One: Setting the Pace, Staying in O-zone
VANCOUVER – Yanni Gourde and his wife, Marie-Andree, have two young daughters. Christmas was special, Santa delivered, and the Kraken fan favorite took his mind off hockey for a stretch.
Friday afternoon, following the team’s first practice after the holiday break, the Seattle alternate captain was squarely focused on how the Kraken could snap a four-game losing skid against divisional foe Vancouver. Gourde, who regularly analyzes games in a fashion that makes it feasible to envision the two-time Stanley Cup champion as a coach someday.
“In the past [earlier season], we were setting the pace of games a little bit more,” said Gourde. “Now we kind of wait for them [opponents] to set the pace, and we adjust. That's not the identity of this team ... We need to go out there and set the pace for 60 minutes, just grind and play hard. It’s one of the biggest problems we have.”
While getting more Kraken forwards net-front for tips, rebounds and screening goaltenders is a pressing topic raised by teammates and coach Dan Bylsma, Gourde pointed to not nearly enough “sustained offense” or getting the puck into the offensive zone and keeping it there: “We’ve had a lot of one-shot-and-we-don't-recover-the-rebound [outcomes]. Sometimes, we are shooting with no one there yet [at the goal crease]. Getting to the net is one thing, but it’s also about getting there at the right time. There’s timing and being connected together that we need to make sure happens.”
In Friday’s practice, Bylsma started with 20 minutes of skating drills to counterbalance four days off the ice. The coaching staff then unpacked several drills aimed at moving the puck up ice in transition and getting clean entries into the offensive zone to mesh with Gourde’s take, emphasizing “it’s an area we can improve on and comes with being on the same page.”
Two: Updates on Daccord, Burakovsky
Kraken goalie Joey Daccord did not make the trip to B.C., same for veteran forward Andre Burakovsky. Daccord took a puck to the wrist against Chicago on Dec. 19, and while he remained in the game, he was “day-to-day” and stayed in Seattle for treatment. Burakovsky is “day-to-day” with an illness (a number of players were fighting a bug through the period of the last half dozen games before break). Coachella Valley goaltender Ales Stezka was called up. Bylsma was clear both players will not be suiting for Saturday’s 1 p.m. matinee, translating to Philipp Grubauer getting the start. Burakovsky’s absence will prompt mulitiple personnel changes on the power play units if Friday’s practice is an indicator.
Three: Know the Foe: Canucks in Top Wild-Card Spot
Though seven games over NHL .500, Vancouver is battling to stay among the eight Western Conference squads in playoff position as the halfway mark of the season is fast approaching. The Canucks are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games and just broke a three-game losing streak edging San Jose just before the break, and are 7-7-5 at home, all reasons for Kraken optimism. VAN leading scorer, defenseman Quinn Hughes (eight goals, 34 assists, 42 points), and second-leading scorer, center Elias Pettersson (10 G, 18 A, 28 points), are both not available for this matinee matchup.
