Thirteen NHL games are being played tonight and none may be more contentious than the final game on the docket.
The Seattle Kraken have been getting themselves into form since being shutout by the Dallas Stars last Sunday. A 2-0 final score brought the group to 0-2-1 and another basement finish appeared to be on the horizon.
Their two games since then have been impressive. Lighting up the down-and-out Nashville Predators to a 7-3 final was a start. The winless Preds came out swinging, and the Kraken managed to steal momentum away from them before the end of the first period.
Against a win-hungry Flyers group, the Kraken matched their physical game across all three periods and managed to score three in the second stanza to seal up whatever hopes Philly had of ending their road trip with a .500 winning percentage. The Flyers went home 1-2-1.
In other words, tonight will serve as the Flames’ greatest challenge yet. They’re currently undefeated, but in the word of Paul McCartney: all things must pass. The Kraken will be playing at home with a chip on their shoulder and the Flames may have had too many days off. They last played on Tuesday; a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
A quick look at projected lineups before we get to a few storylines, narratives, and observations.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Derek Wills.
@Fan960Wills
Tyson Barrie draws in, Daniil Miromanov is out. Honzek was injured on Tuesday and had some previous ailments bothering him, so Adam Klapka gets back in as well.
Kuzmenko-Kadri-Coronato
Huberdeau-Pospisil-Mantha
Zary-Backlund-Coleman
Lomberg-Kirkland-Klapka
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Barrie
Bean-Pachal
Vladar
Wolf
Seattle Kraken Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Mike Benton.
@BentonMike
McCann-Wright-Eberle
Tolvanen-Beniers-Burakovsky
Schwartz-Stephenson-Bjorkstrand
Kartye-Gourde-Tanev
Evans-Larsson
Oleksiak-Montour
Mahura-Borgen
Daccord
Grubauer
Pushing Hard
With three straight wins, the Calgary Wranglers are making some noise early in the season. Courtesyof theahl.com, check out the league’s top scorers.
Not bad. Seven goals in four games from Rory Kerins is certainly hard to ignore. Jakob Pelletier scoring at a 2pts/gm rate is also encouraging.
With three powerplay goals over those four games, keep an eye on the Flames powerplay tonight. That second unit could use a finisher and a spot just opened up with Sam Honzek hitting injured reserve.
River Hockey
The Seattle Kraken certainly like playing transition hockey. While the Flames have had much talk about doing the same, they’ve managed to score a second place 4.75 goals per game by means of developed O-zone plays.
Do we see a change to that trend? Calgary will be the more rested team if that ends up being the case. Flying up and down the ice all night is exhausting. One Kraken player may be more up to the task than most.
Calgary Kid
An apology might need to be inserted here. This game day preview leans more towards the Kraken than the Flames.
With that said, try to watch Ryker Evans play a bit tonight. The Calgary, Alberta native is on the cusp of breaking through as a blueline star in the NHL. A goal and three assists in five games this season and he's getting better with each appearance.
The six foot tall 22 year old posted a +5 even strength goal differential on Thursday against the Flyers. No other Kraken player was more than a +2. Evans' gap management is truly something to watch.
Flames Killer
Jordan Eberle has started out the season strong with four goals and two assists for six points in five games.
The 22nd overall pick in 2008 has 40 points in 48 games against the Calgary Flames. Eberle, 34, has a goal and four assists for five points in seven games against the Flames since the start of the 2022-2023 season.
From the Depths
It only makes poetic sense that the Seattle Kraken would develop an identity as a deep team. The Flames will see their own depth challenged tonight given that Seattle runs four strong forward lines.
Keep an eye out for the unit of Yanni Gourde, Tye Kartye and Brandon Tanev. Gourde is a bit of a Flames killer by his own right. The 32 year old Stanley Cup Winner has three goals and foiur assists against the Flames in 11 games since the team’s inception in 2021.
To their credit, Calgary has perhaps the most interesting depth in the NHL. Three of their four forward lines feature at least one agitator. The addition of Adam Klapka to the fourth line only add to that principle.
Game time is 8:00 p.m. MST. Catch the broadcast on Sportsnet, CBC, and CityTV.
Stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick, the American Hockey League, and the National Hockey League.
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