One: Schwartz To Return on Two-Game Road Trip?
Before taking the team flight to Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon, the Kraken skated in one of the longest practices of the year. Alternate captain Jared Schwartz was a full participant, forming a line with center Jared McCann and winger Andre Burakovsky. Schwartz said after practice he was feeling good and hoping to play during the two-game road trip versus Vegas Thursday and Arizona Friday before heading back to see the Montreal Canadiens Sunday at Climate Pledge Arena.
Getting Schwartz back in the lineup will be a boost for a Kraken team that needs it. The veteran winger has a history of scoring streaks and perhaps more importantly executes all sorts of detail plays that generate offense, from retrieving pucks in the offensive zone, making the first pass or push-forward that doesn’t result in an assist but the scoring play doesn’t materialize without it.
“It's never fun missing games,” said Schwartz after practice, “especially when you're losing. You always want to help the team out, especially in games that are so meaningful.”
Schwartz said he hasn’t looked to find out “statistically” the Kraken’s probability of making the postseason. He sees a simple approach over the next 15 games to chase down Vegas and bypass other contenders (St. Louis, Minnesota, Calgary).
“Take it one day at a time and not get away from our culture and how we need to play ... “We’ve got to hit the reset button a little bit here. Get back to our game. Take pride in the little things.”
“We didn't talk a whole lot after the game two nights ago [Monday’s 6-2 loss to Buffalo],” said Dave Hakstol Wednesday. “That's by purpose. Everybody had a day yesterday to get their heads clear. Today, we talked about what's in front of us. We've talked directly about the reality of our situation, about the importance of everything that's coming in front of us and what we need to do in order to be successful.”
The “reality of the situation” is, yes, having games in hand, one or two on each Western Conference wild-card contender, but also the need to earn two points most every night. It’s a steep climb with Seattle at 68 points, Calgary 71, St. Louis 75, Minnesota 76, and Vegas holding down the second wild-card spot at 79 points going into Wednesday. Nashville, 8-0-2 in their last 10 games, is pulling away from the field.
