One: Sharing the Scoring Load, Rolling into Wednesday
ST. PAUL – Twelve Kraken skaters populated the scoresheet in Tuesday’s road win over Chicago, including 10 players in the second period alone. Seattle rolled four lines and three defensive pairs. It produced an uplifting victory, plus coach Dan Bylsma pointed out in his post-game media meetup that it sets up a fresher group for the challenge of facing Western Conference wild-card leader Minnesota on what will be the Kraken’s second game in two nights.
“Players aren't mindful of it, but as coaches, you're mindful of playing back-to-back,” said Bylsma Tuesday night before getting on the team plane. “To have everyone roll over in the four lines, everyone sharing the responsibility, everyone sharing the load, that affords us four lines we can roll out [Wednesday]. It was definitely an 18-man effort [four lines, three D-pairs in front of Joey Daccord, with Philipp Grubauer against the Wild] ... we want to be building our best hockey into the stretch. In order to do that, you have to do it in back-to-backs. You have to do it against tough opponents, and that's what the [Minnesota] game presents tomorrow.
Two: Beniers, Wright Neck-and-Neck in Goals
While Eeli Tolvanen currently leads the Kraken in goals with a career-high 21, there are contenders on the watchlist that include fellow Tuesday-in-Chicago goal scorers Jared McCann, Matty Beniers, and Shane Wright, who all three now have 17 goals on the season. Veteran winger Jaden Schwartz has 19 on the season and free-agent signee defenseman Brandon Montour is at 16 after a recent hot streak that grabbed the attention of the NHL, naming him Third Star of the Week in a Monday announcement. It can be anyone’s projection who will lead the team in goals at the season’s end, but Beniers and Wright being in reach of a 20-goal season is arguably the most encouraging dynamic at work. Beniers has a steep challenge to match or surpass his career-best 24 goals in his rookie-of-the-year season, but surpassing 20 would be a plus. Wright has already quieted the doubters (let’s agree those critics are overwhelmingly Canada-based) and he is a reason for Kraken fans to get excited about the future, next season, and beyond.
Three: Know the Foe: Wild Battling Key Injuries
Bylsma acknowledged post-game Tuesday he is aware his club has garnered no wins in the second game of the back-to-back contests in the first 10 attempts this season. The Kraken hope to ride Tuesday’s momentum to better the Wild in St. Paul on Wednesday (puck drop for the 6:30 p.m. TNT game). The Wild won here Monday, 3-1, over a Los Angeles team with 81 points that is third in the Pacific Division, six points ahead of Vancouver. Minnesota, too, has 81 points but is fourth in the Central behind surging Colorado. The Wild are six points ahead of Vancouver and St. Louis entering Wednesday's play and just 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. Minnesota is 4-5-1 in their last 10 games playing without star forward Kirill Kaprizov (he missed the last 18 games and only played in three of the Wild’s last 33 games with a lower-body injury that resulted in surgery). He nonetheless leads the team with 23 goals. First-time line center Joel Eriksson Ek (last 11 games) and top-pair defenseman Jonas Brodin (eight games) are both out with lower-body injuries. Look for 23-year-old Matt Boldy as a threat Wednesday, though Minnesota has scored just nine goals over its last half.
