The Need To Knows!
- The Time: Noon Pacific/2pm Central/3pm Eastern
- The Place: A rink built at T-Mobile Park in Beautiful Seattle, Washington
- Place to Watch: TNT, TruTV, SportsNet, (HBO) Max, TVAS
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3 FM, KKGK 98.9 FM/1340 AM
- An Opposing Viewpoint: Knights On Ice
Know Your Enemy
- The Vegas Golden Knights are tied for first in the Pacific Division with the Vancouver Canucks, with 49 points on the year, with a total record of 22-10-5, but a more recent record of 5-5-0 over their last ten.
- They did however, snap their recent losing skid in a 3-2 victory over the LA Kings on Thursday.
- Vegas and Seattle have only played once to open the season, and uh…it didn’t go great. The Kraken lost 4-1 and also lost Brandon Tanev at the same time.
- Their leading point-getter is former Buffalo Sabre Jack Eichel, who has 40 points in 37 games played. Given how the Sabres are doing these days, I can’t help but wonder if they’d like a do-over on the trade that sent him out to Vegas.
- The Knight’s leading goalscorer is a personal, special one for me; Johnathan Marchessault, who has 17 goals in 37 games. He is special to me because he’s a guy who I used to cover pretty extensively for a local radio station for hourly score updates and I’d slip in the local AHL teams; and while the Springfield Falcons were never a worldbeater, they usually got Marchessault about two or three points a game and I enjoyed seeing how he did. Good for you, bud.
- Marchessault also has the team lead in power play goals, with 6.
- Adin Hill, Vegas’ starting goaltender, will NOT be playing in the Winter Classic; as he is currently listed as being on Injured Reserve coming into the game, and instead will likely be replaced by Logan Thompson, who is 11-6-0 in 19 starts, with a .902 SV%. He will be backed up by Jiri Patera, who has 3 starts, a 1-2-0 record, and a sub-.900 SV%. For anyone pulling up to the dance for the first time in awhile, you generally want that number to be well-above .900 to be a useful NHL option.
Game Preview
Happy New Year!
We’re here. Finally. The Winter Classic.
Two teams both alike in that their games aren’t on when a lot of the hockey covering world is awake now get to show off what they’re about on the field that has brought so many of our good friends at Lookout Landing excellent memories and also near-lethal doses of psychic damage.
It’s part of the Seattle sports experience. No, you do not get to opt out.
Since the Kraken and Knight’s first meeting, both teams have taken wildly different paths. The Knights defied the odds on how post-Stanley Cup victory seasons are supposed to go (they’re generally called “Hangovers” for a reason) and stayed a powerhouse; taking a firm grasp of the Pacific Division and Western Conference, and in general are expected to be a major part of the playoff picture come April. The Kraken meanwhile, couldn’t score goals for two months and spent their first two months hemorrhaging players, games, and points. It was rough.
Nowadays, though? Things are a little different.
The Knights lost Adin Hill, their MVP in net, on the 19th; capping off a month of frustration and confusion with the dawning reality that they may still be good, but they are absolutely not-immortal. They haven’t just lost games, they’ve gotten absolutely shellacked over their last ten, only breaking their losing streak very recently by having to hang on for dear life against the Kings. Their unassailable lead in the division has been usurped by the Canucks, who’ve been one of the hottest teams in the NHL all year, and their shot-metrics have taken a nosedive down to where the Kraken were to start the season. I guess hangovers in Vegas are a little different than we expect.
The Kraken meanwhile, broke an eight game losing streak, printed up some t-shirts as a prank on Adam Larsson…and then became one of the most difficult to deal with teams in the NHL. 6-1-3 in their last ten, a 4 game winning streak where they’ve won by at least one goal every time, and rocketing up the standings. They still have a lot of ground to cover, and still have a number of flaws that need to be ironed out if they want to meaningfully contend, but they’re a team that’s not to be taken lightly, especially since we’re looking at Joey Daccord’s rise to prominence in net; boasting the highest Save-% of any goalie in the month of December; earning a tidy .939 SV% and a shutout.
So what could bring Seattle an all-important win at T-Mobile Park and a win at their first Winter Classic?
Very simple; Ice conditions, and attacking the net.
Outdoor games are fun, the players enjoy the novelty of the experience, and the atmosphere at just about all of them is wonderful. The minor caveat is that no matter how you treat it, ice outdoors tends to be pretty squirrelly. The puck often finds itself bouncing around like it’s a rubber ball due to changes that arise when you drop an ice rink just about anywhere that isn’t built to have it. This leads to games with weird scores or lopsided victories as the team that adjusts to this change the quickest takes advantage.
The Kraken are uniquely poised in this regard, because while Vegas’ marquis forwards are something to be feared, going outside so far has not been a strong suit of theirs; in their sole outdoor game, they got edged out by the Avalanche in a 3-2 game that was it’s own hilarious can of worms, and Vegas is without it’s biggest X-Factor; Adin Hill. This is big for the Kraken because their recent games have involved them attacking the net as hard as they possibly can, and Logan Thompson does not like having to deal with shots in close.
If the Kraken can attack the net hard, adjust to the new ice on what is set to be a pretty decent winter day for Seattle, and keep the initial Vegas attack to the outside of the attacking zone, they can win this one.
Given the history tied to these two teams, any win over Vegas at all is a good one. Doing it with all the lights and cameras and pomp and circumstance?
That’s a delicious win.
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