One: Next Man Up: Forwards
The Kraken’s injury list, with catalyst fourth-line and penalty-killer extraordinaire Pierre-Edouard Bellemare joining forwards Andre Burakovsky (his second stint this season already) and Jaden Schwartz on Injured Reserve (IR) is not the third season GM Ron Francis had in mind when plotting how to build for now and for the future in which his primary goal is to be competitive every year. Bellemare is announced as needing four to six weeks to return with a lower-body injury.
But it is the type of season Francis thinks about when planning a roster. Injuries are part of the grind of an 82-game regular season. Staying healthy is Plan A. Stocking up to compensate for injuries to key players – especially the forward position and not to overlook Philipp Grubauer reducing the goalie depth to the bare minimum two – is a task the Kraken hockey operations group is proving out as highly effective. The Kraken are 3-0-2 in their last five games, missing out on just two standings points of which they need every single one to climb back to controlling their own destiny in the playoff race.
To wit: The Kraken have called up nine different players who started the season on the AHL Coachella Valley roster, including seven forwards to supplement both IR situations and day-to-day injuries to players, such as the current status of leading goal scorer Jared McCann, who left Monday’s game not to return and missed Wednesday’s stellar win in LA. Trading for Tomas Tatar (one goal and one assist in three games) was a genius move with the proven veteran scorer slotting in on the first line, making all sorts of plays with and without the puck while arguably jump-starting production for linemates Matty Beniers and Jordan Eberle. The recent points streak is reason for optimism despite the crowded injury list.
Two: Eberle Rising
Alternate Jordan Eberle was his usual modest and intelligent self when talking to the media about his game-winning goal Wednesday and the Kraken’s “roller-coaster” season. He admitted to feeling good about breaking a 13-game streak without a goal. Every teammate loves the guy and appreciates both his career achievements and his grit. His play elevating is good for Matty Beniers, who has played back-to-back best-performance-this-season games. He and Tomas Tatar complement one another as resourceful forwards in all zones. More Eberle on the scoresheet equals more Kraken regulation wins.
"It's nice to see Ebs build off his game two nights ago [at Dallas],” said Dave Hakstol post-win Wednesday. “He played very well, had some good opportunities [Monday]. Tonight, we were able to finish on a nice play from Matty up the middle. Hopefully, that will help Ebs continue to build momentum.”
Three: Know the Foe: Anaheim 3-14-0 in Last 17 Games
Trap game, trap game, trap game. Did someone say, “trap game?” The host Ducks played what first-year coach Greg Cronin called their worst game of the season Thursday in a home shutout loss. They have been fighting injuries to key young building-block players with young stud defenseman Jamie Drysdale just back in the lineup and the offensively-skilled Trevor Zegras (who was playing a more complete two-way game) is potentially just back in the lineup for Sunday’s late afternoon start. Highly regarded prospect Leo Carlsson (second overall pick in last summer’s NHL Draft) will not play and reports are he will be out for a long stretch when the NHL resumes play after the holiday break.
Speaking of holiday time off, that’s another element of trap-game wariness, but this Kraken squad currently appears locked into vacuuming all standings points whether they take the early lead or not. But Anaheim still has Troy Terry in the lineup; he has notched ten points against Seattle in six games in the last two seasons. This is the first meeting of division rivals that will resume with three more games but not until March 26 for the next one. Kraken fans, know what you are thinking: Let’s keep up recent trends and next-man-up successes so those last March and early April are meaningful in the standings.
