The Seattle Kraken are showing improvement.
The Kraken won five out of six games on their recent homestand, improving their record to 10-9-1, and are now just one point behind the Western Conference’s two wild-card playoff spots.
Seattle hopes to continue this success in Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, who have lost three of their last four games.
Before their homestand, the Kraken had lost four straight road games, scoring only four goals during that stretch.
“We were obviously losing those games, and I think your confidence, momentum, and mindset starts to change a little bit,” Kraken center Matty Beniers said. “So, I think being able to get home, we just kind of had a couple of days off.
We were able to get some really good days of practice and make sure that our mindset and game was good and together. And then we were able to get that first win… and once that happens, you build confidence, and you build chemistry from there.”
The Kraken are coming off a 3-0 win against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday. Joey Daccord recorded 24 saves for his first shutout of the season. Brandon Montour (one goal, one assist) and Chandler Stephenson (three assists), two of Seattle’s key offseason signings, played major roles in the win.
Jared McCann, who leads the Kraken with nine goals and 21 points, scored three goals during the homestand, including an overtime winner against Vegas.
“The way things ended on the road trip, we felt like we’d let some games get away from us,” McCann said. “Obviously, it wasn’t good but coming home here we kind of turned the page and just tried to focus on the next game.
I mean, it’s just more of a mental thing. You’ve got to get past that mental block. We didn’t have our best (on the road), but you’ve got to just push that aside and worry about the next one. That’s kind of the way we had to look at it and it’s worked out for us.”
The Kings lost 1-0 to the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday despite 18 saves by David Rittich. It was the first time Los Angeles had been shut out this season.
“There’s nights that I’m really frustrated with how we played, and it’s hard to be disappointed with the guys (Wednesday),” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “They tried, it didn’t go their way. Live with it and move on.”
Los Angeles came close to scoring multiple times, including a two-on-one break late in the second period when Trevor Moore tried to pass to Phillip Danault instead of taking the shot himself.
“Just one too many passes,” Hiller said. “We thought Mooresy should have shot it. If the pass gets through and Phil taps it in the back door, we’re saying, ‘Wow, what an incredible goal.’ So you can’t take that decision-making off the players.
They have to play hockey and choose what’s right in the situation. On a night like (Wednesday) where it was hard to find a goal, you don’t want to pass too many up. Maybe that was one that we passed up.”
