One: Keep winning the back end – One difference between this season and last is the Kraken have already twice won the tail end of back-to-back games. It took them nearly two years to finally do it, but they managed it last month in Los Angeles and then repeated it not long after in Vancouver. That’s two such wins in three tries. Given how this schedule is lined up, the Kraken would do well to repeat the feat Tuesday night at home against Boston. They’ve got five more such games coming by season’s end, including the finale in Colorado right after they play in Vegas.
By the way, they haven’t won the second leg of back-to-back games in their home rink in quite a while. That last one would be Nov. 16, 2023, in a shootout victory over the New York Islanders.
No, this won’t be easy. But win it, the Kraken might find themselves in first place in the Pacific Division for the first time this late in three years.
Two: Keep the puck out – We can keep talking about the fourth line’s feats until we’re as blue as the lines on two sides of the Climate Pledge Arena ice, but let’s face it: The Kraken are winning these games because of goaltending. The Kraken may have won 5-1 in Calgary on Monday night, but the game isn’t even close early on without Philipp Grubauer.
The Kraken were outshot 42-28, including 18-11 in a second period the Kraken entered trailing 1-0. They exited in a 1-1 tie and the third period was history from there. Not to mention, it could have been a lot worse in a first period that saw the Kraken outshot 13-8 but outplayed to where the 1-0 score flattered them.
Grubauer has a .920 save percentage for the season and .938 the last seven games. He’s at .970 the last three games – allowing just one goal in each – which is pretty much guaranteed win territory.
Joey Daccord is at .925 the last seven games, dovetailing with the team’s points streak.
He’s also stopped 67 of 70 shots in two lifetime games against his hometown Bruins, a team he grew up a fan of. That’s a .957 save percentage. Keep that up, the Kraken win easily.
Three: Know your foe – OK, speaking of winning easily, there’s nothing about the Kraken beating the Bruins at home that comes easy. They’ve played four times and every game except the last one – a 5-1 Kraken victory – was decided by one goal. Still, the Kraken are 2-1-1 all-time against Boston at Climate Pledge Arena. And they are 4-3-1 overall. It doesn’t make much sense, as the Bruins have had some of the NHL’s top records since the Kraken came into existence. But for whatever reason, the Kraken play them well.
Who to watch? Well, this Morgan Geekie guy has 25 goals and 41 points already. He had 33 goals and 57 points last season. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? Let’s move on.
Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman is 2-1-0 against the Kraken with a .910 save percentage and shut them out their last meeting in Boston in November 2024.
Boston has won two straight in Edmonton and Vancouver after losing six in a row prior. Fair to say, this road trip is saving their season as they’d fallen out of playoff positioning.
The Bruins haven’t played since Saturday in Vancouver and have since had more Climate Pledge practice time than the Kraken.
The Kraken are all the way up to 27th on offense after a 5-1 win in Calgary. More importantly, they are ninth best on defense. The Bruins are ranked 12th offensively, so that defense should help the Kraken if they can rally on short rest.
Projected Lines (not official)
Kakko - Beniers - Eberle
Tolvanen - Stephenson - Gaudreau
Catton - Wright - McCann
Winterton - Meyers - Melanson
Dunn - Larsson
Lindgren - Fleury
Evans - Oleksiak
Daccord
