One: Staying Positive ‘Only Way’ to Get Back to Winning
Kraken coach Lane Lambert liked the energy of his players in Monday’s practice despite the illness among teammates continues. Kaapo Kakko and Vince Dunn were missing on the ice with Lambert somewhere between expecting and hoping both players to be in Tuesday’s match up against league-leading Colorado.
“When you get into a slump, I guess you could call it, the concern is guys not getting rewarded for certain things they've been doing,” said Lambert. “At times, you can get discouraged. I thought our guys were fine today. The atmosphere was positive.”
Lambert emphasized why he and veteran players frequently talk about staying even-keel, not to high on a winning streak or too low when losses pile up.
“The challenge is having them understand that,” said Lambert. “But certainly, you know we have to know the only way we're going to get back to our winning ways is to stay positive and be in a good mind frame.”
As for the illness, along with projecting Kakko and Dunn back into the lineup, Lambert added, “You never know who’s next.”
Two: Bright Spots: Melanson, Stephenson and Wright
Coaches, teammates and fans alike noticed the mega-energy AHL call-up Jacob Melanson brought to Sunday’s first period (four hits) plus two more high-octane periods. The 2021 fifth-rounder finished with a team-high seven hits, made several elite-caliber passes and even set a soft pick behind the Buffalo to free linemate Ben Meyers (Sunday and frequently with Coachella Valley) for a near goal that would have tied the game at 2-2.
It's hard to imagine Melanson not getting to make his third NHL appearance against the visiting Avalanche.
Lambert liked what he saw from centers Chandler Stephenson and Shane Wright. He presented clear reasons why both are earning his trust and additional time on ice. In Stephenson, Lambert sees an “extremely intelligent” centerman who is facing top opponents every night (hello, Nathan MacKinnon), who is the Kraken’s best faceoff choice. What’s more, Stephenson is on a five-game point streak with goal-assist-assist-assist-goal over that span.
“It's easy to sit back and look at the analytics; you would like them to be a little better,” said Lambert. “If we played him down on the third line, he'd have great analytics, probably. Keep it in perspective here, this guy plays a ton of minutes for us. He does a ton of things for us, and they're hard minutes.
“I thought [Sunday] was one of his best games. He was skating. For me, that's the one thing with Chandler. We need to get him skating like that every night.”
Wright is playing with more confidence than earlier in the hockey year, said the Kraken coach: “His compete level is higher right now than it was earlier [in the season], which stems from confidence. We talk about [confidence] with him all the time. He's a good hockey player who can own pucks, hold onto pucks, and win battles to get pucks back. I think he's doing a better job of that. He certainly did last night.”
Three: Know the Foe: Colorado 7-2-1 in Last 10 Games
No matter how you sift through the Avalanche stats, the numbers remain gaudy: An NHL-leading 23-2-7 record with an .828 win percentage that has no team in close pursuit. They have already notched 21 regulation wins in 32 games, while only Washington and Central Division rival Dallas are even in a nearby zip code with 17 RW’s. Nathan MacKinnon tallied his 26th goal in a Saturday victory that marks 11 wins in a row at home. MacKinnon leads the league in goals. Colorado’s standings points count is 53 in 32 (tied for the third-highest ever), and they have gained at least a point in 23 of the last 24 games. Enough said.
Projected Lines (not official)
Tolvanen - Beniers - Eberle
Kakko - Stephenson - Gaudreau
Nyman - Wright - Winterton
Kartye - Meyers - Melanson
Dunn - Larsson
Lindgren - Montour
Oleksiak - Evans
Daccord
