One: Keep the streak stopped – The Kraken did themselves a huge favor on Wednesday with that 4-1 win over a tired-looking New York Islanders team that had been on the road more than two weeks. That snapped a four-game losing streak, but it doesn’t mean the Kraken can take their foot off the gas.
Just last month, the Kraken snapped a six-game skid with a last-minute comeback and overtime victory over Los Angeles. Then, they went out and dropped another four straight and wound up losing 10 of 11 overall.
That can’t happen again.
The Kraken’s recent stretch of winning eight games out of nine pre-and-post-Christmas and then continuing the points streak to 10 contests at 8-0-2 largely offset the earlier debacle. But you only get one “Mulligan” on serious losing streaks per season. This latest one, now that it’s been broken, can’t pick right back up where it left off or that will likely be one hurdle too many.
We know this because the exact same situation transpired two years ago.
The Kraken back in 2023-24 lost eight in a row and nine of 10 in November and December, then offset that with a franchise record nine consecutive wins and a 13-game points streak a month later. But it was all for naught as they lost another eight straight in March to end any hopes. So, again, the Kraken this season have used up their one major losing stretch allowance and cannot afford to let anything morph from here.
That means starting strong against Anaheim. No more taking three minor penalties the opening seven minutes.
The return of Jacob Melanson from Coachella Valley, announced late Thursday afternoon, should help with the energy boost. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of red-hot Ben Meyers, now injured and out week-to-week.
The team appears to be feeling the strain of playing 17 games in 31 days this month, something Lambert has tried to offset by limiting their practice time. The Kraken had a day off on Tuesday following an optional practice on Sunday. They had another optional practice on Thursday following Wednesday’s win.
All those optional practices are limiting the team’s chances for in-game improvement. But it’s helping conserve energy, so they need to bring it once the puck drops.
Two: Top three lines need to produce – Seeing the Kraken fourth line do so well the past month-plus has been great for the team. In fact, it was almost doing too well. Primarily a checking line, the fourth trio lately had been supplying the majority of the Kraken’s five-on-five offense and that was a concerning trend.
When Kaapo Kakko finally scored in the second period against the Islanders, it snapped a streak of the fourth line having accounted for the prior three even-strength goals by the Kraken. The fourth trio generated both even strength goals Monday versus Pittsburgh, then the first 5-on-5 marker against the Islanders with Ryan Winterton and Meyers setting up defenseman Vince Dunn.
So, Kakko’s goal, the first at 5-on-5 not generated by the fourth line since last Saturday’s second period in Utah, was a welcome sign the team needs to see more of from its top three trios.
What did Kakko’s goal have in common with the fourth line recipe for success? Well, it started off a heavy forecheck by Jaden Schwartz, who stole the puck in the New York end and quickly fed it to Kakko for the money shot. The fourth line’s offensive production is also almost entirely the byproduct of heavy forechecking.
The Kraken during the losing skid were doing a little too much “dump-and-chase” with the puck on their top-end lines. Beyond it being uncreative and a tad boring to watch, dump-and-chase only works when forecheckers crash the offensive zone, cause chaos and turnovers and get guys into dangerous scoring areas with tough net front work.
Otherwise, you’re just giving the puck back to your opponent and starting all over again.
So, everybody needs to pick a lane. The fourth line knows theirs. The other three lines either need to bring more energy or more skillful creativity. Or both. But they can’t simply try to go the energy route and then forget to bring the energy.
Three: Know the foe – These Ducks have been tough to figure out. They spent a good part of the season right at the top of the Pacific Division, then appeared to self-immolate by losing nine in a row and 13 of 15 overall. Now, they’ve won five straight, so, like the Kraken did earlier in the month, they’ve largely offset that one major losing streak allowable per season and can’t really afford another.
So, this game is huge. The Ducks spent Friday in third place with a two-point lead on the Kraken, who hold a game in-hand.
Anaheim is coming off a big win over league-leading Colorado. That came in a shootout, which the Ducks have used twice for victories this streak while a third win came via overtime.
Cutter Gauthier leads the Ducks in scoring with 22 goals, while Leo Carlsson is the points leader at 44. The Ducks can bring it with their top forward lines and the freewheeling talent has gotten them places. Between Gauthier, Carlsson, Troy Terry and Beckett Sennecke, that’s four Ducks players with more points than Kraken team leader Matty Beniers.
Thing is, Carlsson is out for a while with a thigh injury while Terry is still day-to-day, as is another top point getter, Mason McTavish.
So, that should slow Anaheim’s high-octane offense a bit while the defense is nothing to write home or anyplace else about. The Ducks are second worst in the league in goals allowed per game, yielding 3.52. During Anaheim’s losing streak, they gave up five or more goals in seven of the nine games.
Lukas Dostal is a talented netminder, but he’s having an off-year statistically with a 3.04 goals against average and a save percentage of .894. After returning from an injury in mid-December, he posted a .863 save percentage in 13 games before turning things around more recently. A lot of it was his free-wheeling offense hanging him out to dry defensively. He’s won his last three starts, but the Ducks take a ton of penalties and the Kraken can get to Dostal with their No. 9 ranked power play if they stay disciplined themselves and out of the box this time around.
Projected lineup (not official):
Kakko - Beniers - Eberle
Schwartz - Stephenson - Tolvanen
Catton - Wright - McCann
Melanson – Gaudreau - Winterton
Dunn - Larsson
Lindgren - Montour
Evans - Oleksiak
Daccord
