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.
Sports arenas are often loud, but rarely do attendees feel the need to check if their ears are bleeding from the din of the crowd. Soon after the Kraken tied Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Climate Pledge Arena hit a decibel level that we don’t believe had previously been achieved. Of course there have been some loud moments—the closing seconds of the win over Edmonton and Vince Dunn scoring the first-ever home Kraken goal come to mind—but this was otherworldly.
On Saturday, soon after Dunn buried Seattle’s third goal of the final period to erase a three-goal deficit, the game operations department dug into its little bag of tricks. Text appeared on the video boards, with the beginning of the Top Gun theme playing underneath. The board read, “There comes a time when winning and losing comes down to the fans. That time is now.”
Then, just as the electric guitar riff kicked into its chorus, a new message appeared, “Kraken Nation, just how loud can you get?” The crowd accepted the challenge and rose to a deafening volume.
That was not the first time the Top Gun bit had been used to stir the crowd, but it hadn’t had that kind of impact on its previous deployments.
Perhaps the reaction was an indication of pent-up energy after two dull home losses in a row. Or perhaps it was an indication that Kraken fans—despite the team’s struggles at times—are completely enamored by their home NHL franchise and wanted to show that affection yet again.
Here are our three takeaways from Saturday’s thrilling 5-4 overtime Kraken loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Takeaway #1: Wheels came off the wagon in the second period
The second period has been a period of strength for the Kraken for most of the season. If they’re trailing after the first (pretty standard) or tied but struggling to find traction, they typically tilt the ice in their favor when the second frame begins.
After a good first period in which they dominated possession in the early going but failed to score, Seattle did also get a decent start to the second period on Saturday. But then two consecutive Columbus power plays—one off a questionable call on Alex True for poking at Elvis Merzlikins and getting physically abused for doing so—got things going for the Blue Jackets.
The Kraken actually killed both penalties in impressive fashion, but Seattle playing down a man for four minutes gave the Blue Jackets momentum.
Oliver Bjorkstrand broke through first with a snipe past Philipp Grubauer, and then it was like the floodgates were open for Columbus.
When the dust settled on the second period, the Kraken trailed 4-1 after Jack Roslovic scored second for the Blue Jackets and Max Domi then got two in a row.
It appeared that the game was over as the teams headed to the dressing room.
Takeaway #2: Wheels went back on the wagon in the third period
…But then, the game wasn’t over!
You gotta hand it to the boys. As a team, they have their deficiencies, but they are a resilient bunch. After a miserable power play outing against the Jets on Thursday, they got their first and only man advantage of the game Saturday at 2:28 of the third period when Gabriel Carlsson held Alex Wennberg. After failing to register a shot in four power play attempts against Winnipeg, they quickly converted in just one attempt against Columbus.
“That was the spark that we needed in the third period, and the group talked about it earlier [Saturday] in their power play meeting,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’d been on a good run for probably close to a month where we’d been on top of it and really efficient. The last couple games we haven’t been at our level, you know, a level that we expect out of ourselves. The guys took it upon themselves to make sure they were ready to impact the game tonight, and that was a great way for them to do it.”
The funny thing about the power-play goal was that Joonas Donskoi—who still has not scored a goal all season—took the shot and appeared to believe he would get credit. He even went through the fly-by line at the bench first, a spot typically reserved for the goal scorer. But replay showed the puck had glanced off of Jaden Schwartz’s pants. Poor Donskoi. He’ll score one day.
Regardless of who scored it, it was a big goal that got the ball rolling for the Kraken.
Just 22 seconds later, the Kraken brought themselves within one when Brandon Tanev found a streaking Morgan Geekie through a seam. Geekie picked his spot on Merzlikins and fired, and suddenly Seattle was right back in the game with 16 minutes left.
Geekie’s goal marks the sixth time this season that #SeaKraken have scored two goals within two minutes of game time (we call these response goals) pic.twitter.com/iX37Eb80jP
Things went back and forth for the next 11 minutes, but you could feel the tying goal coming. The building came alive in the third period in a way that we didn’t hear in the previous two games, and when Vince Dunn scored at 15:54, Climate Pledge Arena erupted.
After such a demoralizing second period, the third created some moments that will live on in our minds for quite a while. What a comeback by the boys.
Takeaway #3: Bean… pots… the overtime winner for Blue Jackets against Kraken
Three games have gone beyond regulation time for Seattle so far. One ended in a Kraken shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings, and now the other two have been overtime losses to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Three-on-three is not something the Kraken practice very often, and as we saw when it was first instituted in the NHL, it can take some time for teams to get really good at it. So it’s not surprising to see Seattle coming up short in these situations. Still, it’s disappointing to have such an incredible comeback end in bittersweet fashion.
Interestingly, it was former Tri-City American Jake Bean who got the game winner this time. Many expected Bean to be Seattle’s pick in the Expansion Draft from the Carolina Hurricanes, but general manager Ron Francis passed on Bean. He instead selected Geekie, who coincidentally also scored Saturday and also played in the WHL for the Tri-City Americans.
Soon after the Kraken Expansion Draft, the Hurricanes traded Bean to the Blue Jackets for a second-round draft pick, and Bean then signed a three-year deal with Columbus.
After the game, Bean was asked about not getting selected by Seattle. “To be honest, it was a pretty tough day for me and my family when I didn’t get taken,” he said. “But once I got to Columbus, it’s been all Columbus, and I haven’t really thought about it since.”
Fascinating. We’re happy for Bean but also disappointed that he found the game winner Saturday.
On the goal, Marcus Johansson was tracking Domi down into the corner. He seemed to forget where he was on the ice for a moment, and backed himself right into Grubauer’s line of sight. Bean used the unnecessary screen to his advantage and fired a missile inside the far post. That was all she wrote for the Kraken after a memorable comeback against the Blue Jackets.
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 (9-15-2) versus Columbus Blue Jackets (13-11-1) 7 p.m. Pacific time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports Radio: AM 950 KJR
Emails that start with the phrase, “Out of an abundance of caution,” typically bring bad news. The Kraken sent one of those messages around 9AM on Saturday, indicating that media availability would be held via Zoom for both morning skate and for post-game following the team’s matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The last time availability was held remotely was when the team was prepping to head to Vegas for its first game ever and five players had been placed in COVID protocol. So we figured some sort of COVID-related news was coming, even before morning skate on Saturday.
Thankfully, the news wasn’t quite as dramatic this time around, though Yanni Gourde—a key piece of this Seattle team—plus Riley Sheahan and assistant coach Jay Leach have joined Colin Blackwell in protocol. Former Seattle Thunderbird Alexander True was recalled from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and is expected to be in the lineup against the Blue Jackets for his Kraken debut.
Ironically, it was True who got recalled the first time Seattle went through this in October. He even did a press conference prior to the game against the Golden Knights, in which he talked about how excited he was to be playing. But then four of the five players in protocol were miraculously cleared in time for that game, and True ended up getting scratched. It seems unlikely that a late clearance from protocol will happen this time.
Chris Driedger returning from injured reserve
Our spidey senses were also tingling over the fact that Joey Daccord was not at morning skate on Saturday. Unlike the players that had entered COVID protocol, Daccord’s name remained on the official Kraken roster on the NHL Media website, while Chris Driedger was still noted as being on injured reserve. Still, there was clearly something happening on the goalie front as well.
Sure enough, coach Dave Hakstol later confirmed that Driedger has been activated and will serve as backup to Philipp Grubauer on Saturday, while Daccord is heading back to Charlotte.
Driedger had just started to show his abilities with back-to-back wins over Florida and Buffalo before landing on IR, so his return to the goalcrease in the near future will be a welcome one.
Can Kraken keep from falling into another rut?
The last two Kraken games have been cause for concern about what might happen over the next couple weeks for this team. Typically so resilient, Seattle didn’t show much pushback against either the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 6-1 drubbing on Monday or the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-0 loss on Thursday.
Sure, there were stretches in both games when Seattle had the better of the play, but without the opportunistic scoring we were seeing during the team’s recent 5-1-1 surge, you never had the feeling in either of those contests that the Kraken were going to come out on top.
According to Alex Wennberg, the sentiment amongst the team remains positive despite the last two disappointing performances.
“The vibe is good,” he said Saturday. “Obviously sometimes you play those games where we really aren’t happy with the result or the way we’re playing. I mean, this league, it’s— obviously you look at the game and see what you can do better, but there’s a new game coming up, there’s a new opponent.”
So, can the Kraken close out this homestand with a victory over the Blue Jackets and get back to surging, or will they go back into a losing streak?
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets are a beatable team for the Kraken, but earning a win will mean getting back to the defensive structure and timely scoring that they had been displaying for a bit. When these teams played each other back in October in Columbus, Grubauer had an outstanding game but didn’t get the offensive support he deserved. As a result, the Kraken fell 2-1 to the Blue Jackets that night in overtime.
That familiarity with opponents is still a luxury the Kraken haven’t gotten too many times. “It’s nice to have some firsthand knowledge of how a team plays and how their personnel are being used,” said Hakstol. “Columbus has been a very consistent team right from day one. They forecheck very well, they skate very well, and when you look at how active their D corps can be, they can create a lot in the offensive zone with some of their motion.”
Though the game Columbus brings is consistent, the CBJ’s have had a bad run of results lately, earning just one win in their last seven games. They lost their last game 2-1 in a shootout at home against the Ducks on Thursday and dropped all four games on their last road trip, which started this skid.
When the Kraken lost to the Blue Jackets in October, it was Patrik Laine who scored the game winner in overtime. The enigmatic sharpshooter is now on injured reserve, though, and will miss Saturday’s game.
Elvis Merzlikins is expected to start in goal for the Blue Jackets. He’s had a few tough outings of late but performed well against Anaheim on Thursday, stopping 25 of 26 shots, and on the season has a 2.80 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Gavin Bayreuther, selected from Columbus in Seattle’s July Expansion Draft, will be in the lineup for Columbus in place of injured defenseman Adam Boqvist. Bayreuther was chosen by the Kraken but did not sign and instead opted to return to the Blue Jackets.
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.
