3 Game Essentials | Kraken vs. Capitals | Nov. 21

One: Eliminate glaring turnovers, odd-man rushes

"We are finding ways to lose," said Eberle, head up but clearly frustrated during a post-game media scrum Friday. "We can still turn this around to be a competitive team."
Seattle captain Mark Giordano calls it "giving up the big one" when referring to handing choice scoring opportunities to opponents by turning the puck over or missing a defending assignment that creates 3-on-2 or 2-on-1 rushes for the other team.
Falling behind in the first period is like a death glare for the Kraken, who are 0-9 in games when they are trailing after 20 minutes. Key stop from the goaltenders can be one welcome way to avoid too much damage or big leads to overcome. Giordano suggests glaring turnovers and odd-man rushes can also be reduced by staying patient, even if a goal or two behind.
"We're getting down in games, and we're not helping ourselves when we get down," Giordano said. "We're taking more chances when we get down.
"Against good teams, they are going to make you pay. You're giving them odd-man rushes. You're giving them a lot of zone time on their chances because we're taking way too many risks early in the game."

Two: Kraken in Focus

Kraken forward Brandon Tanev scored his first goal of November and now has seven on the season, matching his total in Pittsburgh last year. But fans should be watching Tanev and other Kraken forwards on the forecheck, ranging from getting the puck in the offensive zone and chasing it down to disrupting zone exits by Capitals defensemen, including the offensively gifted John Carlson.
Coach Dave Hakstol is not happy with forechecking in recent games and the aforementioned Giordano cites the lower impact of forechecking as one of the "hard to play against" elements that the veteran D-man said he thinks have fallen off during the first four games of the homestand.
Hakstol concentrated on Chris Driedger (he conceded three of four goals allowed Friday were ones where there could have been stops instead of scores) when asked about the goaltending performance in a 7-3 loss to Colorado. Heading into Sunday's morning skate, Philipp Grubauer gets the start against a franchise with which he won the 2018 Stanley Cup.

Three: Know the Foe: Washington Capitals (11-2-5)

Washington is finishing a four-game Western swing Sunday at 6 p.m. Pacific against the Kraken. The Capitals lost to Anaheim in overtime Tuesday, shut out the LA Kings Wednesday and completed the first end of back-to-back games with a win in San Jose Saturday.
Caps goalie Ilya Samsonov "threw" the 2-0 shutout in Los Angeles, saving 34 shots. It's likely he starts against San Jose, which means Vitek Vanecek, drafted by Seattle in July's expansion draft then traded back to Washington for a 2023 second-round pick, might well be in net Sunday. Vanecek is 4-2-4 in 11 starts for the Caps with a .911 save percentage and 2.39 goals-against average.
Washington is enduring injuries to key forwards, including Seattle-area native T.J. Oshie (listed as "game-time decision" Saturday night), Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha. Yet the Caps sport the third-best record in the NHL, thanks in no small part to a top line of all-time great Alex Ovechkin (14 goals, 15 assists), center Evgeny Kuznetsov (6 G, 15 A) and antagonistic winger Tom Wilson (5 G, 9 A, 20 penalty minutes).