One: Starting Fast
When coach Dave Hakstol was asked if a pregame talk about getting off to a fast start might persuade his squad to avoid what seemed like 10 minutes of Minnesota in the Seattle defensive zone Thursday, he politely rebuffed the idea.
“It’s definitely not my speech,” he said smiling, then turning serious. “It becomes a mindset to start fast [and with competitive numbers on puck possession in the offensive zone.]
“It doesn’t necessarily win the game. But statistically this is a hard league to play from behind.”
Point embraced: Fans can monitor if the Kraken are keeping the Rangers from extended shift time in the Seattle D-zone. It accomplishes three objectives: More potential scoring chances for the Kraken, fewer NYR high-danger chances on net and the Kraken not expending an inordinate amount of energy just to keep the puck out of the net.
Two: Kraken in Focus
The coaching staff put Brandon Tanev on the Yanni Gourde line about mid-first period (perhaps not coincidentally when the Kraken picked up their pace?). Hakstol liked what he saw, and it appears fans can size up the pair for themselves Sunday.
One more player to watch: Forward Joonas Donskoi leads the team with five assists, but in his last two games (and even Saturday’s practice) he was not only getting pucks to teammates for near-net scoring looks, but getting good looks himself. Expect that to continue and keep in mind he has four straight double-digit seasons for goals scored.
Three: Know the Foe – NYR 5-2-1
New York coach Gerard Gallant coached Vegas in the early seasons, helping to set a high bar for Kraken fan expectations of the inaugural season. He told the media this week that NYR has “looked good on paper” over the year he faced them, but that the “good” part requires “grit” on the ice to be successful. He called out 2020 top overall draft pick Alex Lafreniere among others for not winning individual puck battles after a 5-1 drubbing by Calgary last Monday and demoted Lafreniere to the third line with center Filip Chytil and winger Sammy Blais.
The team responded with a 4-0 home win vs. Columbus Friday before heading west to hear the noise here in Seattle. Rising star goalie Igor Shesterkin (4-1-1 with .944 save percentage) notched his third career shutout and veteran forward Chris Kreider scored two power-play goals (six goals on the season). Lafreniere responded with a goal on a rink-long give-and-go with young and offensively gifted defenseman Adam Fox, who now has a goal and seven assists in the first eight games.
“They have layers [of talent and depth] in their lineup,” Hakstol said Saturday. “They are confident and consistent defensively.”
And that’s all before mentioning puck magician Artemi Panarin, who notched three assists in Friday’s home win after starting the year with one goal and three assists in the first seven games. He’s a player the SEA shutdown defensive pairing of Adam Larsson and Jeremy Lauzon will likely see a lot on the ice Sunday night.