Last night, the Seattle Kraken finally ended their 8 game winning streak with a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Today, the Kraken flew into Edmonton and are hoping to get back on track with a win.

The Oilers and Kraken games this season have been an exciting back and forth affair. Edmonton took the first game 7-2 looking dominant for the entire game while Seattle did the exact same in a 5-2 win just a few games later. Tonight marks the second last bout between these two teams (the final being later in March). After struggling mightily at the beginning of the month, the Oilers have looked far more dangerous in their past three games, outscoring their opponents 17-6. Two of those opponents were the Sharks and Ducks but they also beat a very dangerous Golden Knights team. Seattle needs to be wary.

Philip Grubauer got the start against the Lightning so it's safe to assume that Martin Jones will be between the pipes tonight. Conversely it looks like Jack Campbell will be the starter tonight for the Edmonton Oilers. Campbell may have won his past three starts but he has still been very inconsistent and is still allowing at least 2 goals a game. For a Seattle team that thrives on taking as many shots as possible and having multiple scoring lines this feels like a matchup that certainly benefits the Kraken.

The X Factor for the Oilers tonight will be the return of Evander Kane who returns after a very scary incident involving a skate blade injury to his wrist. Having Kane back will certainly energize an Oilers team that has been accused numerous times of being too soft to play against. I don't expect Kane to be getting into any fights tonight but you can bet he will be throwing his weight around early and getting as many shots on net as he can to test out his wrist. Seattle must be careful about giving him the opportunity to ease back into game form.

So far this season Seattle has gone 8-4-2 against their own division. That is the kind of winning record that you need against your own division in order to make the playoffs. Games like tonight are the kind of games that will be looked back on two months from now if Seattle starts to slide in the standings and fans will feel that the team left points on the board. Expect the Kraken to be in top form tonight and doing whatever they can to avoid even a two game losing streak.

Thanks for reading.

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