GDT: Game 10: Pittsburgh Penguins(4-3-1) @ Seattle Kraken(3-4-2) - 6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET

[RainyCityHockey]

After giving their nearest rival a breath of fresh air and their first win the Kraken are playing yet another one at home.
This time it's against Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who lost last night in Vancouver.

Last year the Kraken split the season series with Pittsburgh, losing badly at home but getting one of their rare OT wins in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins started the season red hot but have lost three in a row on their road swing through Western Canada and will be looking for a bounce back.

----------------------------------------------
Where?
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA

When?
6:00 p.m. PT / 9:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 a.m. CET

How to watch?
ROOT-NW, ATTSN-PT

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3 Keys to the game

1) Defend!
Everyone do that and we're looking way better than we did against Chicago, Anaheim or Vancouver while winning those games as well.
Given that it's Crosby and the Pens, who don't allow to much easy stuff offensively for you, playing solid on defense is the most important thing.

2) Make a Save!
We all know that Martin Jones is not the saviour and that it's unlikely he'll turn back the time to his early years with the Sharks.
Though, at some point it would be nice if we were the ones that had the goalie standing on his head and winning/stealing a game for us.

3) Penalty Kill
I applaud any team trying to play an aggressive penalty kill(or power kill) but in order for that to work you need to know exactly how to position yourself and use your sticks a lot to make things tough on other teams.
So far the Kraken, once again, have one of the worst penalty kills in the league(it's even below 70 %) and seem to be way to easily beaten by other teams power plays.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Top Scorers:
Jaden Schwartz: 4(G) - 4(A) ---> 8 points
Andre Burakovxky: 3(G) - 5(A) ---> 8 points
Jared McCann: 5(G) - 3(A) ---> 8 points

Work Load:
Adam Larsson: 22:38 TOI/Game
Vince Dunn: 22:35 TOI/Game
Alex Wennberg: 19:25 TOI/Game

Netminders:

Top Scorers:
Sidney Crosby: 4(G) - 7(A) ---> 11 points
Evgeny Malkin: 4(G) - 4(A) ---> 8 points
Bryan Rust: 3(G) - 4(A) ---> 7 points

Work Load:
Kris Letang: 23:25 TOI/Game
Jeff Petry: 20:37 TOI/Game
Brian Dumoulin: 20:36 TOI/Game

Netminders:
Tristan Jarry: 4-2-0 / .915(SV%) / 3.02 GAA
Casey DeSmith: 0-1-1 / .907(SV%) / 3.42 GAA
--------------------------------------------------

This one could be an important one.
After gifting the Canucks their first win they got back-to-back wins and are, all of a sudden, right behind us in the standings.

Losing this one would be tough as it would cost some of the momentum the team seemingly built with their win against the Sabres.

Anyways, let's hope the boys are able to turn it around and as always....

Click to read more...

 

[Sad People]

Lets go Kraken!

 

[The Marquis]

We always seem to get teams when they need a win.

 

[gstommylee]

No wright tonight...

 

[RainyCityHockey]

No wright tonight...

Thanks for the info.

So what exactly is "that plan" Hakstol's always talking about?
I mean, besides maybe a meal plan....

 

[Irie]

We always seem to get teams when they need a win.

On a positive, it is back to back road games for the Pens, and Pittsburgh is not a young team, that might be a big advantage

 

[Irie]

Thanks for the info.

So what exactly is "that plan" Hakstol's always talking about?
I mean, besides maybe a meal plan....

No one is lying. The plan is to both keep him up all season and to return him after nine games... On Easter.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

No one is lying. The plan is to both keep him up all season and to return him after nine games... On Easter.

It's just stupid.
And most importantly, it doesn't help the kid and therefore the franchise cause you need this guy to hit in order to become a competitive team.

 

[gstommylee]

Is it stupid maybe by fans opinion but we have no idea how the heck to run a franchise and develop players and have no idea what is being discussed between the team and wright.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Is it stupid maybe by fans opinion but we have no idea how the heck to run a franchise and develop players and have no idea what is being discussed between the team and wright.

The most important thing for a young players is to play, play and play.
Ideally in the NHL, but if that's not a real option(for whatever reason) then you send him back to juniors and let him play 20+ minutes a night to develop.

This right now does not make much sense cause so far he's only played five out of ten with hardly any ice time.

 

[kihei]

Is it stupid maybe by fans opinion but we have no idea how the heck to run a franchise and develop players and have no idea what is being discussed between the team and wright.

We have some basic notion of development, though. How does one improve in a sport without being allowed to actually play it?

 

[majormajor]

We have some basic notion of development, though. How does one improve in a sport without being allowed to actually play it?

More of the development for an 18 year old forward is going to be in the gym and in skills training and in practice.

We did this experiment in the OHL when most of the league didn't play a meaningful game for a year. Most of the players were dramatically better when they returned to action.

I'm not saying I like Wright's NHL deployment but fans are off track if they think his development mostly comes from game action. Look at how good Shane is now compared to how sluggish he was last year. Between last May and this training camp he looks like a different player and not one real game played.

 

[sigma six]

Beat these guys please. I don't really hate certain teams anymore, but if I did the pens would still top the list.

 

[kihei]

More of the development for an 18 year old forward is going to be in the gym and in skills training and in practice.

We did this experiment in the OHL when most of the league didn't play a meaningful game for a year. Most of the players were dramatically better when they returned to action.

I'm not saying I like Wright's NHL deployment but fans are off track if they think his development mostly comes from game action. Look at how good Shane is now compared to how sluggish he was last year. Between last May and this training camp he looks like a different player and not one real game played.

You make good points. Still, I should think skills development combined with lots of ice time in real games is the best way to ensure that improvement actually occurs. Wright may be getting a lot of the one, though I trust Hakstol about as far as I could throw him, but he certainly isn't getting anywhere close to enough of the other.

 

[Irie]

We did this experiment in the OHL when most of the league didn't play a meaningful game for a year. Most of the players were dramatically better when they returned to action.

I'm not saying I like Wright's NHL deployment but fans are off track if they think his development mostly comes from game action. Look at how good Shane is now compared to how sluggish he was last year. Between last May and this training camp he looks like a different player and not one real game played.

I think if you are comparing players that are 16-17 and then looking at them again when they are 18-19 and the entire league is in the same situation, and the highly developed players have graduated from the league, you would expect to see dramatically improvements based on the 17 to 19 physical age development alone.

All the leagues suffered serious setbacks to development with the covid issues. Most players in the WHL and the Q played less than half a season in 2020-21.

There is a lot of experience to be gained playing games in junior. Moreso in the NHL than sitting in the pressbox.

If sitting out was the best way to develop prospects, we would see every team's top ten picks not playing games

 

[kihei]

Beat these guys please. I don't really hate certain teams anymore, but if I did the pens would still top the list.

We don't need extra incentive to beat Pittsburgh. We need to bounce back immediately after a mediocre night in Vancouver. This will be the kind of game that will tell us a lot about the team's character.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

The most important thing for a young players is to play, play and play.
Ideally in the NHL, but if that's not a real option(for whatever reason) then you send him back to juniors and let him play 20+ minutes a night to develop.

This right now does not make much sense cause so far he's only played five out of ten with hardly any ice time.

I think Wright playing 20 games back in the OHL and 30-35 minutes per night in all situations would be best,then he could play World Juniors then the Kraken in late January

Burakovsky can shoot and pass and that's impressive in the game of hockey. Who knew and I learned that from a skirt,thank-you

 

[Irie]

I'm not saying I like Wright's NHL deployment but fans are off track if they think his development mostly comes from game action. Look at how good Shane is now compared to how sluggish he was last year. Between last May and this training camp he looks like a different player and not one real game played.

I want to further expand on this, because I don't want you to think I am implying that I think you are wrong, but I feel it does not encompass the big picture.

I strongly believe that team practices are meant to be a compliment to game experiences, and the experience learned in those games is invaluable.

The individual work with coaches is another factor all together, but it isn't really a replacement for the practice and games regiment. Another understated development tool is offseason training with peers, imo. Taking a step away from the structured game environment is an area where young players make huge strides as well.

Each of these facets are important for development, and prospects are going to be best served with a healthy dose of them all as they develop their skills and learn to translate them to high pressure game situations.

No matter how management sugar coats what is going on with Wright, I don't think anyone that has been around player development can deny that the current plan is not on track to maximize his development.

I think Wright playing 20 games back in the OHL and 30-35 minutes per night in all situations would be best,then he could play World Juniors then the Kraken in late January

Burakovsky can shoot and pass and that's impressive in the game of hockey. Who knew and I learned that from a skirt,thank-you

Is he playing goal?

 

[kihei]

Pens looking better than the Kraken in the early going.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

If the Kraken are going to sit Wright he should platooning with Geekie. Donato and Sprong on that 4th line can do some damage

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Can Hakstol just leave Donato in the line up permanently

Shite

 

[sigma six]

Shit, that was very save-able.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Nice work,goal by Burakovsky

Great face off win by Wennberg

Looks like Kraken are getting shafted again

 

[Sad People]

Cant take that one away. Good grief.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Now they can't bring that one back

Let's don't get stupid now