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NHL Preview: Seattle Kraken (35-21-6) at Colorado Avalanche (34-21-5)

SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:

LAST GAME
Seattle 4 at Columbus 2
Goals: McCann, Eberle, Wennberg, Tanev
Goalie: Grubauer (21/23)
PP: 2/4 PK: 3/4 Shots: Seattle 35 – Columbus 23

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 162)
Joonas Donskoi (upper body; IR) – 62 games – no timeline for return
Andre Burakovsky (lower body) – 12 games – week-to-week

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
Feb. 24, 2023: Reassigned G Chris Driedger to Coachella Valley (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, March 7: Anaheim at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Thursday, March 9: Ottawa at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, March 11: Dallas at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Monday, March 13: Dallas at Seattle, 7 p.m. PT
Thursday, March 16: Seattle at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. PT

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
• Tonight’s matchup is the third and final game the Kraken will play against the Avalanche this season and the second time the teams are playing in Denver this year.

• A win or overtime loss tonight would give the Kraken points in four consecutive games against the Avalanche dating back to April 20, 2022. Seattle is 2-0-1 against Colorado during that span.

• The Kraken have not conceded a power-play goal for three consecutive games against the Avalanche. Seattle is 11-for-13 all-time against olorado on the penalty kill.

• Tonight’s game is also the final of nine games the Kraken will play on Sunday. The team has a 5-2-1 record in Sunday games this year and are outscoring their opponents 28-25 in those games.

• With the Kraken’s four-goal game in their last outing on March 3, they have now surpassed their goal total from all of last season in 20 fewer games. Seattle has scored 217 goals in 62 games this season compared to 213 goals in 2021-22. The team’s 217 goals this season were the fourth-most in the NHL entering play Saturday, trailing only the Edmonton Oilers (243), Boston Bruins (231) and Buffalo Sabres (223).

• Jordan Eberle’s goal in the Kraken’s last game on March 3 at Columbus was his 50th point of the season. It is the sixth time in his career and first time since 2017-18 that Eberle has recorded 50 or more points in a season.

• Alex Wennberg enters tonight’s game two points shy of recording 300 career points. When he reaches the milestone, he will become the 21st active, Swedish skater and the 11th player from the 2013 draft class to total at least 300 career points.

• Vince Dunn, who has already set a career high with 47 points (11 goals, 36 assists) this season, was ranked in the top 15 among all NHL defensemen in goals (tied ninth), assists (tied 12th), points (10th), even-strength goals (11, third) and even-strength points (34, tied fourth) entering play Saturday.

• Entering play Saturday, Adam Larsson and the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba were the only two players to have at least 160 hits and 120 blocks this season.

• Among defensemen that have played at least 70 minutes on the penalty kill this season, Will Borgen, who has totaled 93:40 of shorthanded ice time this year, was ranked 10th in the NHL with 5.12 power-play goals against per 60 entering play Saturday.

• The Kraken have played 14 games this season in which they have had at least five different goal scorers.

• Since the start of the New Year, the Kraken are tied for second the league in wins (17) and ranked third in points (36). The team’s 100 goals ranked second in the league since Jan. 1 entering play Saturday.

• Despite only playing in 62 games this season, the Kraken are the first team to have scored at least eight goals in a game four different times since the Pittsburgh Penguins also had four eight-goal games in 2011-12.

KRAKEN COUNTRY, LET’S RIDE
• Jordan Eberle has 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) in 40 career games against Colorado, including recording 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 14 games since the start of the 2016-17 season. His 10 goals against the Avalanche during that span are tied for the ninth-most in the NHL.

• Philipp Grubauer recorded his first NHL shutout on Oct. 18, 2016 against the Avalanche with 18 saves.

• Jared McCann has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last nine games against the Avalanche, including totaling five points (two goals, three assists) in the five games against Colorado as a member of the Kraken.

COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:

UPCOMING GAMES

Date Opponent Time (MT) TV Radio
Sun, Mar. 5 SEATTLE 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Tue, Mar. 7 SAN JOSE 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Thu, Mar. 9 LOS ANGELES 7 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM
Sat, Mar. 11 ARIZONA 4 p.m. Altitude 92.5 FM

TONIGHT’S GAME
COLORADO vs. SEATTLE
7:08 p.m.
Altitude / 92.5 FM
The Colorado Avalanche returns home to host the Seattle Kraken in the second half of a back-to-back tonight at Ball Arena… The Avalanche lost 7-3 yesterday afternoon in Dallas … Tonight opens a four-game homestand for the Avs, which includes visits from Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and Arizona … Colorado has dropped its last two games but is still 7-2-1 in its last 10 and 14-4-2 in its last 20 contests … Yesterday’s game began a stretch of 15 contests in 26 days.

ON THE CALL
Altitude TV: Marc Moser (play-by-play), Mark Rycroft (analyst), Katie Gaus (reporter)
Altitude Radio: Conor McGahey

LAST GAME
March 4 – Dallas 7, Colorado 3 at American Airlines Center
The Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche, 7-3, on Saturday afternoon at American Airlines Center … Samuel Girard had a goal and two assists for the Avs, while Andrew Cogliano and Evan Rodrigues also lit the lamp … Alexandar Georgiev made 14 saves before Keith Kinkaid came in and played the final 28 minutes.
SF: 35 SA: 29 PP: 1-2 PK: 3-3

Kinkaid became the 43rd different player to appear in a game for Colorado this year, extending the Avalanche record (previous was 39) … The 43 players ties Toronto for the most players used this season … He’s the fifth goaltender to play for the Avs in 2022-23, which also ties an Avalanche record (2019-20) Girard’s three points were a season high … His goal was his fifth of the year, matching his career high set in 2020-21 and 2021-22 … He has 15 points (2g/13a) in his last 15 games since Jan. 24

CURRENT INJURIES
Pavel Francouz – lower body (Feb. 14 – present)
Darren Helm – lower body (Jan. 14 – present)
Erik Johnson – lower body (Feb. 14 – present)
Gabriel Landeskog – lower body (Oct. 12 – present)
Josh Manson – lower body (March 4 – present)
Valeri Nichushkin – illness (March 4 – present)
Total Man-Game Lost: 339

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Mar. 4 – Ben Meyers reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)
Mar. 3 – Keith Kinkaid, Brad Hunt, Ben Meyers recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Gustav Rydahl acquired from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Anton Blidh … Rydahl will report to the Colorado Eagles … Cale Makar activated from Injured Reserve
Mar. 1 – Ben Meyers recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Lars Eller acquired from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a second-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft … Cale Makar placed on Injured Reserve (retroactive to Feb. 18) … Brad Hunt recalled from the Colorado Eagles (AHL) … Justus Annunen, Brad Hunt, Ben Meyers reassigned to the Colorado Eagles (AHL)

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – SEATTLE KRAKEN
The Avalanche and Kraken close out the season series with the third and final meeting of 2022-23 … Seattle won the first matchup 3-2 on Oct. 21 in Denver and Colorado won the second 2-1 in a shootout on Jan. 21 at Climate Pledge Arena … The Avs finished 2-1-0 against Seattle during the Kraken’s inaugural season a year ago.

SCHEDULE vs. KRAKEN
Oct. 21 vs. SEATTLE (L, 2-3)
Jan. 21 @ Seattle (W, 2-1 SO)
Mar. 5 vs. SEATTLE

RECORD vs. KRAKEN
THIS SEASON 2021-22 ALL-TIME PLAYOFFS
Overall: 1-1-0 Overall: 2-1-0 Overall: 3-2-0 Series: none
Home: 0-1-0 Home: 1-0-0 Home: 1-1-0 W-L record: 0-0
Road: 1-0-0 Road: 1-1-0 Road: 2-1-0

2022-23 SEASON NOTES
BACK-TO-BACK
Today’s game is the second half of a back-to-back for the Avs, who lost 7-3 yesterday in Dallas … Colorado is 11-5-1 in back-to-back games this season, 5-3-1 in the first contest and 6-2-0 in the second contest … Only the Hurricanes (7-1-1) and Bruins (7-2-0) have a better record on the second night of a back-to-back… The Avalanche had a stretch of three consecutive sets of back-to-back games from Feb. 14-25, with the club earning 11 of a possible 12 points during that span … All three back-to-backs required travel in between (either home/road or road/home) and all three opponents on the second half of the back-to-back were waiting for the Avs, with Colorado sweeping all three games … The Avalanche posted a 15-5-2 (.727) combined record in back-to-back games last season, the second-best mark behind Minnesota (.732, 19-6-3) … The Avs finished 7-3-1 in the first game and 8-2-1 in the second.

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