One: Get Monkey Off Back-To-Back
In many ways, the undoing of last season’s Kraken was forged by an inability to win the second leg of any back-to-back games. They were an NHL-worst 0-12-0 in such situations, a surreal statistic indeed given the wide range in quality of the teams they faced. This will be the first of 13 back-to-backs played by the Kraken this season and they’ll almost certainly need to win more than a few to stay in the hunt until season’s end. They looked somewhat weary in Philadelphia on Monday night, likely due to having five players out of the lineup plus being in the fourth game of a six-city trip that will see them cross the U.S.-Canada border four times before it’s finally done. But needless to say, fatigue played an outsized role in the second leg faltering during those prior back-to-backs last season and so greater energy will be needed on Tuesday night compared to what was demonstrated during the loss to the Flyers.
“We’ve got to be faster, and we’ve got to be more committed to winning battles,” Kraken head coach Lane Lambert said. “I just didn’t think we won enough battles. Were we trying? Sure, but there’s a difference between trying and winning them.”
Sportlogiq stats showed the Kraken won only 24% of all puck battles during the game.
The Kraken called up centerman Ben Meyers from AHL Coachella Valley for this contest, so expect to see them put out a lineup with a little added grit.
Last season, the Kraken averaged just 1.3 goals per game in those dozen second legs of back-to-backs. That will need to improve Tuesday, perhaps with help from a power play that’s now scored in five consecutive contests after Jani Nyman scored with the man advantage in Philadelphia.
Two: Stop The Puck
We won’t know for certain until later today because the Kraken did not have a morning skate, but this game is expected to mark the team debut of goalie Matt Murray. The veteran netminder is trying to resurrect his career after undergoing dual hip surgery a couple of years back. Goaltending was certainly an issue in the back-to-back games last season as a backup was often needed for the second leg. The Kraken opted to go with Joey Daccord in Philadelphia to try to nail down a contest versus a non-playoff team from last spring compared this one versus a Caps team that advanced to the second round.
Regardless, the Kraken need a backup they can rely on beyond Daccord — who has started five of six games already and looked it against the Flyers in yielding five goals on 21 shots over two periods and letting some stoppable pucks go by.
Philipp Grubauer did his job in Ottawa the other night until that long slap shot goal by the Senators out of nowhere tied the game late ahead of the Kraken losing in overtime. To keep this one close, Murray will need to be at the top of his game and prevent the stoppable shots from getting by him.
Three: Know The Foe
These Caps are more than just Alex Ovechkin, who scored both times he faced the Kraken last season, continues to build upon his all-time NHL goal-scoring record with one more this season and 898 in his career thus far – four more than Wayne Gretzky. Washington is led by top centerman Dylan Strome, a 29-goal, 82-point man last season who has two more goals and six assists already the current campaign.
Their forwards depth across all four lines carried them a season ago with seven players at 20 goals or more. They are also a defensive force to be reckoned with, their blue line anchored by John Carlson and Jakub Chychrun and a solid goaltending tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren.
Thompson, a potential Canadian Olympic hopeful, is expected to get the start in this game. He’s 3-1-0 with a 1.75 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
Washington had a four-game winning streak snapped by a one-goal loss to Vancouver on Sunday. They are allowing just two goals per contest – a full goal fewer than the Kraken have yielded. So, stopping pucks is obviously a necessity for the Kraken in this contest.
Kraken lines/pairings (not official)
Catton-Beniers-Eberle
Schwartz-Stephenson-Tolvanen
Nyman-Wright-Winterton
Kartye-Meyers-Hayden
Dunn-Larsson
Lindgren-Fleury
Mahura-Oleksiak
Murray
