Men in Full

The morning after a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres the Kraken were on the ice for practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex Friday.
As they prepared for Saturday's game in Arizona with the Coyotes, the team was joined by Marcus Johansson and Colin Blackwell, both of whom were full participants in practice. The two have been injured and are working their way back to being able to play. Both forwards are on the road trip to Arizona and Vegas.

"It's obviously good progress for both [Johansson] and [Blackwell] being out there," coach Dave Hakstol said. "No change in the status at all but nice to see their progress and coming back in practice."
Blackwell has been injured since the start of the season and has yet to play in a game. He looked good in Friday's practice and was skating well during drills.
Johansson played in the season opener on Oct. 12 in Vegas but has not suited up since.
"You miss being part of the group," Johansson said. "I've skated for a few days now and that's fun but being out there with the guys is way better. There's nothing more frustrating so I'm just happy to be out there and to be getting close."

Morgan Geekie Finds the Net

It had been 10 games since Geekie scored a goal but not for lack of trying. A player who has a great shot and loves to shoot, he finally broke through Thursday night with a goal on a one-timer in the first period.
While he wasn't scoring, he never stopped shooting.
"I think the coaches did a good job of kind of just pushing me along," Geekie said. "They're bound to go in here and there. I was just trying to go out there and put good shots on the net. If I wasn't going to score, someone's going to find something around the net."
Geekie's goal Thursday came five seconds after a Seattle power play had ended. The goal doesn't count as a power-play score despite the fact the penalized player had not joined the play yet.
It felt like a power-play goal for a unit that has been struggling to convert.
"I didn't realize it wasn't a power-play goal," Geekie said. "I think we're taking steps on our power play and we're making good strides. We're going out there every day and you guys see us in practice, you know we're working on it. I think we're making good strides."

Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz Together Again

During Thursday's game, Hakstol switched up the lines and put Eberle and Schwartz together on a line with Alex Wennberg mid-second period. It turned out to be a shrewd move as Eberle notched the first-ever Kraken hat trick and Schwartz finished with an empty-net goal and two assists.
At Friday's practice that line was together again.
"They spent probably three or four shifts together, at least, in Edmonton and obviously they've spent time together in the past," Hakstol said. "Their shifts in Edmonton, they generated a little bit of offense.
"It just felt like a good time [Thursday] night to get them back together. And you know, there was a little bit of magic there. They clicked a little bit along with 'Wenny' [Alex Wennberg] last night."

Young defensemen 'Competing' and 'Supporting'

The Kraken have a mix of veteran defensemen like Mark Giordano, Adam Larsson, and Jamie Oleksiak but they are getting production from the young guys as well.
Jeremy Lauzon has become part of a shutdown pairing along with Larsson, Haydn Fleury has stepped in when asked, as has Carson Soucy. There are only so many slots available to play and unfortunately someone has to sit out each game.
No matter who Hakstol has plugged in however, they've given him results.
"Those guys are working hard, they're competing hard," Hakstol said. "They're obviously competing for playing time, but they're also supporting one another as teammates. We see that day in and day out. Both sides of that are very important."