Thursday, November 21, 2024
5-Hour Energy

NHL Preview: Seattle Kraken (4-6-3) at Colorado Avalanche (8-3-0)

SEATTLE KRAKEN NOTES:

CURRENT INJURIES – (MAN GAMES LOST: 19)

Brandon Tanev (lower body; IR) – 12 games – week-to-week

Andre Burakovsky (upper body; IR) – 7 games – week-to-week

TRANSASCTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS

Nov. 8, 2023: Recalled forwards Ryan Winterton and Shane Wright from Coachella Valley (AHL)

GAME NOTES

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s matchup with Colorado is the fourth of 14 games the Kraken will play in November, which is tied with March for their most regular-season games in a single month this season. • Seattle’s next four games will be played against two opponents: they’ll face off against Colorado on the road tonight and at home on Nov. 13 and will play Edmonton at home on Nov. 11 and on the road on Nov. 15. • A win tonight would give the Kraken three consecutive road wins against a single opponent for the second time in franchise history, having also done so against the Los Angeles Kings on March 28, 2022, Oct. 13, 2022 and Nov. 29, 2022. o The Kings are currently the only team the Kraken have defeated three times on the road. o The Kraken and the Los Angeles Kings were the only two teams to defeat the Avalanche twice while playing on the road during the 2022-23 season. • The Kraken have not allowed a power-play goal in the last six games they have played against the Avalanche dating back to Jan. 1, 2022, going 13-for-13 on the penalty kill during that span. o Seattle’s 88.2 percent all-time success rate against Colorado on the penalty kill is their fourth-best mark against any team, trailing the Montreal Canadiens (100 percent), New York Islander (100 percent) and San Jose Sharks (89.5 percent). • A win or an overtime loss tonight would give the Kraken points in three consecutive road games for the second time this season. • The Kraken have opened the scoring in nine of the 13 games they have played this season, which was tied with the Golden Knights and Rangers for the most in the NHL this season. • Brian Dumoulin, Vince Dunn and Justin Schultz have each scored twice for the Kraken this season. Entering play Wednesday, Seattle, Carolina, Calgary and Vancouver were the only teams this season to have three different defensemen with multiple goals. o Seattle blueliners have accounted for 18.6 percent of the team’s goals this season, which ranked seventh in the NHL entering play Wednesday. • Joey Daccord’s next win (three) and next start (seven) will both be his most in a single season. • Entering play Wednesday, Adam Larsson, who has 30 hits and 25 blocked shots this year, was one of three skaters this season to total at least 30 hits and 20 blocked shots, with the others being Anaheim’s Radko Gudas and Edmonton’s Darnell Nurse. • Larsson has totaled 195 points (41 goals, 154 assists) in his NHL career. Currently five points shy, he is set to become the third defenseman from the 2011 NHL draft class to total 200 or more career points, trailing only Dougie Hamilton (455) and Jonas Brodin (219).

FAMILIAR FOES

• Tonight’s game will mark the second matchup of the season against Colorado for former Avs Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Philipp Grubauer and the first game they are playing in Denver this year. • Bellemare played for the Avalanche from 2019-20 to 2020-21, totaling 33 points (18 goals, 15 assists) in 122 regular-season games and adding six points (two goals, four assists) in 25 playoff games. • Grubauer was traded to Colorado during the 2018 offseason and went on to play for them for three seasons (2018-19 to 2020- 21), posting a 66-30-10 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He also appeared in 29 playoff games for the Avalanche, posting an 18-9-1 record with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. • Andre Burakovsky, who is currently on injured reserve, spent three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche (2019-20 to 2021- 22) after being traded to the team from Washington during the 2019 offseason, totaling 150 points (61 goals, 89 assists) in 191 regular-season games. His 150 points were the sixth-most by a Colorado skater during that span and he ranked in the top five on the team in both goals (fourth) and assists (fifth) from 2019-20 to the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. • The forward added 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 37 total postseason games en route to winning the 2022 Staley Cup with the Avalanche.

POWER UP

• The Kraken have gone 7-for-20 on the power play dating back to Oct. 24 at Detroit. The team’s 35 percent success rate on the power play from Oct. 24 on ranked third in the NHL entering play Wednesday, trailing only the New Jersey Devils (40.7 percent) and New York Rangers (38.5 percent). • In all this season, the Kraken have had a 26.3 percent success rate on the power play, which ranked eighth in the league this year entering play Wednesday. o Their success on the power play comes despite only having a man advantage 38 times this year. Entering play Wednesday, only six teams had had fewer power-play opportunities than the Kraken. • If the Kraken were to score on the power play tonight, it would give them power-play goals in five consecutive games, which would set a franchise record. • Entering play Wednesday, Jaden Schwartz was tied for third in the NHL with four power-play goals this season. His four powerplay goals are already the sixth-most of his career and are only four shy of the career-high nine he scored in 2019-20 with the St. Louis Blues.

COLORADO AVALANCHE NOTES:

The Colorado Avalanche continues their three-game homestand tonight against the Seattle Kraken at Ball Arena…The Avs, who opened the homestand with a 6-3 victory over the Devils on Tuesday, will wrap up the home stay on Saturday night against the Blues.

QUICK NOTES

The Avalanche are 4-0-0 at Ball Arena, their best home start to a season since 2019-20 (4-0-0)…Colorado and Carolina (also 4-0-0) are the only unbeaten teams on home ice.

The Avs tonight will try and win their first five home games of a season for just the fourth time in franchise history…The 2009-10 and 2007-08 Avalanche started 6-0-0 at home, as did the 1994-95 Quebec Nordiques.

Colorado is out-scoring the opposition 20-8 on home ice…The club’s 5.0 goals-per-game average at home is the best in the NHL.

Tonight is the annual “Hockey Fights Cancer” night at Ball Arena…The Avs are 10-3-1 all-time on HFC Night.

Jared Bednar is one victory shy of 300 career wins as an NHL head coach…He is attempting to become the 53rd coach in league history to win 300 regular-season games, the 32nd to win 300 with a single franchise.

Tonight is Cale Makar’s 250th career NHL game…Makar’s 260 points are the most ever by a defenseman through 250 contests…Bobby Orr is second with 256 points through 250 games.

The Avalanche have scored four shorthanded goals, tied with Carolina and Philadelphia for the league lead

Logan O’Connor leads the NHL in shorthanded goals (3), Mikko Rantanen is tied for first in game-winning goals (3) and Alexandar Georgiev shares the league lead in wins (7)…Nathan MacKinnon ranks fifth in shots (56), Rantanen is 10th in points (17-tied) and Cale Makar ranks third among defenders in points (14)

Cale Makar’s 68 career goals are tied with Erik Johnson and John-Michael Liles for third all-time among franchise defensemen.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT – SEATTLE KRAKEN

Tonight is the second of three meetings between the Avalanche and Kraken, all of which will take place within the first five weeks of the regular season…These two teams will close out the season series this Monday (Nov. 13) in Seattle…Tonight is the one and only matchup of 2023-24 here in Denver…The Avalanche won the first meeting 4-1 on Oct. 17 at Climate Pledge Arena…The Avs are 3-1-0 all-time at Climate Pledge Arena, 5-2-0 including playoffs.

Sports Gaming Digest FREE Digital Sports Magazine Subscription

Related Articles

Wager-Tracker: All Sports Betting Log

Latest Articles

ScoreBig - Get Tickets for Less