The Seattle Kraken seem to hit a new milestone every night. The latest comes from Jordan Eberle, who generated the franchises first ever hat trick. This hatty, however, is bigger than it being the first Kraken hat trick. The key in this headline is that it came from Jordan Eberle. A guy, in the first few games of the season, who the Kraken needed to show up and be a top goal scorer. He just couldn’t find the back of the net. Fortunately for this Seattle team he seems to be finding his stride. Which leads me into other important topics in this read.
The Hockey media was starting to become impatient with this Kraken team. With under-performances from key players like Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Alex Wennberg, Yanni Gourde, Joonas Donskoi, really the list could go on and on, the offense simply wasn’t clicking. There were many rumors stirring about trading some players for a shake up. Specifically on the offense, considering the Kraken were relying heavily on defensive scoring. However, sometimes one goal can solve it all. From the looks of the last few games starting in Montreal it looks like it has. 13 of the last 17 goals have come from Kraken forwards. A great sign for Seattle.
In the NHL, there is always more work to be done. The Kraken’s record certainly suggests that they are many strides away from where they want to be in the standings. However, the past few games have been a strong indication of how Seattle wants to play. They are finding their identity, the chemistry, the line combinations, and are still managing to play a competitive game every night even though they aren’t fully healthy. As a fan of the Kraken, there are many things to be excited about moving forward.
Interestingly enough, it’s kind of a good thing the team has yet to be fully healthy. Not only does it allow the guys to get more comfortable and build more chemistry with each other while facing adversity. It also gives players opportunities that they may not have gotten. This creates friendly competition amongst the players knowing that they have quality depth. This competition will make sure each player competes hard for one another every game. Look for this in the near future as Jared McCann, Marcus Johansson, and Colin Blackwell hope to (re)join the team.
Tonight the Seattle Kraken play the Arizona Coyotes, who are coming off of a back to back game. Therefore, look for the Kraken to have fresher legs, playing harder on pucks, and some key players finding the back of the net. It’ll also be good to see G Chris Driedger back on the bench after recently returning from a knee injury
Unfortunately, we won’t see a salmon toss tonight regardless of the outcome as we travel to Arizona for the game. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the new Kraken tradition, there will be an article about it in time for the next home game in Seattle.
The Morning Skate 