Tag: Seattle

One: Turn the power play power back on

There was a stark contrast Monday night to the energy shown by the Kraken at 5-on-5 as opposed to on the power play. They went 0-for-4 with the man advantage, which quickly became a disadvantage that killed off their momentum and helped swing the game in the middle period.

The power play has now slipped to 25^th of 32 teams at just 18.3% efficiency compared to 16^th best at 20.7% last season.

Kraken coach Dan Bylsma chalked Monday’s power play woes up to a lack of “execution and urgency” – which is often code for a lack of focus. The Kraken seemed unaware they’d been handed a golden opportunity on power plays right after making it 1-0 and then – especially – when given a 5-on-3 advantage after taking a 2-1 lead.

Particularly concerning was Bylsma mentioning players not having any power play urgency “stepping over the boards and going with speed, executing.”

There isn’t much to explain that lack of situational awareness. It’s not as if they’ve beaten the Oilers in any of their last eight meetings, nor are they gift-wrapped 5-on-3 opportunities on a weekly basis.

Whatever the problem, it’s time to end it because it’s almost February. Sure, guys are tired but there’s a nice winter break fewer than two weeks away and now is not the time to be losing focus at key moments while trying to overcome a formidable gap with the final playoff-positioned teams.

Two: Get a quality start in goal

Unless there’s a dramatic shift in Kraken strategy these next 24 hours, the team typically alternates goalie assignments between both Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer when it has back-to-back games on the schedule. As Daccord went on Monday, it should, therefore, be Grubauer’s turn on Tuesday.

His last outing 16 days ago in Detroit didn’t go so well. Grubauer got boat-rushed for three goals on the first four shots and hasn’t played since. The outing before that, he yielded five goals on 19 shots in Columbus.

Daccord can’t play every single game the rest of the way. He didn’t look particularly sharp on Edmonton’s first goal of Monday night’s game, and his poke-check effort on Corey Perry’s go-ahead breakaway marker midway through also wasn’t the greatest look.

Tempting as it may be for the Kraken to keep riding Daccord, they need to be able to play Grubauer occasionally – especially in back-to-back scheduled games. Right now, they’ll need him to stop pucks: Especially early on so they don’t get buried and demoralized as happened against the Red Wings.

Three: Know Your Foe

These aren’t your father’s Anaheim Ducks anymore. Oh wait, those guys actually won a Stanley Cup in 2007. Let’s try again: These aren’t your older brother’s terrible Ducks from a season or two ago.

Right now, in fact, the Ducks are nipping – OK, quacking — at the Kraken in the standings and are no longer the guaranteed pushovers they used to be. Sure, the Kraken didn’t always capitalize on the “pushover” part, but that’s another story. Unlike those prior Anaheim teams, which allowed for a rink-sized margin for error most nights, this current edition will beat you if you mess around too much.

They’re still terrible offensively, averaging a league-worst 2.47 goals per game, which is nearly a half-goal worse than the Kraken. Troy Terry leads the team with 15 goals and 38 points, while Mason McTavish has a pair of consecutive two-goal outings going for him coming into this one.

The difference maker has been in goal prevention, where the Ducks are 19^th in the NHL at 3.08 allowed per contest. To put that into better context, they were third worst last season at 3.57 given up per game.

A huge reason is goalie Lukas Dostal, who’s boasted a decent 12-13-4 mark for a losing team while managing a .910 save percentage. But where Dostal really stands out is in the more advanced goals saved above expected statistic, where MoneyPuck says he’s No. 3 in the league behind Connor Hellebuyck of Winnipeg and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers – preventing 17.0 goals based on shot quality.

Kraken netminder Daccord is No. 5 in that category at 16.2 such goals prevented. So, that gives you an idea of what the Kraken are up against. Effectively, they’ll face a slightly better version of Daccord. Dostal’s last time out on Saturday saw him take over from injured starter John Gibson and stop 32 of 33 shots the final two periods to beat Nashville 5-2 and end a five-game Predators’ winning streak.

Ducks’ veteran Gibson, 31, was supposed to be the No. 1 netminder this season but missed the season’s first few weeks due to an emergency appendectomy. That’s enabled Dostal, 24, to play the bulk of games and make his case as the No. 1 guy.