significant roles. He scored in each of his last two games, and lo and behold, he’s now on a more offensive-minded trio with Geekie and Donskoi.
Last time Kraken played Oilers was unforgettable
There was a decent amount of hype locally before the last contest between these two teams, back on Dec. 3. It was the first visit for Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the Oilers, and they were fighting for first place at the time. A thrilling 4-3 Kraken win that night launched a miserable skid for the Oilers. Edmonton lost six games in a row and dropped all the way to fourth place in the Pacific Division before stopping the bleeding with a 5-2 home win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
In that Dec. 3 game, both Draisaitl and McDavid scored and were together on the ice for practically the entire third period, as the Oilers tried desperately to level the score. Even so, Seattle did a good job of minimizing the damage caused by the dynamic duo that night by working together as a five-man unit to take away space from the two superstars.
Interestingly, McDavid hasn’t scored a goal since that last visit to Seattle. Draisaitl scored twice against Boston on Dec. 9, but has also been held goalless otherwise.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi, Duncan Keith, Ryan McLeod, and Devin Shore are all in COVID protocol for the Oilers. Zach Hyman is day to day with an injury, and Mike Smith and Kris Russell are on IR.
Stuart Skinner is expected to start in net. He looked quite shaky in the last matchup between these two teams, so let’s see if Seattle can get to him early.
There are memorable games, and there are forgettable games. Wednesday’s 4-1 Kraken loss to the Anaheim Ducks is one that you would file under “forgettable.” Seattle came out flat as a pancake, and an outstanding Anaheim team took advantage with two first-period goals. It was 3-0 before the Kraken got on the board, and the pushback was—as we’ve seen a few times over the past couple weeks—way too little and way too late.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a uninspiring Kraken loss to the Ducks.
Takeaway #1: Philipp Grubauer leaves with injury
Our Twitter mentions were once again ablaze with fans who weren’t loving Philipp Grubauer’s play through two periods on Wednesday. The first goal was certainly not on him, as Jared McCann got taken out on the backcheck and crashed into his netminder just before the shot. But Grubauer also gave up a short-handed goal to Derek Grant in the opening frame that he would have wanted back.
Though this goal was off a two-on-one rush, Grant shot from reasonably far out with no screen or deflection, yet it went right through the wickets. As a goalie, this is the kind of shot you absolutely hate letting in. We’ve seen goals like this—unscreened, from distance, right through the goalie—on too many occasions. When these go in, it tends to deflate a team, and the Kraken already looked to have minimal air in their tires.
If you’ve been following along both here and on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, you know we’ve been big defenders of Grubauer through the first two months of this inaugural season. We still firmly believe that he will get to a level that we all expected coming in, and he has shown flashes of this, but finding consistency has taken longer than any of us would have liked.
The big story on the Grubauer front, though, was his exit after two periods due to injury. Midway through the frame, Sam Carrick went hard to the net, and Jaden Schwartz laid a big hit on him right in the crease. Carrick bounced off Schwartz and crashed into Grubauer, who was slow to get up. Oddly, Schwartz and Carrick both got penalties on the play, though we aren’t convinced either player deserved a call. Also odd, there was no physical response from Seattle after their starting goalie got run by Carrick.
Grubauer gutted it out for the rest of the period, but he was seen talking to the medical staff during a TV timeout and looked to be in some discomfort. He exited after the second period and was replaced by Chris Driedger.
Coach Dave Hakstol did not have much of an update after the game, but confirmed it was injury that led to Grubauer’s departure, and also implied that it was a lower body injury without directly stating that.
Takeaway #2: Kraken were flat from the jump
There’s not much to say here, so we’ll keep it short. But the Kraken did not look like they had much jump in their legs on Wednesday against the Ducks. Sure, Seattle did play the night before in San Jose, but the fatigue associated with back-to-backs usually comes toward the end of the second game, not the beginning.
“We have to be sharper, that’s the bottom line,” captain Mark Giordano said. “Back-to-backs shouldn’t matter in this league. Everyone’s in good shape. We just weren’t sharp enough with the puck and with our reads.”
Takeaway #3: The Ducks are good
Remember the winning formula we talked about for Seattle on our last Three Takeaways? Well, the Ducks deployed that formula to perfection against the Kraken on Wednesday, and cruised to an easy win.
Give Anaheim credit. That’s a good team that came in rested and looked every bit like a club that has picked up points in eight of its last nine games. With so much youth on the roster, there’s been some expectation that the Ducks would eventually hit bumps in the road. But so far they have shown that they deserve everything they’ve gotten to this point and belong in first place in the Pacific Division.
The Kraken are going to have a hard time with this Ducks team for many years to come.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Who doesn’t love a fun, old-fashioned game of “Who blinks first?” That’s what Tuesday’s 3-1 Kraken win over the San Jose Sharks amounted to, as both teams’ goalies were playing great through two periods. It was Seattle who broke through first, and sure enough, it was Seattle that skated away with the important win over a divisional foe.
The Kraken entered the road contest with just one victory in six tries against Pacific Division teams, and as the losses have mounted this season, those within the division have been extra damaging for Seattle’s postseason hopes. Of course, there’s a massive mountain to climb if the Kraken are going to get back in the race, but taking down the Sharks on Tuesday was a good step and another good building block after a thrilling comeback ended in an overtime loss on Saturday.
Here are our Three Takeaways from an exciting 3-1 Kraken win over the Sharks.
Takeaway #1: Hockey games go by fast if there are no whistles
The first period was one of the fastest periods of professional hockey we’ve ever witnessed. Here’s how that happened. Chris Driedger made a tough save on a deflected Erik Karlsson shot and got a whistle 46 seconds into the game. Then he gloved a Lane Pederson shot at 2:51 for the second whistle. But the next stoppage didn’t come until 14:58 of the period, so a whopping 12:07 of game time elapsed between whistles.
In all, the clock stopped just six times in the first period, making for exciting hockey as the game flowed beautifully. When the dust settled on the chaotic first frame, the score was 0-0 after a good start by the Seattle netminder and perhaps an even better one by James Reimer at the other end.
Takeaway #2: Grand Larssony
The obvious play of the game came in the second period.
Driedger had just made a nice toe save, but the rebound went right to Matt Nieto on the doorstep. He collected the loose puck and pushed it around Driedger, who was down and out, for what looked like a sure goal. But out of nowhere, Adam Larsson’s stick came down at exactly the right time, and the Swedish blueliner committed…
“I mean, that’s the save the year,” Driedger said. “It’s always nice when one gets past you and your D bail you out. I think when everyone’s playing well, I can hopefully bail the guys out on a couple plays, and they bail me out a couple times.”
Driedger did rescue his mates a few times as well. Coming into this one, we were interested to see how he would perform after playing two of his best games of the year in a row against Florida and Buffalo, then going on injured reserve for the second time this season. But he picked up right where he left off and looked calm and confident.
You could tell Driedger was really tracking the puck well. When screened, goalies are trained to look around players in front of them to keep eyes on the puck. It might open up some net on the side opposite the goalie’s lean, but that’s the tradeoff to be able to see the puck.
With Seattle killing a Vince Dunn penalty in the second period, Driedger was looking around a screen to his right. When the shot came from the point, it went to the left of the body that was standing in his way. When that happens, the goalie is guaranteed to lose sight of the puck, because the path of the shot passes behind the opposing player. Driedger calmly gloved the puck down on the left side of the player, as if he saw it the whole way.
It was perhaps not the flashiest of saves or the most memorable, but saves like those show a goalie is dialed in.
There was one butt-clench moment by Driedger in the closing minutes, when Seattle’s lead had just been cut down to one. From behind the net, he tried to clear the puck himself by lifting it out of the zone, and we thought he might even be going for the empty net at the other end. He didn’t get it high enough, though, and Tomas Hertl jumped and gloved it down. Driedger dived back to his net and this time bailed himself out after the gaffe.
Asked if he was trying to score, Driedger said with a chuckle, “I mean, I think I was missing by about 10 yards. I was just trying to clear the puck. I thought I got quite a bit under it… Looking back maybe a little bit too dangerous of a play by me.”
Takeaway #3: Kraken find the winning formula against Sharks
We talked about this quite a bit over the last few weeks. We’ve determined that the winning formula for the Seattle Kraken is reliable goaltending, good defensive structure through the neutral and defensive zones, and opportunistic scoring. Seattle checked all three boxes on Tuesday, and lo and behold, got the needed win.
Yes, Driedger looked good, and yes, Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak swept pucks off the goal line to help him out. But the group as a whole kept the Sharks at tentacle’s length for most of the night.
“I can’t recall any real odd-man rushes,” Driedger said. “I thought we just locked it down really, really well. We only had one penalty kill so it was just an all-around great team effort.”
So between Driedger and solid team defense, that’s two of the three ingredients. The third ingredient came courtesy of Seattle’s third and fourth lines. The all-former-Shark line of Ryan Donato, Alexander True, and Joonas Donskoi got Seattle on the board first with a grinding effort to push the puck the length of the ice as a unit. Then Morgan Geekie made a beautiful pass off the rush—he’s made a few of those this season—to Brandon Tanev for a late insurance marker that would become needed in the end.
It was a complete team effort for the Kraken against the Sharks, the kind that we have seen on nights when Seattle has been successful this year. Now, the Kraken quickly turn their attention to the high-flying Anaheim Ducks for their second of back-to-back games on Wednesday.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The Kraken were in San Jose Tuesday night for the first time, and it turned out they had just the right-sized boat, defeating the Sharks 3-1.
Chris Driedger was the star, turning away 33 San Jose shots for Seattle (10-15-3) and nearly earning the first shutout in Kraken history. Ryan Donato and Brandon Tanev scored goals while Calle Jarnkrok finished with an empty-net score in the win.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Kraken.
Not to be outdone, Sharks goalie James Reimer matched Driedger through the first two periods before allowing a pair of scores in the third period. He made 27 saves for San Jose (15-13-1).
It was the Kraken’s second win against a Pacific Division opponent, and they improve their record to 2-5-0 within the division.
“I thought the consistency of our game tonight was excellent,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We started from the drop of the puck and we played a really solid 60-minute hockey game.”
How it played out in San Jose
Seattle scored first, at 6:23 of the third period when Donato deflected a puck that hit off a Sharks skate and past Reimer for his sixth of the season. It came at the end of a good shift from the ‘Shark’ line made up of former Sharks players Donato, Joonas Donskoi, and Alex True.
“It wasn’t a highlight reel goal,” Hakstol said. “But you know that threesome found a way to get up the ice. It was a 200-foot play and they ended up on top of the blue paint and I’m not sure exactly how the puck went in the net, but I don’t think Ryan shot it from any more than a foot or a foot and a half above the goal line.”
“it’s nice to do it against an old team and that kind of stuff,” Donato said. “But, sometimes they go out just as easily where you feel like you’re that close and it’ll find a way to stay out. So, I think it was a blessing that somehow it bounced off a couple of things and went in the net, and I’m happy.”
With a slim lead the Kraken didn’t sit back and let the Sharks come to them.
The shots were 14-12 for San Jose in the third, but Seattle matched with 10 scoring chances, four of which were of the high danger variety.
“We have been doing this sitting back for a couple of games and it doesn’t work,” Adam Larsson said. “There’s players in this league that are too good. You’ve got to go after them, you’ve got to push. We did that today and it was effective.”
Tanev would give the Kraken insurance at 14:18 of the third with a goal to make it 2-0. The play was set up by Morgan Geekie who drove the puck deep, drew in San Jose defenders, and flung a backhand pass to Tanev who was left alone in the slot. The goal was Tanev’s ninth of the season.
With their net empty San Jose would cut the lead to 2-1 with a 6-on-5 goal at 17:53 when a rebound landed on Logan Couture’s stick with an empty net to shoot at.
The Kraken would respond, however, as Alex Wennberg brought the puck up the ice and found Mason Appleton, who got it to Jarnkrok. Jarnkrok scored in the empty net at 19:54 to make the score 3-1 and end any doubt.
Driedger led the way for the Kraken
Driedger was making his fifth start of the season and first start since coming off the injured reserve list Saturday. The second period was his best with 12 saves, including two on a Sharks power play.
He didn’t do it by himself. First it was Jamie Oleksiak who cleared a loose puck off the goal line. Then moments later, Matt Nieto looked like he was going to score an easy goal but Driedger dove back and slowed it down with his stick for Adam Larsson to stop it cold on the goal line and allow for a cover.
“I just felt confident, and I thought we just locked it down,” Driedger added. “I can’t recall any real odd man rushes… I thought we just locked it down really, really well. We only had one penalty kill so it was just an all-around great team effort, and nights like that are going to be nights where it’s gonna be a little easier to stop the puck.”
Driedger did have one moment of trepidation late in the game with Seattle up 2-1.
The San Jose net was empty and Driedger had the puck on his stick with a chance to clear, or even possibly score. His shot, whether it was a clear or a shot, was batted down by Tomas Hertl and nearly put back in the net for the equalizing score if not for one of Driedger’s hustling back and sprawling to keep it out.
“I think I was missing by about 10 yards,” he said with a chuckle. “So I was just trying to clear the puck, and I thought I got quite a bit under it, and I don’t know who it was that knocked it down there. But looking back maybe a little bit too dangerous of a play by me. I mean, maybe a rim would have sufficed in that situation, but I got it and I just ripped it up quick and thought I had it over top of those guys.”
The Kraken will try to make it two in a row against the Pacific Division when they head down the coast to play the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Tentacle tales
+ Alexander True was playing against his former team, but he was also playing against a former Seattle teammate. San Jose winger Lane Pederson played with True for the 2014-15 Seattle Thunderbirds.
+ Joonas Donskoi recorded his 200th career point and became the 10th active Finnish-born skater to reach the milestone.
+ Prior to the game Tuesday, the Kraken recalled Max McCormick from Charlotte of the American Hockey League. McCormick was a scratch on Tuesday.
Seattle Kraken (9-15-3) at San Jose Sharks (15-12-1) 7:30 p.m. Pacific time SAP Center, San Jose, California TV: ROOT Sports Radio: AM 950 KJR
Things have gone haywire around the NHL these past couple days, as dozens of players across the league have landed in COVID protocol and several games have been postponed. The Kraken locker room has been infiltrated by the virus on four separate occasions this season, but so far (we’re knocking on wood and will not accept responsibility for jinxing the Kraken if more positive cases and/or postponements roll in soon) the team has done well to avoid any major outbreaks.
As the Kraken prep to take on the Sharks Tuesday, Yanni Gourde, Riley Sheahan, and Colin Blackwell remain in protocol, as does assistant coach Jay Leach. We were concerned that those cases could lead to more, but that has not proven to be true as of yet. We also wondered if the Kraken—with all of this going on—might consider bringing up an extra forward, being that their forward corps was suddenly depleted. They answered that question by recalling Max McCormick from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for his second stint with the Kraken, though we don’t expect him to play against the Sharks.
Having anybody in COVID protocol is less than ideal, but at least the Kraken will have a lineup of (mostly) NHL players ready to go for Tuesday’s game against the Sharks, and that’s better than the situations for a lot of teams currently.
“It’s scary,” Ryan Donato said of the COVID situation. “It is, but at the end of the day, we’ve been dealing with it for so long now that I think guys are used to it. It’s tough, when it happens to you, it’s obviously a little different. When you have friends and teammates that get it, it’s a little bit more nerve wracking because it could have been just as easily you or your family member.”
As of the writing of this story, nothing has really changed for the Kraken, other than media availability being held via Zoom. “There’s no new protocols at this time that are being introduced to the team,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “It’s just continued vigilance and trying to be as careful and as intelligent as we can in all situations, whether it’s at the rink, at home, or—as you know—on the road traveling. We’re doing everything we can to stay smart in that regard.”
The NHL/NHLPA have moved up their meeting of medical staffs to tonight, as a wave of positive tests caused at least two games to be postponed. Will be interesting to see what tweaks to the protocols — if any — might emerge.
NHL and NHLPA doctors are meeting with the league on Tuesday evening, so the possibility for new protocols is very real. Still, it sounds like the show will go on Tuesday in San Jose and Wednesday in Anaheim (again, we accept no jinx-related responsibility if any games end up getting postponed).
Chris Driedger in for first of back-to-back games for Kraken
The Kraken will turn to Chris Driedger to tend goal against the Sharks, which will mark his first appearance since his second visit to injured reserve started two weeks ago. Driedger had played well and earned wins in consecutive starts against Florida and Buffalo, but said he felt another “tweak” in the last couple minutes of the game against the Sabres.
Those two outings were promising, as he had just started to show how he could theoretically fit in as a reliable 1B goalie. Let’s hope he can pick up right where he left off for the Kraken as he returns against the Sharks on Tuesday.
With Driedger playing in San Jose, the plan is for Philipp Grubauer to get the nod in Anaheim on Wednesday.
“Shark” line expected to stick together
With Alexander True recalled by the Kraken prior to Saturday’s overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hakstol formed a line of all former Sharks, as True skated between Donato and Joonas Donskoi. That trio is expected to stick together to start Tuesday’s game against San Jose.
Meanwhile, Jared McCann will again center the top line between Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle (the Triple-J Line). That trio was successful through training camp and the early part of the season, but hadn’t spent significant time together since McCann landed on the COVID protocol list at the beginning of November. Reunited on Saturday, McCann did get Seattle’s first goal, assisted by Eberle, and Schwartz scored a goal off his backside, though that came on the power play and was assisted by Donskoi.
By the way, Donskoi confirmed on Tuesday that he did think he had scored his first goal of the season on that play. He added that his inability to find the back of the net has not had much of a mental impact on him, though, as he knows he’s getting chances and contributing offensively with assists.
San Jose Sharks
San Jose turned heads at the beginning of the season, getting off to a red-hot 4-0-0 start. With a young roster and a terrible COVID outbreak of its own in the early stages, the team came back down to earth and has since had some ups and downs. The Sharks did have a stretch recently in which they won five games out of six, but they are a beatable opponent for the Kraken, who are desperate to start racking up some points against divisional foes.
Erik Karlsson has looked rejuvenated this season and has 10 points in his last 10 games. In all, the smooth veteran defenseman has 18 points in 22 games. Meanwhile, another resurgence has been happening in San Jose’s goalcrease, where James Reimer has surprisingly had a great season. The 33-year-old journeyman is 9-4-1 with a 1.98 goals against average and .937 save percentage. He gets the nod for San Jose on Tuesday.
Up front, Timo Meier and Logan Couture have done the heavy lifting offensively, posting 28 and 24 points respectively.
Projected lineup
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
