One: Put the puck in the…er, keep the puck out of the net – Scoring four goals in Edmonton was a good start towards rehabbing the Kraken offense, but the tradeoff of nine pucks going into their net was not a good one. There were clear systematic breakdowns all game, evidenced by the repeated breakaway chances the Oilers kept getting – either clear-cut versions or partial ones where the shooter got in alone at the last second.
Part of that, as head coach Lane Lambert said postgame, was a focus issue. The shorthanded goal by Matt Savoie that turned the game decisively resulted from the Kraken not jumping on defender Evan Bouchard quickly enough, allowing him to spot Savoie sneaking up behind Vince Dunn at the blueline – another no-no -- for a pass and breakaway. The Kraken have been much better than this all season. They’ll need to figure out how to score without sacrificing defense. They got impatient against the Oilers after falling behind 2-0 rather quickly on goals 17 seconds apart and it cost them.
Speaking of falling behind quickly, they’ll need better goaltending than they got from Joey Daccord or Philipp Grubauer. The advanced analytics showed the Kraken allowing three more goals than “expected” based on shot quality and that part was obvious from watching the game in real time. Both goalies had been solid in recent weeks, but this team doesn’t score enough to make up for allowing goals on shots from the side of the net, corner of the rink, between the pads unobstructed, or multiple times to the short side as happened in Edmonton.
The Kraken had said Mason Marchment could be back for this game. We’ll know more after Saturday’s morning skate.
Two: Kill some penalties – The Oilers scored four power play goals on Thursday and six of them in the two games between the teams. Yes, they have a great power play, and we’d highlighted the need for the Kraken to stay out of the box in our “Game Essentials” prior to Thursday’s contest. But this wasn’t a one-off occurrence for the Kraken, who now have the worst penalty kill numbers in the league at 65.7%. Some of the goals going in have been a case of bad luck, such as a handful coming late after the penalty had just about been killed off. But other times, the unit has looked far too passive as opponents just tic-tac-toe them to death with passes through unblocked lanes. The Oilers needed just seven seconds for Leon Draisaitl to score on his team’s first power play chance Thursday night, with Kraken defenders developing a case of whiplash watching the lightning-quick passes go by them before even recovering from losing the faceoff. The team has Freddy Gaudreau back from injury now. This unit needs to do a better job.
Three: Know your foe – The Red Wings won eight of 11 to start the season but have come back down to earth with a jolt of late, losing five of their last six and not looking particularly great on defense in doing so. They blew a late lead in Columbus the other night and wound up losing 6-5 in a shootout to kick off a geographically puzzling six-game road trip that now takes them out to the West Coast for a stretch before finishing up in Chicago. Coming out of that Columbus loss, the Red Wings sport the league’s sixth worst defensive numbers in allowing 3.46 goals per contest. So, this is another chance for the Kraken to warm up their offense a bit. A little like the Oilers – at least, before Edmonton scored 13 times on the Kraken in two games -- the Red Wings have a steady offense overall but are particularly strong on the power play at a No. 7 ranked 23.7% after adding three more man-advantage tallies against the Blue Jackets. So, the Kraken again need to avoid the box as much as possible to give themselves a chance in this one.
Detroit does take a ton of penalties, so now would also be a good time for the Kraken power play to click. The Kraken got a goal from Eeli Tolvanen right at the end of a power play chance in Edmonton the other night.
Otherwise, watch out for Dylan Larkin, who has a team leading 15 goals and is tied atop the club lead with Lucas Raymond for points at 31. Alex DeBrincat has 14 goals and 29 points. The Red Wings do have a balanced offensive attack across multiple lines and that’s given the Kraken problems in head-to-head matchups of late. They’ve now lost four consecutive games to Detroit dating back to February 2024 after winning four of their first five all-time matchups with them.
Projected lines (not official):
McCann-Beniers-Eberle
Nyman-Wright-Kakko
Catton-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Kartye-Gaudreau-Winterton
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Evans-Oleksiak
Grubauer
