Who: Seattle Kraken (10-5-5, 25 points, 4th place Pacific Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (10-6-4, 24 points, 4th place Metropolitan Division)
When: 7:00 p.m. eastern
How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet
Pittsburgh, Kraken Hockey Network/Prime and KONG, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The Penguins get three days off after this weekend’s back-to-back before returning to PPG Paints Arena next Wednesday to take on the Buffalo Sabres. The team is then set for another set of consecutive games next weekend with a Friday road game against the Columbus Blue Jackets followed by a Saturday visit from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Opponent Track: The Kraken most recently stunned the Chicago Blackhawks with a third-period Thursday comeback that saw them score three unanswered goals late in a 3-2 regulation win. Overall, Seattle has won three of their last four games, and earned points in five of their last seven.
Getting to know the Kraken
Projected lines (from Thursday’s game)
FORWARDS
Mason Marchment – Matty Beniers – Jordan Eberle
Jaden Schwartz – Chandler Stephenson – Eeli Tolvanen
Berkly Catton – Freddy Gaudreau – Shane Wright
Tye Kartye – Oscar Fisker Molgaard – Ryan Winterton
DEFENSEMEN
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren – Brandon Montour
Ryker Evans – Jamie Oleksiak
Goalies: Joey Daccord, Philipp Grubauer
Potential scratches: Andre Burakovsky?
Injured Reserve: Jared McCann, Matt Murray, Kaapo Kakko
- Burakovsky is questionable for tonight after leaving Thursday’s game following a hit from the Blackhawks’ Ryan Lindgren in the first period.
- 2023 second-round pick Oscar Fisker Molgaard is fresh off of making his NHL debut against the Blackhawks. He joined Lars Eller as the second Danish player in league history to record a point in his NHL debut.
- Former Penguins defenseman Jamie Oleksiak meanwhile hit a milestone Thursday when he skated in his 700th career game against the Hawks.
Season stats
via hockeydb
- The Kraken got Joey Daccord, who started 55 games for the franchise last season, back from injured reserve earlier this week. He struggled Tuesday at the Detroit Red Wings but looked stronger during Thursday’s win at the Blackhawks.
- Daccord’s return coincided with former Penguins goaltender Matt Murray’s exit for what the team estimated to be a six-week absence with a lower-body injury. That’s got to be hugely disappointing news for Murray, who had played just two games in his last two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs before joining the Kraken this fall. Although the Kraken recorded a 1-3-1 record with Murray in net, he had held opponents to two goals or fewer in four of his five outings.
Getting pucks on net
Offense has been an issue so far this season for the Kraken, who head into Saturday’s matchup ranked 31st with 24.6 shots and 28th with 2.7 goals per game.
Low shot totals continued plaguing Seattle early in Thursday’s matchup with the Blackhawks, especially in a second period during which the Kraken were outshot 12-3 at even strength.
That changed in the third period, when the Kraken scored twice on nine even-strength shots, but Lambert made it clear after the win that racking up shots would be a focus for his team going forward.
“Again, it’s seeming to be a little bit of an everyday struggle here, with us generating offense in terms of shot volume,” head coach Lane Lambert said after the game about what he’d told his team before taking on the Hawks, per NHL.com’s Bob Condor. “You know, at some point, our guys are going to have to figure that out, because you can’t score if you don’t shoot the puck. Can’t score if it’s not on that stick. We’ve had opportunities to shoot the puck, and we, for some reason, choose to defer. We’ve got to stop that. So the message is the message is the message. It’s always the same.”
And now for the Pens
Projected lines (from Friday’s game)
FORWARDS
Connor Dewar – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Kevin Hayes – Evgeni Malkin – Anthony Mantha
Tommy Novak – Ben Kindel – Sam Poulin
Joona Koppanen – Blake Lizotte – Danton Heinen
DEFENSEMEN
Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea / Kris Letang
Ryan Graves / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Arturs Silovs and Sergei Murashov
Potential Scratches: Matt Dumba, Harrison Brunicke
IR: Ville Koivunen, Filip Hallander, Tristan Jarry, Justin Brazeau, Jack St. Ivany, Rickard Rakell, Caleb Jones, Noel Acciari
- Dan Muse has a tricky decision to make tonight after playing both Silovs and Murashov during Friday night’s shutout by the Wild. Last night’s game marked the first time this season Muse has made an in-game swap in net.
- Sam Poulin drew into the Pens’ lineup for the first time this season Thursday in place of Philip Tomasino.
- There’s not much to like about the Penguins’ Friday night shutout by the Wild. The Pens will hope to shake off the rust from international travel and put together a more competitive showing tonight.
