GDT: Game 33: Calgary Flames(16-13-7) @ Seattle Kraken(18-10-4) - 7:00 p.m. PT / 10:00 p.m. ET

[Sad People]

Were a much improved team this year compared to last, but kinda feels like were drifting to the spot where this team realistically should be in the standings, With Edmonton being ahead of us as well.

 

[The Marquis]

Still 2nd in points %… but it does indeed feel like the drift is happening. I don’t necessarily think the wheels are coming off though. They are losing low scoring games by 1 goal. They seem to be back to preventing goals from being scored, but They’ve got to get the goal scoring mojo back. Burky, Beniers and Schwartz especially seem invisible offensively as of late. At least McCann has stayed consistent. We wouldn’t have won those 3 of the last ten if not for him.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Still 2nd in points %… but it does indeed feel like the drift is happening. I don’t necessarily think the wheels are coming off though. They are losing low scoring games by 1 goal. They seem to be back to preventing goals from being scored, but They’ve got to get the goal scoring mojo back. Burky, Beniers and Schwartz especially seem invisible offensively as of late. At least McCann has stayed consistent. We wouldn’t have won those 3 of the last ten if not for him.

Um....the one before this one was a 5-6 loss on penalties.
And in this one the Flames had about 45 shots on goal with Grubauer making quite a few desperate saves.

Offensively I'm not surprised that Beniers has some ups and downs as a rookie and neither Schwartz or Burakovsky are definite 1st line guys which is why they have those droughts as well.

Though, let's see what happens here.

Like I've said before, we're now in a ten game stretch(including this one) that will most likely show us where this season goes.
If the team can finish that with a .500 record we've got a good shot at the playoffs, but if things go like the ten games before, we're going to be 5th in the pacific with Vancouver right behind us.

 

[Baszie]

Kraken have used 13 different forward combinations with at least 30 min of total icetime.

Highest xG%:
Schwartz-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand (65% over 85 min)

Lowest xG%:
Donato-Gourde-Bjorkstrand (36% over 45 min)
Schwartz-Wennberg-Burakovsky (45% over 155 min)

It doesn’t make any sense to me, that they switched back to these linecombos after the Vancouver game.

 

[gstommylee]

 

[Irie]

Kraken have used 13 different forward combinations with at least 30 min of total icetime.

Highest xG%:
Schwartz-Wennberg-Bjorkstrand (65% over 85 min)

Lowest xG%:
Donato-Gourde-Bjorkstrand (36% over 45 min)
Schwartz-Wennberg-Burakovsky (45% over 155 min)

It doesn’t make any sense to me, that they switched back to these linecombos after the Vancouver game.

You obviously were not paying attention to Hakstol's coaching experiment all of last season. Any line that went one game without a point was tossed into the scrap heap until other combos were exhausted and that line would be tested again.

There was no chemistry. This season started with line stability and chemistry developed, but as soon as they started losing this season, instead of working on the 68% efficient penalty kill, here we are with the line shuffling again.

Just have faith in that you are not alone. It does not make sense to you because it does not make sense to anyone.

 

[Irie]

Wish I could say we couldn't see this coming, but unfortunately, a team that is built strictly on intense compete and out-working your opponent is going to eventually hit the wall.

Playoff level efforts are not sustainable over an 82 game season.

Playing smarter and more disciplined is what this team needs to work on, so that they don't always have to outwork every opponent every shift.

 

[GrungeHockey]

Well there's no question the second half of the season is tougher than the first, and if you've been winning earlier you get taken more seriously, you face #1 goalies more instead of back ups, and what usually separates the contenders from the pretenders is solid defensive play. We often lack the latter and so it's quite possible we drop quite far.
They have to avoid a losing streak on this road trip and then with health and a little luck maybe they stay in it.

Hakstol's ability to get them to play solid defense is questionable however.

 

[The Marquis]

It's important not to overlook the fact that while the Kraken has slipped to a Wild Card spot in points, that points % is another matter altogether and they have some room to breathe in that regard and are firmly in 3rd in the Pacific, and just behind LA.

I think the biggest plus in our favor is the games in hand, of which the Kraken (40 points) have:

5 on Vegas (50 points)
6 on LA (48 points)
4 on Calgary (41 points)
3 on Edmonton (40 points)
2 on Vancouver (35 points)
4 on San Jose (29 points)
3 on Anaheim (24 points)

So Seattle has to REALLY mess things up to not stay in the mix. If they go on a 5 game winning streak they could be at 50 points at 38 games just like Vegas is. If they win 4 of their next 6, they match where LA is. If they get 1 OTL in their next 4 they match where Calgary is right now. It's not even remotely dire yet, just disappointing considering the hot start.

The next few 9 are as follows:

The Kraken are at .606 (11th overall)
vs. Edmonton .556 (17th)
vs. NYI .595 (14th)
@ Edmonton .556 (17th)
@ Toronto .694 (3rd)
@ Ottawa .500 (23rd)
@ Montreal .458 (26th)
@ Buffalo .545 (19th) and hot af
@ Boston (1st)
@ Chicago (32nd)

In there is 1 back to back (is that the first of the year?) Montreal/Buffalo, but 7 of those 9 are on the road. This has been good this season at 9-4-2 on the road. We'll see how it goes. It's a critical 2 weeks and will really prove where the Kraken belong, but the schedule isn't a tough one. They play 2 great teams, 3 bad teams and the rest middling, but all below the Kraken in points %. I'd argue that the Islanders and Sabres are better teams. Their GD would indicate they are generally lower in the standings than they should be. As such, like everybody else says... if you get .500 out of this run, that sets up a good chance of a playoff birth, but I think wins over Edmonton are going to matter the most in that effort.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

@The Marquis
I think that's a bit too much trying to talk yourself into it, IMO.

This is a really tough stretch for the Kraken who also won't have more than one day off until January 23rd - 25th.

That road record is something that is a bit like this season, meaning it started really well but has gone down given that the Kraken are 1-3-1 during their last five road games.

BTW: After that road trip the Kraken will also host the Lightning on the second night of a back-to-back, playing in Chicago the night before.
That won't be fun.

 

[The Marquis]

The 1st-3rd lines need to start producing. That 4th line is still golden per minute.