Game Day: Preds at Kraken Preview

After concluding their three-game homestand with a pair of wins, the Nashville Predators have headed west and are in Seattle for the first time in franchise history to take on the Kraken tonight at 9 p.m. CT. This evening's contest marks the second of three meetings between the two this season; the Preds fell to the Kraken on Opening Night in Nashville back in October, and the final two contests will take place in Seattle.
The Predators will face the Kraken following a 4-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday night that was preceded a 5-2 win against Vancouver last Thursday. Those results ended a four-game skid for the Predators, and they say they've gotten back to the details in their game that have made them successful this season, including improved play in the defensive zone and timely scoring, too.

"We had some areas we wanted to improve on, and we worked on that," Preds forward Matt Duchene said following Saturday's win. "The last two [games] have been good, and tonight [we played] a team that's really stingy, plays a really good systematic game and tries to take your momentum away and slow you up, and I thought we did a good job just being patient."
"There's a synergy, and it's a credit to the players," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said Saturday. "We didn't win some games and we felt like our offensive game was in good order, but our details and the purpose in which we played defensively wasn't as tight as it needed to be when we were losing some games. We presented some things to the guys and told them some areas that needed to be fixed, and they're the ones that have to go out and do it. They pay attention in the meeting, and we haven't had a lot of practice time, but the fact that we can come in, we can present some things to the guys, show them what needs to be done and they and they go out and do it is really important."
The Predators practiced on Monday in Nashville before heading to Seattle and recalled forward Matt Luff to the taxi squad from Milwaukee (AHL) as well as goaltender Tomas Vomacka to the taxi squad from Florida (ECHL).
Forward Eeli Tolvanen was placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list prior to Saturday's game, and defenseman Dante Fabbro remains on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury.

The Good Guys:

Preds Captain Roman Josi (13g-29a) continues to lead the team in scoring with 42 points, followed by Matt Duchene (19g-19a) with 38 points and Mikael Granlund (6g-29a) with 35 points. Ryan Johansen (12g-21a) has 33 points on the season, and Filip Forsberg became the first Preds player to hit the 20-goal mark this season with 32 points to his credit. Goaltender Juuse Saros is 22-11-2 in net for the Preds; David Rittich is 3-2-1.

The Opposition:

The Kraken have won three of their last four games, including a 5-3 victory over Florida on Sunday night. Jared McCann leads Seattle with 15 goals and 24 points, while Jordan Eberle (12g-12a) also has 24 points. Yanni Gourde has nine goals and 21 points for the Kraken, and former Preds forward Calle Jarnkrok has seven goals and 14 points in 30 games during the inaugural season in Seattle. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is 10-15-4 in net for the Kraken.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 0-1-0 all-time against the Kraken. Nashville opened their 2021-22 regular season on Oct. 14 vs. Seattle, their first game against the expansion franchise, and dropped a 4-3 decision at Bridgestone Arena.
Seattle is the fifth franchise to join the NHL after Nashville's inaugural season (1998-99), along with Atlanta/Winnipeg, Minnesota, Columbus and Vegas. Nashville is a combined 8-5-2 against expansion teams playing in their first NHL season.

Notables Versus Seattle:

Eeli Tolvanen scored Nashville's first-ever goal against Seattle on Oct. 14.
Calle Jarnkrok was selected by Seattle from Nashville in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Jarnkrok spent eight seasons with the Predators from 2013-21 and posted 211 points (94g-117a) in 508 games. He is one of 14 skaters in Predators history to play in at least 500 games with the team.
Kraken forward Colin Blackwell made his NHL debut with Nashville in 2018-19 and went on to play in 33 games with the Predators over parts of two seasons. He notched three goals and 10 points from 2018-20.
Seattle's Head Equipment Manager, Jeff Camelio, spent 15 seasons as Nashville's Assistant Equipment Manager; 2019-20 was Camelio's final campaign with the Predators.

Watch & Listen:

This evening's game will be
shown exclusively on ESPN+ & Hulu streaming services
with a 9 p.m. CT puck drop.
For more information on ESPN+ and Hulu, click here
. On the radio side, Pete Weber will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 8 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the region,
click here
.