Montreal’s offense has stalled during a four-game skid, and the turnaround doesn’t get any easier against a Seattle team that’s allowing the ninth fewest goals per game in the League. The Habs can, however, lean back on their last outing against the Kraken when they potted three on Philipp Grubauer and added an empty netter at the Bell Centre on Dec. 4.
2. The Canadiens’ end-of-season schedule is littered with teams inside the playoff picture, but the Kraken are not one of them. This comes as good news for the Habs who are 17-15-3 against non-playoff teams this year. The Canadiens, desperate to get column, hope to continue their trend of strong play against bottom-16 teams when the puck drops on Sunday.
3. The month of March has not been kind to the Kraken, who are mired in a seven-game losing streak that has cast a shadow over their season. Seattle is sixth in the Pacific Division and 14 points off-pace the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference. Mathematically, they’re still in it, but the reality is the postseason in the Emerald City is more-than-likely to be postponed to next year at the earliest.
Jared McCann’s 54 points (27G, 27A) is tops on the Kraken, followed by Oliver Bjorkstrand (49), Vince Dunn (45), Jordan Eberle (38) and Eeli Tolvanen (36). Joey Daccord and Grubauer have split goaltending duties, the former who ranks seventh and second in the NHL in goals-against average and save pct. among goalies who have played 23 or more games in the current campaign.
4. According to the NHL’s Public Relations, Nick Suzuki is three assists away from his third consecutive 20-goal and 40-assist season. Regardless of whether it happens in Seattle or not, with 13 games remaining on the team’s schedule, it’s looking like more a matter of when Suzuki reaches the mark, not if. Mark Recchi was the last Hab to accomplish the feat from 1995-96 to 1997-98. For what it’s worth, the Habs’ captain has registered a trio of three-assist games in his five-year career.
5. Game time is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action on TSN2 or RDS on television, or listen in on TSN 690 or 98,5 fm on the radio.
