Head coach Dan Bylsma has experimented this season with sitting some players to send a message, often seeing dividends when they return. Today, we’re focusing on the “third” line featuring Shane Wright, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Eeli Tolvanen to see how this trio has jelled since Wright and Bjorkstrand were held out of the lineup for varying lengths of time. First, let’s look at each player individually.
Shane Wright
Earlier this season, we analyzed Shane Wright’s progression. At that time, Wright was doing the (W)right things but wasn’t putting up points, tallying just two through his first 10 games. Over the next few weeks, he still wasn’t producing, and his ice time dropped from 13:33 to a season-low 8:34 on Nov. 16.
Recognizing the need for a “reset,” Bylsma benched Wright for three games. The coach said this on Wright’s development: “He’s matured as a player over the last year and a half. But in training camp, he was playing his best hockey as a Kraken, and he just needed to reset and get focused on playing that way again.”
Since rejoining the lineup, Wright has been on fire, averaging a point per game with 12 points in his last 12 outings.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Before Wright’s healthy scratching, Bjorkstrand faced a similar fate, being benched for one game against the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5. Bjorkstrand struggled offensively early in the season, posting just five points in 13 games. Upon returning to the lineup on Nov. 8, he has amassed 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 19 games. More notably, 13 of those points came in the last 12 games, coinciding with Wright’s return.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Bjorkstrand is now on pace for 28 goals, potentially tying his career best. There are two key takeaways from this pace:
In his previous 28-goal season with Columbus, Bjorkstrand averaged nearly 18 minutes of ice time per game. This season, he’s averaging just 15:27, highlighting his efficiency.
Most of his production has been at 5-on-5. Bjorkstrand has only five power-play points, accounting for 23 percent of his total, compared to 34 percent over the last two Kraken seasons. During his recent 12-game scoring burst, four of his 13 points came on the power play (31 percent).
Eeli Tolvanen
Like Bjorkstrand and Wright, Eeli Tolvanen faced early season struggles. Though he hasn’t watched a game from the press box, Tolvanen had only six points through Nov. 23. Since Wright’s return, Tolvanen has recorded nine points (three goals, six assists) in 12 games. With eight goals on the season, he’s on track for his first 20-goal campaign, a possible career high.
Eeli Tolvanen
Tolvanen has also seen a reduction in his ice time, averaging 13:34 per game—1:30 to 2:00 less than his average over the last two seasons. Despite this, he has still found success. He continues to contribute both offensively and defensively, maintaining his value on the ice.
Emergence of the third line
The Kraken coaching staff has experimented with different line combinations due to injuries, illnesses, and matchups. The Wright, Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen line has now played together for 22 games, the second-most consistent line for Seattle this season. Per Moneypuck.com, they lead all Kraken forward lines with 4.15 goals per 60 minutes (minimum 50 minutes played). Defensively, they’ve been strong, allowing only three goals during those 22 games.
The most frequent line was Tye Kartye, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev, who played 26 games together but are currently split up as the Kraken search for a more sustained scoring threat.
5-on-5 play
Over the last 12 games, the Wright line has excelled at cycling the puck, forcing turnovers, and creating high-danger chances. All eight of their 5-on-5 goals during this stretch have come from the high slot or in front of the net.
Here are some example goals. From left to right: Bjorkstrand goal, Tolvanen goal, Wright goal.
These clips highlight the chemistry between the forwards and emphasize what coach Bylsma describes as “connected play.” Seven of their eight goals included either Wright, Bjorkstrand, or Tolvanen providing the primary assist. The lone exception was a deflection goal by Bjorkstrand off a Montour shot, but both Wright and Tolvanen were involved in winning the face-off and controlling the puck.
Power play
While this trio doesn’t play on the same power play unit, they’ve combined for 12 power-play points and seven goals during this span. Wright and Tolvanen, who both play on the second power play unit, continue to excel when on the ice together.
Ice time increasing
The trio’s success has resulted in increased ice time. Using Nov. 25 (Wright’s return from his “reset”) as the cutoff, here is each player’s average ice before Nov. 24, after Nov. 25, and an average of the last three games.
Will they stick together?
As this article was being written, news broke of the Kaapo Kakko trade, which could once again shuffle the lines. Injuries, game-day matchups, and roster changes ensure no line is ever truly set in stone. However, in the short term, the Wright, Bjorkstrand, and Tolvanen line has emerged as Seattle’s most productive combination. With all three on pace for career-best seasons, the hope is that this combination can stay intact and continue delivering results.
Despite their strong individual and collective performances over the last 12 games, the Kraken have gone just 5-6-1 during this stretch. For Seattle to find sustained success, they’ll need more consistent production from the rest of the lineup.
If you have any questions, thoughts, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments below or reach out to me on my socials. My handle is blaizg on multiple platforms.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
The Seattle Kraken made a blockbuster trade on Wednesday, sending defenseman Will Borgen, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft to the New York Rangers for 23-year-old forward Kaapo Kakko.
Hailing from Turku, Finland, Kakko is already in his sixth NHL season, having tallied 61 goals and 70 assists in 330 games—all with the Rangers. He has four goals and 10 assists this season. The best output of his career to date came in the 2022-23 season when he played all 82 games for the Rangers and posted 40 points (18-22=40).
Borgen, meanwhile, heads to Broadway where the Rangers hope he will help them shore up a leaky defense corps that has contributed to New York’s slide in the Metropolitan Division standings.
“Kaapo is a young, dynamic forward who brings skill and offense to our club,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “We’re excited to have him join us. I also want to thank Will for everything he’s done for our franchise. As an original member of the Kraken, we wish him all the best in New York.”
What the Kakko Kaapo trade brings to the Kraken
Kakko was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft, and in the lead-up to that draft, there was even some discussion from pundits that he could end up supplanting Jack Hughes at No. 1. At the time, Kakko was seen as a developed skater with size and hockey IQ, ready to make an immediate NHL impact.
He hasn’t lived up to the sky-high expectations in New York, though, and with Rangers GM Chris Drury desperate to shake things up for his club, Kakko went the way of captain Jacob Trouba, who was dealt to Anaheim last week.
This trade for Kakko should help Seattle both now and in the future. He still has plenty of upside and a reasonable salary cap hit of just $2.4 million for this season. He will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the summer, meaning he will only be able to sign with Seattle but has some leverage in potentially incorporating a neutral party to determine a fair contract extension. We will talk more about that at a later date, but the point is that Kakko is likely to remain with the Kraken beyond this season.
This past week, Kakko found himself in headlines after he was surprisingly made a healthy scratch by Rangers coach Peter Laviolette on Sunday in what would turn out to be a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues.
He publicly voiced displeasure with the decision, telling Mollie Walker of the New York Post, “I haven’t been on the ice too much when [opponents] score a goal… I have not been the worst guy, but that was me out of the lineup.”
Interestingly, if you scour reactions from Rangers reporters, they seemed to agree that Kakko had not been the problem for New York. Vince Mercogliano of the USA Today tweeted, “Just my opinion, but this is a peculiar choice. If you’re going down the list of guys who have disappointed with their effort lately, I’d name at least a half dozen before I got to Kakko,” and Larry Brooks wrote on the same platform, “I don’t think Kakko has been at his best recently, but come on, he is the one singled out? Can’t be. This cannot simply be a run-of-the-mill healthy scratch.”
Our belief is that Francis made this trade looking for a player that can get to the inside to help create more dangerous chances for a team that has been starved for offense and looked incapable of generating chances the last two games. At first glance, this Kakko trade appears to be a win for Seattle, both for immediate impact and long-term potential, especially if he finds his footing in a new environment.
Best of luck, Will Borgen
It was fascinating to watch Will Borgen blossom from an unknown, oft-scratched blueliner in Seattle’s inaugural season to third-pair stalwart by the end of his tenure in Seattle. He played with an edge that few others on the Kraken carry and became a reliable player in all three zones.
During Vince Dunn’s extended absence, though, Josh Mahura filled in admirably and arguably performed better than Borgen during that time. With Borgen becoming a desirable asset around the league and playing on an expiring contract, packaging him now—well ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline—with a couple draft picks for a player of Kakko’s caliber and potential is a no-brainer.
We will remain big Borgen fans and wish him the best of luck in the Big Apple. We also worry for Matty Beniers, who will certainly be devastated to see his buddy and roommate moved on.
Sound Of Hockey will surely have more Kakko-related content in the coming days, so stay tuned. In the meantime, what do you think of this deal? Let us know in the comments.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
We’re kicking off a new series here at Sound Of Hockey: “Western Conference Wednesdays.” Every other Wednesday, we’ll check in on what’s happening elsewhere in the West as Seattle battles for playoff positioning. Each edition will feature news and notes on teams competing with the Kraken for spots, what their current trends are, and how the Kraken compare in the standings.
As of now, the Western Conference is clogged full of teams just outside the playoff picture, with many failing to separate themselves from the pack. The Kraken have been playing some mediocre hockey lately, going 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, and if they continue that trend, it will get tougher and tougher to jump over teams in the standings. Seattle currently sits at 15-16-2, with 32 points, four points out of a wildcard spot and needing to pass three teams to claim the final playoff berth.
Teams that linger in the middle of the pack this far into the season often stay there or fade out of the playoff race entirely, especially if they decide to sell in advance of the NHL Trade Deadline. That said, a few teams can and have made late surges, like Tampa Bay last season, which was 14-13-5 on Dec. 18 before climbing into the first wild card spot in the East. So, while it’s not impossible for the Kraken to turn things around, they’ll still need a lot to go right to make a push for the playoffs.
But it’s still relatively early, and the teams ahead of Seattle are facing their own struggles. Let’s take a closer look at the teams currently in the mix with the Kraken, starting with the Colorado Avalanche.
Avalanche solving goaltending woes?
One of this season’s bigger letdowns thus far has been the Colorado Avalanche, who are currently tied with Calgary for the final wild card spot in the West. At 36 points, they’re four points ahead of the Kraken but would miss the playoffs if the season ended today.
The Avalanche’s offense hasn’t been an issue—they’re tied with Vegas for the second-most goals scored in the conference, with 108. Despite having less depth with their forward group than seasons past, stars like Nathan MacKinnon (leading the league in points) and Mikko Rantanen (fourth in points) continue to drive production.
What’s held the Avs back is largely their defense and goaltending situations. With six different starting netminders used since the beginning of the season, the most of any team in the league, Colorado ranks tied for second-most goals allowed with San Jose at 114. And with a league-worst .870 save percentage, general manager Chris MacFarland needed to make a change.
After swapping Justus Annunen for Scott Wedgewood on Nov. 30, Colorado acquired Mackenzie Blackwood from the Sharks for a few assets just over a week ago, which has fueled their more recent success of four wins in their last six games. So, Colorado looks more formidable now than it did a couple weeks ago, but the shallower roster has shown signs of wear and tear this season.
The Kraken will face the Avalanche on Sunday. Head-to-head has been tough for Seattle, which has lost three straight to Colorado, including a 0-2-0 record this season.
Avalanche record: 18-15-0; 36 points Upcoming schedule: @ San Jose (Thu.), @ Anaheim (Fri.), vs. Seattle (Sun.)
Utah’s Finding Its Youthful Identity
Much like the Kraken in their inaugural season, it was uncertain how the Utah Hockey Club would fare with their new identity in a market still growing the sport. However, every game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City has been a sellout by its arena standards (the current hockey capacity is only 11,131), proving hockey is gaining traction in the area.
On the ice, Utah is holding its own in the playoff race, sitting three points out of the final wild card spot. Much of its production comes from youth, with former Seattle Thunderbird Dylan Guenther leading the team with 13 goals, and Logan Cooley contributing 19 assists and 28 points, both in 30 games played. The future looks bright for the young franchise.
Utah will make its first-ever visit to Climate Pledge Arena to face the Kraken on Dec. 30. Before that, they’ll play four of their next five games against teams currently ahead of them in the standings.
The St. Louis Blues, like many teams fighting for spots, have undergone significant changes this season. After underperforming under then-head coach Drew Bannister, the Blues quickly scooped up Jim Montgomery after he was fired by the Bruins. The change has had an immediate effect, with the Blues going 6-3-2 in Montgomery’s brief tenure, in which they have outscored opponents 32-24.
This week, the Blues added veteran defenseman Cam Fowler from Anaheim for a second-round pick and Jeremie Biakabutuka, hoping to bolster their defense and help goalie Jordan Binnington. With defenseman Torey Krug out for the season and Nick Leddy’s status uncertain, this move was crucial for St. Louis’ playoff hopes. The Kraken won’t face the Blues for a couple of months, but they’ll need to keep an eye on a team that’s starting to find its footing.
Blues Record: 15-15-3; 33 points Upcoming schedule: vs. Calgary (Thu.), @ Nashville (Sat.), @ Winnipeg (Sun.)
Other Headlines:
Former T-bird forward Keegan Kolesar signed an extension for three years with Vegas, $2.5m AAV
Defenseman Travis Dermott was placed on waivers by Edmonton and claimed by Minnesota
Ducks forward Trevor Zegras will miss six weeks after surgery for a torn meniscus
The Seattle Kraken continued their perplexing ways Tuesday with an uninspiring 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators to close out a four-game homestand at 1-2-1. What I can’t explain about this team is how the players collectively seemed to have found—and then very quickly forgotten—their identity as a group that is stout defensively and opportunistic offensively.
On their recent 3-1-0 East Coast road trip and in two strong home performances against Florida and Boston, Seattle did a lot of good things at the defensive end of the ice and got mostly solid goaltending from both Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord. They also generated those crucial timely opportunistic looks offensively—enough to earn points on most nights.
In the last two games, however, the Kraken just… haven’t looked the same. The middle of the defensive zone seems more accessible now, and at the other end, they’ve struggled to create anything on the inside against the Lightning and Senators.
Plus, once Ottawa got a squeaker of a goal in the second period on Tuesday, the team looked more deflated than it has in a while, and the pushback was—as coach Dan Bylsma said—“Not enough.”
Here are Three Takeaways from an uninspiring 3-0 Kraken loss to the Senators.
Takeaway #1: Not enough of… anything
The Kraken were on their toes to start the game and fired 15 shots at a dominant Linus Ullmark in the first 20 minutes, but they got beaten at their own game. Much like how Seattle didn’t allow much inside from Boston in a 5-1 win on Thursday, it was the Kraken who were held almost entirely to the perimeter against Ottawa.
“We threw pucks [to the net], we had the shot on our mind, I think you saw that,” Bylsma said. “But I think Ullmark saw all of them. He’s a big goalie, he’s playing well. I think we probably had to get a little more dirty than we gave him.”
When pucks started going in Seattle’s net, the Kraken gave in in a way that we haven’t seen very often, fading quietly into the night. A group that has—at times—shown resiliency this season failed to produce anything for large swaths of the game. They didn’t get a single puck through to Ullmark for about 15 minutes—from five minutes left in the second period until 10 minutes left in the third.
It just… wasn’t good enough.
Takeaway #2: Not Joey’s night
In the post-game presser, I made the rookie mistake of giving my own analysis of Joey Daccord’s game in my question to Bylsma about the goalie’s performance.
Here’s what I said: “How do you assess Joey’s game today? From playing the puck to… he has some sharp saves early on, maybe a couple [goals] that were a little uncharacteristic for him. What did you think of his game tonight?”
Here’s what Bylsma said: “I think you just described it.”
I deserved that response.
Daccord wasn’t tested often in the first period, but he did have some tricky saves through traffic and redirected pucks that made me think he was very much on his game. He even created one of Seattle’s best offensive chances of the night, sending a perfect 120-foot aerial pass to the far blue line and onto Tye Kartye’s tape for a breakaway. Of course, Ullmark shut that down, but the signs were good early on that Daccord was dialed in.
Joey Daccord hits the alley-oop pass to Tye Kartye to create a breakaway, but Ullmark shuts it down.
But in the second period, things went sideways for him. Shane Pinto scored with an unscreened shot that went through Joey’s five-hole, and Noah Gregor followed that up with another unscreened wrist shot that went over Daccord’s shoulder to make it 2-0.
Even Tim Stützle’s breakaway goal at 4:18 of the third (it’s a breakaway goal, so it’s hard to fault the goalie for that) hit Daccord’s stick and oddly popped up and over him. Aside from the goals, Joey had a few misplays with the puck that we haven’t seen in several weeks and generally didn’t look like himself from the second period on.
With Daccord having something of an off night, he sure could have used some goal support at the other end. But Ullmark wasn’t letting anything in on this night.
Takeaway #3: Give Ottawa credit
It’s easy to watch a game like this and just think Seattle looks downright bad, and at times, I think that was fair to say. But the Senators really played a good road game. They weathered the early pressure from Seattle by protecting the dangerous areas, got more excellent goaltending from Ullmark (who is now 7-0-1 in his last eight games), and took advantage of their chances.
The Senators are becoming a pretty good team. They happen to be hot right now and are playing excellent hockey.
Meanwhile, the Kraken have gone cold and are now playing bad hockey… again… which is still perplexing.
Bonus Takeaway: Other odds and ends
Just a few bullet points to close out this Three Takeaways:
The Kraken looked like they really could have used Yanni Gourde’s energy on Tuesday. He is getting closer and was a full participant at an optional morning skate but still did not play. Hopefully, he will be back Thursday in Chicago.
Jordan Eberle was spotted leaving the arena on crutches after the game. He has a long way to go in his recovery from pelvis surgery, but it was good to see him up and about.
Brandon Montour made an incredible street hockey goalie save with Seattle’s net empty that perhaps got the biggest cheer of the night.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Last week I mentioned that getting three out of six possible points would be acceptable, and that’s exactly what the Seattle Kraken did. They essentially held serve against challenging opponents. However, things don’t always feel that great when the most recent game is a lopsided loss.
The Kraken fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Saturday, though the score feels a bit misleading. Tampa Bay was clearly the better team, but the game was still close at 2-1 entering the third period. The Lightning extended their lead with a Jake Guentzel power-play goal just four minutes into the period, securing that all-important two-goal cushion. They later added an empty-net goal and a fifth marker with less than 30 seconds left in the game. It wasn’t a great performance by the Kraken, but it also wasn’t as bad as the final score suggests.
Earlier in the week, the Kraken put together a solid effort with a 2-1 shootout loss to Florida on Tuesday and a dominant 5-1 win over the Bruins. All three opponents—Florida, Boston, and Tampa Bay—are notable teams, so the Kraken’s overall performance this week is acceptable given the circumstances.
Need more contributors
Over the last two seasons, the Kraken have faced challenges scoring goals. This season, they’ve been scoring at a respectable clip of 3.6 goals per game through December, but if they want to gain ground, they need more offensive contributions.
Matty Beniers, in particular, needs to get going. No one expects 30 goals a season from him at this point in his career, but with just four goals so far, he’s on pace to fall short of last season’s disappointing total of 15. There have been glimpses where it looked like he was on the verge of breaking out, but lately, he seems to have regressed. I don’t have an easy solution, but this team desperately needs him to produce.
From the obvious department: Andre Burakovsky also needs to step up. This has been a topic of discussion for most of the season, so it’s nothing new. That said, in recent home games, it feels like he’s close to breaking through, and came within about a centimeter of scoring a crucial goal against Tampa Bay but rang it off the inside of the post. I think I’ve said something like that before, though—so don’t hold your breath.
It would also be nice to see Jared McCann heat up again. He’s been cold, with only two goals over the last 14 games. That’s a significant drop from the goal-every-few-games pace we’ve come to expect from him. I’m not too worried, though—McCann has been a consistent goal scorer since he joined this franchise.
A quick thought on the passing of David Bonderman
When I first started the NHLtoSeattle movement 13 years ago, I said there were three things a city needed to get an NHL team: 1) an arena, 2) a team, and 3) an owner. The right owner, I believed, could solve the arena and team issues.
Early in the movement, there was a handful of potential NHL owners who explored Seattle. Most of them lacked ties to the area and struggled to gain traction. Don Levin from Chicago, for example, was treated poorly when he tried to promote a potential Bellevue arena. Ray Bartoszek hovered as a possible tenant for a SoDo arena before shifting focus to a Tukwila site. Victor Coleman made moves behind the scenes for SoDo and later partnered with AEG on the Key Arena redevelopment bid.
It wasn’t until David Bonderman was announced as an investor that it finally felt like we had the right person to bring an NHL team to Seattle. Yes, he came with significant capital, but he was also civic-minded and had strong local ties—qualities that were critical to the project’s success and to gaining support from other stakeholders.
Bonderman wasn’t just the money behind the team. He helped create the Kraken’s identity, including the iconic “eye” in the logo, and laid the groundwork for the inclusive culture that defines the organization today. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m not sure we’d have a team without David Bonderman. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy in Seattle and has made many of our dreams come true.
Thanks, Bondo!
Other Musings
The Kraken scored first in all three games last week and in six of their last seven games (86 percent). This is a significant improvement after scoring first just eight times in their previous 25 games (33 percent). Scoring first doesn’t guarantee victory, as we saw against Florida and Tampa Bay, but the Kraken are now 9-3-2 when they get the opening goal.
As uneventful as the game against Tampa Bay might have felt, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Kraken still generated 10 high-danger shots on goal at 5-on-5. That’s their second-highest high-danger shot total of the season.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who noticed, but in an effort to generate some offense, it was interesting to see coach Dan Bylsma pair Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour together against Tampa Bay. They played 4:51 together, with nearly all of that time coming in the third period.
The Kraken have converted six of their last 14 power-play opportunities over their last six games.
It’s too early, but I already find myself scoreboard watching for teams likely to be in the wild card race. The Kraken have an uphill battle ahead, and they’ll need to claw back some points. Here’s a look at last week’s performance for teams in the wild card hunt.
The players and staff haven’t used it as an excuse, but there’s a flu bug going around the locker room right now. You have to wonder if that impacted the team’s energy on Saturday.
The Kraken’s penalty kill has been average, but they’ve done a good job of staying out of the box. Over their last 15 games, they’ve been shorthanded the fewest times in the league.
Shoutout to former Seattle Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz, who announced his retirement last week. Schultz spent two seasons with the Kraken, providing offensive contributions from the blue line. In 143 games, he scored 14 goals and added 46 assists, but he truly shined during the Kraken’s playoff run, where he tallied 10 points in 14 games. NHL announcement
The Kraken will be well represented at this year’s IIHF World Junior Championship. Once final rosters are announced, the Kraken are expected to have eight players competing across four countries. The tournament begins Thursday, Dec. 26, and all games will be available on NHL Network.
Congratulations to Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard for helping Denmark’s U20 team qualify for the 2026 World Junior Championship. While he’ll be too old to participate next year, he’ll likely join the Denmark Olympic team alongside Oliver Bjorkstrand in 2026.
Former Spokane Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski made his first start for the Carolina Hurricanes over the weekend, stopping 27 of 28 shots to secure the win. Anytime his name comes up, I immediately head over to his HockeyDB page to marvel at his journey.
Goal of the week
This one was easy. Jaden Schwartz scored a nifty goal early in Thursday night’s game against the Boston Bruins. By the way, how about that nice little backhanded sauce from Shane Wright?
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE SCHWARTZ! 🚨
What a cheeky little goal to make it 2-0 #SeaKraken.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (SEA) – Bjorkstrand has four goals and two assists over his last four games including two goals in the Kraken’s 5-1 win over Boston.
Shane Wright (SEA) – Wright continues to contribute with three goals and four assists over his last six games. The Bjorkstrand-Wright-Tolvanen line is humming right now.
Jani Nyman (CV/SEA) – “Li’l Jani” has a three-game goal streak for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The Kraken face another daunting week as they head into the Christmas holiday break. They’ll wrap up their homestand on Tuesday when Ottawa comes to town riding a 5-1-0 record over their last six games.
After that, the Kraken hit the road for games against Chicago, Vegas, and Colorado. Chicago continues to struggle with a 2-7-1 record over their last 10 games, but as we saw during Thanksgiving week, the Kraken can’t afford to take anyone lightly. On Saturday night, the Kraken face Vegas, who are currently 7-2-1 in their last 10. The road trip then concludes with a back-to-back against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday. Unlike Seattle, Colorado won’t be playing on consecutive nights.
Securing even four of the eight available points will be a challenge, but that must be the goal for this stretch of games.
One programming note: There will not be a Monday Musings next week due to holiday travel.
