One: More truth to power – Now, that looked more like a power play the other night. The past several games had seen the Kraken putting the “power” back in their power play and it paid off big against the Kings. Sure, the Kraken needed 59 ½ minutes to register their second of three power play goals, but hey, they got them.
The simplified approach has seen them throwing the puck around and putting it to the net when they can. Two of the goals came when Jared McCann and Vince Dunn simply teed up and let them fly. Thing is, when you’re moving the puck around and causing goalies to move side to side, they sometimes fail to get over in time. Dunn’s blast was from a considerable distance but it didn’t really matter. The Kraken have also been getting bodies in front of the net and whether it results in something like Matty Beniers scoring in close or goalies being distracted on incoming longer shots the Kraken need to keep it up.
The last four Kraken goals the past two games have all come on the power play. It’s been huge for them. We’ll see whether McCann is back in there on Friday night after leaving Wednesday’s game in the final minute when tripped by goalie Anton Forsberg.
The Kraken didn’t practice Thursday and have yet to announce any injury or call anyone up, so we’ll see at Friday’s morning skate whether McCann has something serious or simply missed the end of the game. McCann did make the “Dad’s trip” to Utah with his father, Matt, so that’s a positive sign.
Two: He Dunn Good – The Dunn we saw against the Kings is an example of how he can take over a game with his two-way abilities. And his team could stand to see more of it. Dunn received the Pete Muldoon Award as the Kraken team MVP three seasons ago and played well his past two campaigns before injuries took their toll and shortened his season each time.
For a team struggling to find offense, a three-point night by Dunn was welcome indeed. It’s his second three-pointer of the season, already matching his Kraken career high from each of the past two campaigns. You can’t judge a defenseman’s season too much on how many three-point games he has, but it’s one example of how Dunn can dominate when he freewheels a bit. And he did it on Wednesday, according to coach Lane Lambert, without sacrificing any defense.
For now, he’s on pace to set a career high for goals and have his second-best points total since notching 64 his Kraken MVP season. He’s tied with Beniers for second on the team in points with 17 and you get the feeling he can still crank things up a notch. And if he does, having him and Brandon Montour producing at top levels offensively on the same defensive corps would really help a team in need of production.
Three: Know Your Foe – The Delta Center in Salt Lake City was not the Kraken’s friend their first trip in last season, with the Mammoth shelling them 7-1 back in April. Prior to that, the Kraken had beaten the Mammoth twice at home. Anyhow, the onetime Arizona Coyotes franchise was expected to be a playoff contender this season given all their emerging young talent and free agent signings. But to be honest, they’ve been a disappointment after a strong start. After winning seven straight games in October to jump out to a record of 8-2-0 they’ve won just six times the past six weeks.
The Kraken get them in the midst of a three-game losing streak that’s seen Utah score just five total goals. They’ve also dropped seven of nine and 11 of 14, scoring two goals or fewer on seven occasions during the 11 defeats and no more than three goals maximum in all the losses. So, yeah, not very good.
Star forward Logan Cooley being out long-term with a leg injury hasn’t helped, leaving the bulk of offensive production to Clayton Keller with a club best 28 points and Nick Schmaltz with 26 while onetime Seattle Thunderbirds junior star Dylan Guenther has five goals and five assists his past 10 games.
Utah’s power play is third worst in the league at 14.6%, though the even strength offense is still middle-of-the-pack at 3.00 goals per game. Utah’s defense has kept them in a lot of one-goal games, though, as with the Kraken at times, the Mammoth have come out on the short end of several one-goal contests.
Projected Lines (not official)
McCann-Beniers-Eberle
Kakko-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Marchment-Wright-Nyman
Kartye-Gaudreau-Winterton
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Montour
Evans-Oleksiak
Daccord
