WHL Weekly – First-round playoff preview

by Cameron Riggers | Mar 29, 2024 | Uncategorized

Here. We. Go. The 2024 WHL Playoffs, the best time of year for fans of junior hockey, is finally upon us, with games beginning Friday night. The barns throughout the WHL will come alive and fill with some of the most passionate fans in not just junior hockey, but hockey as a whole. And with stakes in every game, there’s never a dull moment.

There will be goosebumps aplenty. Who will be dancing in the Western Conference this season?

1.Prince George vs. 8. Spokane

Pick: Prince George in five games

There’s going into the playoffs hot, then there’s what the Prince George Cougars have been doing down the stretch, with them winning nine in a row to clinch the Western Conference regular-season title. They also won the B.C. Division for the second time in their history since moving from Victoria in 1994.

A lot of the credit goes to the one-two punch of Zac Funk (WSH) and Riley Heidt (MIN), who have been the driving force on the front end for the Cougars. Funk and Heidt finished second and third respectively in points on the season, with Funk being the top goal getter in the WHL this season with 67.

The Cougars clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference during the final weekend of the regular season, having their spot in the dance reserved long before their first-round opponent in the Spokane Chiefs could even nab the No. 8 spot available to them.

The Chiefs gingerly enter the playoffs as the lowest seed, but they could be dangerous with a few weapons of their own. A pair of 100-point forwards in Berkly Catton and Conner Roulette are the lifeblood of the Chiefs’ offensive attack.

Catton, 2024 draft eligible and projected to go in the top 10, was named first-team All-U.S. Division with 116 points during the regular season and finished just one point behind Heidt for third in total WHL points.

Travel could play a factor in this series, which will be played in a 2-3-2 series to limit the number of trips back and forth. The ride from Prince George to Spokane will feel even longer for the Chiefs if they can’t find a way to pull off at least one win up north in Games 1 and 2.

Spokane’s key to the series: Production from all lines

The Chiefs were a team during the regular season that relied on their stars to do the heavy lifting offensively, with each contributing points on over 40 percent of the goals Spokane scored on the season. A dynamic player can steal a game or two in the playoffs, but involvement from up and down the lineup is pivotal against a team like Prince George.

Head-to-head: The Cougars and Chiefs each won a pair of games in the four matchups between the two this season, with each winning one game at home and one on the road.

2. Portland vs. 7. Victoria

Pick: Portland in four games

Arguably one of its deepest teams in franchise history, the Portland Winterhawks have a spread-out attack throughout their lineup. And they honestly couldn’t have asked for a more ideal first-round opponent.

The top-placing team in the U.S. Division couldn’t quite finish with the top seed in the conference, but still, the Winterhawks are going to be one tough cookie to crumble.

The front end is loaded and led by Gabe Klassen, James Stefan (EDM), and in-season acquisition Nate Danielson (DET), and Portland is led on the blue line by defensive stalwart Lucas Cagnoni (SJS), who became the first WHL defenseman in 30 years to reach 90-points in a single season.

The Winterhawks’ opponent in the Victoria Royals has had trouble neutralizing offenses this season with a negative-51 goal differential, by far the worst for any team that qualified for the playoffs.

Portland’s key to the series: stay true to offensive strengths

Against a weaker team like Victoria, even though at times they can force opponents to spread out across the ice and play to the outside, the Winterhawks need to keep the puck moving at a quick pace to stay the course.

Head-to-head: Portland and Victoria met four times in total during the regular season, with Portland grabbing wins in all four games played.

This series will be structured the same as the Prince George-Spokane series.

3. Everett vs. 6. Vancouver

Pick: Everett in six games

It’s been a roller coaster of a week for the Silvertips prior to their series against the Vancouver Giants.

Could there be potential distractions surrounding Everett, in particular for soon-to-be-former head coach and general manager Dennis Williams? Williams has been named the head coach at his alma mater, Bowling Green State University in the NCAA.

The timing of the announcement is unfortunate with the series just about to begin, but in order for Williams to get a head start with the NCAA transfer portal, it had to be done sooner rather than later.

Williams will remain with the Silvertips through the playoffs, even though he was introduced at a Bowling Green press conference on Thursday. Even with him staying through the postseason, the coach having one foot out the door already leaves questions about how focused his group will be. Will that impede on the current mentality of the coaching staff as a whole? Will that trickle down to the players on the ice during these pivotal games?

Even if these playoffs go sideways as a result, winning the first overall selection in the WHL Prospects Draft for the first time in team history surely will help console Silvertips fans. Everett won thanks to one of the first-round picks they acquired from the Kamloops Blazers as a part of the Olen Zellweger deal last season. They will more than likely select ’09-born defenseman Landon Dupont from Edge School U18 Prep.

As for the current team, it’s been harped on all year that home ice is Everett’s bread and butter. To have the advantage of the extra game of a best-of-seven playoff series helps the team’s chances.

Leading point-getter Ben Hemmerling (VGK) and Dominik Rymon each matchup well against Vancouver’s steady blue line. Rymon has five goals and six assists in four games against Vancouver this season.

While Vancouver has gotten decent goaltending numbers, with starter Brett Mirwald finishing third in save percentage among goalies with 30 or more starts (.913), a high-volume shooting team like the Silvertips should overwhelm the Giants’ efforts to neutralize attacks.

Everett’s key to the series: getting the quick starts

The Silvertips were one of the better teams in the WHL at getting the ball rolling early in games this season, scoring the first goal in 26 of 36 home games, and those goals would often come within the first 10 minutes of action. It sets the tone for them and gives them the direction they need.

Head-to-head: The Silvertips took three out of four in season series, but the Giants took the most recent matchup 4-3 on Feb. 3.

4. Wenatchee vs. 5. Kelowna

Pick: Kelowna in seven games

For the first time in Wenatchee, not only will they be in the playoffs, but they’ll hold home-ice advantage. Unfortunately for the Wild, it’s the dreaded four versus five, flip-of-a-coin matchup that could go either way.

Kelowna stuttered into the playoffs but still has a more complete offense to match up with Graham Sward and the Wild’s defense units.

Andrew Cristall (WSH) and 2024 draft-eligible prospect Tij Iginla lead the charge for the Rockets. Each recorded over 40 goals during the regular season.

Wenatchee’s key to the series: Kenta Isogai

Just let Isogai go off and do his thing. The leading scorer on the Wild this season had his best performance against the Rockets on Jan. 6 when he tallied three goals and two assists. The Wild are going to need him to channel that energy more often to give them a chance to win.

Head-to-head: Both teams took two games apiece from each other in the four games they played this season, but haven’t met since that Jan. 6 game when the Wild snatched a 6-3 win.

Eastern Conference matchups (my picks):

1. Saskatoon vs. 8. Prince Albert (SAS in 4)

2. Swift Current vs. 7. Lethbridge (SC in 6)

3. Moose Jaw vs. 6. Brandon (MJ in 5)

4. Medicine Hat vs. 5. Red Deer (RD in 6)

Three Takeaways – Chaotic third period leads to 4-2 Kraken win over Ducks

by Darren Brown | Mar 29, 2024 | Uncategorized

Hey, as long as the Seattle Kraken play the Anaheim Ducks every game, they’ll be just fine. Unfortunately, that’s not how NHL scheduling works, so they do still have to face other teams, but this two-game sweep by Seattle offered a nice respite from the losing that we had come to expect. 

It wasn’t easy or particularly pretty on Thursday, and the first two periods were rather dull. But the third period got chaotic after the Kraken gave up two short-handed goals in a span of 44 seconds and put themselves up against the ropes. 

“I guess it’s how you answer, and our power play answered,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “Obviously, to give up the sloppy goals back to back that we did can be catastrophic in a game. Fortunately for us, we had another opportunity coming, and those guys were able to capitalize and get one back.”

Indeed, the Kraken took advantage of a whole raft of Ducks swimming to the penalty box, especially in the third period, and skated away with a 4-2 win. 

Takeaway #1: Tye Kartye plays hero

It had been a long time since Tye Kartye scored a goal—he went 25 games without one, in fact—before Yanni Gourde found him streaking down the slot for the eventual game-winner on Friday. 

“Yeah, it felt pretty good,” Kartye said with a sheepish grin.

Through the recent long stretch of poor efforts from the Kraken, Kartye stood out as a player that was giving it his all every single night, so it was good to see him get rewarded in this one. 

“He’s one of the guys up front that consistently plays a hard, heavy game, plays a straight-line game,” Hakstol said. “I know he’s still growing as a player, he’s still learning to find his spots and pick his spots. But he plays a straight-line game, and he’s most effective when he’s doing that and when he’s physical.”

Kartye was also seen mucking it up with various Ducks throughout this game, and Hakstol said that it was him, Gourde, and Brandon Tanev that helped will the Kraken back into the lead after they fell behind 2-1 in the third period. 

“I don’t think we’ve had many third-period comebacks this year… I mean, I guess it wasn’t a comeback,” Kartye said. “But yeah, it feels good, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going.”

Takeaway #2: Chaotic third period

This was a strange game, in general. The first 40 minutes were relatively uneventful, with Jaden Schwartz scoring the lone goal by falling down in the crease and having Jordan Eberle’s 400th career assist bank in off his stick. 

So, Seattle took a 1-0 lead to the third, but things when haywire in the final 20. On one power play, the Kraken allowed two separate partial breakaways to Isac Lundestrom and Jakob Silfverberg, and both ended up in the back of the Kraken’s net for short-handed goals. With a manpower advantage, they went from ahead 1-0 to down 2-1. 

“I feel like we stayed positive, and we knew there’s still a lot of time left,” Kartye said. “That’s why we were able to sneak one out there.”

Indeed, Andre Burakovsky got Seattle’s second power-play goal to tie the game at 6:25, then Kartye scored at 13:03, and Matty Beniers tipped home a Jared McCann shot at 15:35 to solidify the win. 

“I thought [McCann] got a stick on it because his stick was right there,” Burakovsky said of his tying goal. “I told him to go first in line and fist bump the boys, but he said he didn’t touch it. I mean, it went in either way, so it was nice to see it go in.”

Takeaway #3: Terrible discipline from the Ducks

Helping bail Seattle out was horrendous discipline from Anaheim, which took a total of 12 penalties in the game and gave the Kraken 10 power-play opportunities, on which the Kraken converted thrice. Kartye’s goal also came just a few seconds after a power play had ended. 

Trevor Zegras, who returned from a long-term ankle injury for Tuesday’s game and was mostly unnoticeable in these two matchups, made a bone-headed play at 5:21 of the third period, just a couple minutes after Silfverberg had given Anaheim the lead. 

Racing up the boards with Tanev, Zegras took a holding penalty (though that call perhaps could have gone the other way), then let his emotions get the better of him and cross checked Tanev in the back to earn a second penalty. The infraction was announced as four minutes for cross checking, but that was later changed to two for holding and two for cross checking, which made more sense. 

Zegras then took his frustration out on the penalty box camera for some reason. We hope he has to pay for that damage. 

It was during the four-minute power play that Burakovsky scored his tying goal and got Seattle back on track.

Zegras did not play another shift after that. We know he has been in trade rumors, and that some folks have said Seattle should try to get him this offseason. Of course, he’s fresh off a major injury, but these two games did nothing to indicate that he would be a fit in Seattle or that he would do anything to help push the club forward. No thanks.

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.

Read more from Darren

Updating the Seattle Kraken’s playoff chances (or lack thereof) – March 15-21

by Blaiz Grubic | Mar 22, 2024 | Uncategorized

A week has gone by since our last update, and the Seattle Kraken have not maintained the point percentage they needed to stay in the wild card race. They are not mathematically eliminated yet, but according to MoneyPuck.com they have a 0.6-percent chance to make the playoffs at this point. The Kraken went 0-3-0, extending their losing streak to a depressing six games (0-5-1). They also gave valuable points to both wild card teams, Nashville and Vegas, in the process.

A devastating week for the Kraken

• Mar. 16 – 4-1 loss against the Nashville Predators. The Kraken looked outmatched in this game, but provided some hope by tying the game 1-1 in the third, only to surrender three straight goals.
• Mar. 18 – 6-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The night started off well with Jordan Eberle scoring on the first shot of the game. But Tage Thompson matched this feat, scoring on Buffalo’s first shot with a snipe under the bar. Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch add two more goals to put Buffalo ahead for good, all prior to the six-minute mark of the first period. That was enough for Joey Daccord to get the hook with one save on four shots. Ouch.
• Mar. 21 – 3-1 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Kraken got outplayed in this game, but Philipp Grubauer stood on his head and kept the game close. It took late-game heroics by Vegas to eke out a win with former Seattle Thunderbirds forward, Keegan Kolesar, scoring the go-ahead goal with under two minutes remaining.

**Author’s note: Even though the Kraken suffered their sixth loss in a row, another Washington team won Thursday. The Washington State Cougars men’s basketball team is dancing and defeated Drake University 66-61 to advance to the round of 32. Go Cougs!!!

Wild card race

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings went 3-1-0 during the past week, including two shutouts. They beat Chicago twice and wild card hopeful Minnesota once but lost to the playoff-bound Dallas Stars. The Kings are on pace for 99 points, putting them almost certainly in the playoffs.

Nashville Predators

The Predators have extended their unbeaten streak, which is now at 16 games, going 3-0-0 during the past week. Watching the Kraken versus Nashville game made me realize that Nashville is a better team than I originally gave them credit for. With Juuse Saros between the pipes, Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi locking down the blue line, and Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustuv Nyquist up front, give this team a chance to make some noise in the playoffs.

The Predators are on pace for 101 points and look like a lock for the first wild card spot.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Golden Knights are still struggling, going 1-2-0 during the past week (of course, the one win came against Seattle). The St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild are nipping at the heels of Vegas and are only four and five points out of a wild card spot respectively. The pressure is on for the Golden Knights, who have games in hand but need to start winning if they hope to make it to the postseason. Vegas is on pace for 96 points.

Team categorizations

Teams in bold have a game remaining this season against the Kraken.

The week ahead

The Kraken have four games for the week of Mar. 22-28, all against Tanker teams, so an end to the current losing streak hopefully is close. Seattle has one more road game and will then come back for a four-game homestand.

• Mar. 22 – Arizona Coyotes – Away (Tanker)
• Mar. 24 – Montreal Canadiens – Home (Tanker)
• Mar. 26 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker) (Jared McCann Bobblehead night)
• Mar. 28 – Anaheim Ducks – Home (Tanker)

Kraken playoff hopes

While not officially eliminated from the postseason, the Kraken are trending towards 82-88 points, which gives them zero chance of making it through. The Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Minnesota Wild are all ahead of the Kraken in the standings. With Vegas trending towards 96 points, the Kraken would need four teams to falter, and they would need to basically win out.

With three losses this week, a dagger has been thrust into the Kraken’s playoff hopes. The 0.6-percent that MoneyPuck gives the Kraken is because they have the easiest schedule remaining in the NHL, with eight games remaining against Tanker teams.

What’s next for the Kraken?

With the Kraken out of the playoff picture, what is next for them? Could bringing up Shane Wright for some more NHL experience be in the cards? General manager Ron Francis has indicated Wright is in a good place in Coachella Valley, which leads us to believe he might remain with the Firebirds to fully contribute to the rest of the Firebirds season and playoff run. But bringing him up for a few games wouldn’t hurt.

There is also the issue that if they bring Wright up to the NHL, and he plays seven games (10 total on the season), the Kraken would burn a year on his entry-level contract. If he plays fewer games than that with the Kraken, his contract would slide, meaning Seattle would get to keep him for entry-level dollars for three more years.

The expectation for next season is that Wright will step into Alex Wennberg’s vacated second-line center role. But Sound Of Hockey‘s own Darren Brown and John Barr interviewed the humble 2022 fourth overall draft pick, and Wright believes he will step into a bottom-six role with the Kraken and have to earn a top-six spot through his play and building trust with the coaches.

Seattle currently is 25th in the NHL standings as of Mar. 21 with a six-point gap to the 26th team, the Montreal Canadiens. There is not much of a benefit to tanking at this point, because the difference between the eight overall pick and, say, the 12th overall pick is not a huge difference in talent. I would rather the Kraken focus on winning and building that mindset into the team’s culture.

Three Takeaways – Kraken drop rematch with Winnipeg Jets 3-0 

by Curtis Isacke | Mar 8, 2024 | Uncategorized

A day that began with the rousing news that Kraken forward Jordan Eberle had re-signed with the Seattle Kraken for two more years ended with disappointment as Seattle dropped a tight-checking contest to the visiting Winnipeg Jets, 3-0. Both teams struggled to possess the puck through the neutral zone and establish offensive zone time for much of the first 30 minutes, but the Jets seized control over the back half of the game, controlling the pace and frequently hemming the Kraken in their own zone. 

“We just didn’t have a lot of energy tonight,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said postgame. “We saw that momentum really turn in the second period.” He noted the Kraken “couldn’t find that burst of energy to get us going on the right track [again].”

The Kraken had a handful of dangerous looks throughout the game, but could not convert. On the other hand, Winnipeg’s stars delivered in the third period. First, Mark Schiefle beat Joey Daccord from the low slot at 7:15 in the period. After that, Adam Lowry knocked home a point-black rebound shot at 11:28 in the final frame. Winnipeg then added an empty-netter to cap off the win. 

The Kraken entered Monday night with points in eight-of-ten games, a run that had started to close the gap in the Pacific Division. 

Even with this loss, Seattle remains just six points out of playoff position. But the schedule is starting to run out. Here are our three takeaways leaving Climate Pledge Arena after this one.

Takeaway #1: Schwartz injured

Jaden Schwartz left in the first period with an apparent injury. We didn’t see anything in Schwartz’s last shift to indicate what the injury might be, but he was grimacing as the puck dropped following an icing call midway through the shift. 

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol didn’t have an update on Schwartz postgame, but Hakstol was quick to disclaim the loss of Schwartz as a turning point in the game. “What [Schwartz] does specifically at the net front obviously is important [in] a tight-check, defensive-style game,” Hakstol said. “But that’s not the difference in the hockey game.”

The Kraken do not play again until Tuesday, so the team will have time to evaluate Schwartz’s injury and the forward will have time to recuperate. With luck this relatively light stretch in the schedule will minimize the time he misses. But if the team is without Schwartz for several games going forward, the depth of the team–already stretched by the Alex Wennberg trade–will be further tested. This is a tough position to be in with every point so important.

Takeaway #2: Kraken ran out of gas in the second half of the game

This one started as a low-event slog. Both teams struggled to create offense. A mix of tight defensive play and unforced giveaways were to blame on both sides. 

Winnipeg was quicker to right the ship in the second period though. While Seattle escaped the second without conceding a goal, Winnipeg was driving play toward Seattle’s end more consistently. Seattle generated just four shots on goal to Winnipeg’s nine. 

“You look at the long change in the second period. It’s a big deal when you start with the puck and fresh legs versus defending and just doing your best to get off the ice. You’re not setting up the next line and [you’re] not putting that line in the best spot when they have to come out and defend,” Hakstol said.

Ultimately, Winnipeg carried that second period momentum over into the third period and the Kraken couldn’t find a response. Winnipeg outshot Seattle 14-5 in the final period and outscored Seattle 3-0.

“We didn’t execute well enough to push momentum our way,” Hakstol said. “I’m not disappointed with our effort. Our guys worked. It was  a night where I just didn’t feel like we had a lot of gas in the tank.”

Takeaway #3: Kraken need to turn the page quickly

The team entered the game aglow in the optimism of Eberle’s re-signing and a successful road trip. It exited on a notably somber note after a flat effort.

When asked how he’d approach the team to make sure it still has the belief that it can push for the playoffs, Hakstol kept it simple. He said the key was to “just go back to work tomorrow. There’s no magic to it.” 

Tomas Tatar had a similar message, saying the team’s goals were still out there for them. The team just needed to turn the page. “We know what we have to do to get in. This was just one game. We put it behind us.” He noted that the next game against Las Vegas is “huge” because it’s against the team “they want to catch” in the standings.

Tatar is right, but time is running short on this Kraken season. The team needs the turnaround to start Tuesday against Las Vegas.

It’s been a rough road for Andre Burakovsky, who finally scored Tuesday

by Blaiz Grubic | Mar 7, 2024 | Uncategorized

Andre Burakovsky has missed more games due to injury than he has played for the Seattle Kraken. As of March 6, he has missed 80 games and played in 78 over these past two seasons.

Burakovsky came to the Kraken a year after winning his second Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22. The winger signed a reasonable five-year deal worth $27.5 million the day free agency opened in 2022, saying at the time he appreciated how badly the Kraken seemed to want him. Upon his arrival, the Swede delivered right away, leading the team with 39 points through 49 games before suffering a season-ending groin injury on Feb. 7, 2023.

Upper, lower, and undisclosed injuries, oh my!

That groin injury eventually required surgery and caused Burakovsky to miss the remainder of the regular season and all of the playoffs in his first campaign with the Kraken. In his second season, some rust was expected, but the injury bug bit Burakovsky four more times (so far) in 2023-24.

• Oct. 21 – Upper-body injury – missed 20 games
• Dec. 7 – Upper-body injury – missed nine games
• Jan. 13 – Lower-body injury – missed four games
• Feb. 29 – Lower-body injury – missed two games

Since the 2019-20 season, he has missed games due to injury 12 times. To start the current season, the left winger looked out of place and only registered two assists before landing back on injured reserve after getting thrown into the end boards by New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba.

When he returned from that injury on Dec. 7, Burakovsky played only six minutes before slamming into the same end boards after a hit by New Jersey Devils defenseman Kevin Bahl.

You had to feel for the guy, as he dealt with injury after injury. It took him until the calendar turned to 2024 to register is first goal of the season, and then 19 more games for his second goal, the game-winner in a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

All that said, for a $5.5-million AAV, more is expected than 10 points in 29 games, and the Kraken need Burakovsky to perform to be successful. Did his goal Tuesday finally break him out of the funk?

Playing statistics

As the injuries piled up, so did Burakovsky’s rotating mix of linemates. Coach Dave Hakstol moved him around the second, third, and fourth lines to see if he could find chemistry and spark his offense.

Digging into his playing statistics, there is reason for optimism that Burakovsky has found himself, despite the brief two-game hiatus before this week’s road trip. Burakovsky has a great shot, and with the exception of this season, has consistently out-scored his expected goals, according to MoneyPuck.

Focusing on his shooting statistics, there is an interesting trend that popped out. With only two goals on the year, you might assume that the two-time Stanley Cup champion might be shooting the puck less. In actuality, Burakovsky is shooting more than at any point in his career at 17.35 shot attempts per 60 minutes. Shot attempts include shots on goal, shots that are blocked, and shots that miss the net.

The number of Burakovsky’s shots that have been blocked is what pops off the page, with 7.35 of his shot attempts getting blocked per 60. This is almost double the average rate at which his shots have been blocked over his career (3.9).

Burakovsky leads the Kraken at 1.72 blocked shot attempts per game. Oliver Bjorkstrand is second in blocked shot attempts per game with 1.65, and Jared McCann is third with 1.34.

Eye test

From the eye test, Burakovsky likes to carry the puck into the zone. He is good at stickhandling in tight space and uses that to get out of difficult spots and make quick shots. What the statistics on blocked shot attempts point to is that defenses have figured this out and collapse on him, resulting in more blocked shots. Whilst playing for the Avalanche and Capitals, both of those teams had true star power in Alexander Ovechkin and Nathan MacKinnon. This allowed Burakovsky to fly under the radar, with defenses focused elsewhere.

When Burakovsky jumped out to the team lead in scoring in his first season in Seattle, he may have signaled to opposing teams that they should focus on him more.

Settling in

When a player goes nearly eight months without game action, getting back into the swing of things can understandably take time. It is unfortunate that it has taken almost the whole season, but Burakovsky does finally seem to be back on track.

Hakstol has noticed and praised the forward recently and increased his ice time from 13-14 minutes per game on average to 15-17 minutes over his last eight outings. With this increased time, Burakovsky has gotten his second goal, a game-winner against the Jets, and he also has three assists during that stretch.

Meanwhile, his shot attempts have increased from 3.55 to 5.85 per game. Burakovsky’s improvement has been visually evident, and he has looked like the best Kraken forward at times. This all points to an improvement on his offensive production the rest of the season.

“It felt very good,” Burakovsky said about scoring Tuesday. “It’s been a battle with all the injuries and all the missed time, and I think I’ve been playing some really good hockey lately, creating a lot and skating a lot… It was nice to finally see one go in. I almost forgot what it feels like.” 

Look for Burakovsky to continue this offensive push as he adjusts to the increased pressure on his shots getting blocked. Historically, he is simply too dangerous of an offensive player to sustain a paltry 4.5 shooting percentage. Regression to his career average of 13.9 percent is due.