One: Make a commitment
Kraken coach Dan Bylsma has been pretty outspoken about not liking the commitment level shown by players in three consecutive losses to the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. To emphasize that point again, he had the Kraken engage in a series of one-on-one drills in practice Monday in North Carolina, wanting them to commit to a more intense, physical battle. Expect some different line combinations in this one, with Andre Burakovsky a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
His comments postgame on Saturday night about Kraken players “dipping their toe in the water” to see whether it was worth engaging against the Sharks spoke volumes about their readiness in facing a team widely considered among the league’s weakest. Bylsma also praised the Kraken as often saving their best for games against tougher opponents. Well, they’re in luck. The Kraken’s next seven games will be a gauntlet of some of the NHL’s finest. To compete, they’ll need to bring all they have and then some.
Two: Stop the puck
It’s hardly a secret, but the Kraken need better goaltending than they got in all three of those losses. Two of them were with Joey Daccord in goal and he’ll be starting against Carolina and looking to show his most recent prior outings were just a blip.
The good news is he’ll likely not have to wait long to be tested. Carolina historically has peppered Kraken goalies with an abundance of shots. As usual, the Kraken defenders will need to tighten up on allowing rebounds, and odd-man rushes as it’s become clear that as good as Daccord has looked at times, he can’t do it by himself. It will be more of a challenge tonight with Ryker Evans sidelined with an undisclosed injury picked up in Saturday's loss.
As for Daccord, he’ll need to tighten his focus a little and make sure to smother initial shots when afforded the opportunity. He allowed a couple of shots to trickle on by him or get loose for juicy rebounds in recent games.
Three: Know your foe
Let’s get this out of the way: The Kraken have never won a road game against Carolina, though all three matchups ended 3-2. So, they’ve at least kept it close.
They’ve also never won in New Jersey or against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, so they’re 0-8-1 on the road against three of the four teams they’ll see this trip. That means something needs to change to avoid dropping three of four at minimum, and the Kraken might as well start against the team that keeps beating them by a lone goal.
It helps that the Hurricanes have dropped four of their last six and just got steamrolled by Florida in consecutive games in which they allowed six goals each time.
Goaltending is a big issue currently as Carolina hopes starter Pyotr Kochetkov returns from concussion protocol in time for the game. Just in case, they also signed one-time Spokane Chiefs netminder Dustin Tokarski, 35, to a one-year, two-way contract on Monday and put him through waivers, hoping he’d clear and be available for the game as well.
All that said, the Hurricanes are 9-2-0 at home and not to be messed with. Onetime Ron Francis draftee Martin Necas leads a dangerous team with 12 goals and 25 assists already and is well on pace for a career year.
If the Kraken start dipping any toes in the water this time, they’re likely to drown.
