Seattle has played 16 games so far this season. They have allowed 2 goals or less against only four times. Until they commit to team defense and stop trying to win 5-4 games they will not win many games this season simply because they lack the personnel to accomplish that. Tonight the Kraken will face off against a Colorado team that in the past has been one of the most dominant offensive teams but right now is looking a bit more average; MacKinnon being out obviously being a big factor. Still, if Seattle continues to try and play the same style that they have, they will get outscored... again.
I decided to watch the Oilers and Jets game last night and was surprised to see the Oilers bunkering down and playing a defense first game. McDavid scored another highlight reel goal which will likely be the story in most markets but Edmonton played a heavy, physical game against the Jets and prevented too many grade A chances against, as did the Jets against the Oilers. Both goalies were also incredible and made some brilliant saves.
This is the kind of game that I believe the Kraken have the personnel to implement. Up front, players like Tanev, Gourde, Wennberg, Donato, Jarnkrok, and even McCann to a degree can be more physical defensively sound options. On the back end the Kraken have some beef too with Larsson, Oleksiak, Soucy, and Lauzon. It might be far more boring hockey to watch but Seattle should be able to get these players to play in a way that clogs up the neutral zone and defensive end and then use that to transition into the offensive zone.
Seattle is a checking team that is being asked to play run and gun hockey. Anyone who has watched a single Kraken game this season can see that it isn't working, so why hasn't the coach changed things yet? At this point, wins should be seen as far more fun for the fans than watching their team score a couple exciting goals in a 5-2 loss.
Tonight, Seattle will face off against the Avalanche which will likely mean that Philip Grubauer will play against his former team. Grubauer was expected to sign with Colorado in the off-season last year but in a surprising move went to Seattle instead. It was a move that resulted in the Avs frantically moving to acquire Kuemper while the Kraken thought they had solidified their goaltending. So far that has not been the case and it still remains difficult to figure out how much of this is of Grubauer and how much is on the loose defensive game the Kraken as a whole are playing.
Seattle is going to want to give their goalie a win against his former team while the Avs have to be looking to get a little bit of revenge on their former netminder and show him that he made the wrong decision choosing to sign in Seattle over Colorado. The Avs know Grubauers tendencies and will be trying to pick him apart all night. This is the kind of game that the Kraken need to bunker down, muck things up in their own end and not lose another track meet.
We will see what happens....