3 Game Essentials | Kraken vs. Bruins | Feb. 24

One: Shooting Mentality

There were some shots wide of the goal on scoring chances too, along with a few "extra passes" instead of shots.
Coach Dave Hakstol's take: "You can't be so fine. Those pucks have to get into the scoring area. There are certain opportunities when you shoot to score ... Other times, get pucks to the scoring area, then look for rebounds or a second puck ... We need to get pucks to the net and find chaos."
Hakstol said this all after the Kraken lost a heartbreaker at Boston Feb. 1. The Bruins jumped to a two-goal lead after two periods before Seattle tied it by getting pucks on the net and generating that "chaos" and a pair of scores, only to lose on a late David Pastrnak goal. It applied then and now, especially since Boston puts pucks into the scoring area. Fight fire with fire.

Focus on Kraken: Five Ex-Bruins

A quintet of Kraken played in Boston black-and-gold. They all would like to notch a victory over their former team. Ryan Donato was drafted by the Bruins and appeared in 46 games before getting traded to Minnesota; his dad, Ted, played for the Bruins and is long-time coach of the Harvard men's hockey program. Expect Donato to have extra jump Thursday.
Marcus Johansson was swapped to Boston in 2019, playing 10 regular-season games, then delivering four goals and seven assists as a productive member of a Bruins team that reached the Stanley Cup Final that spring.
Jeremy Lauzon is the Kraken's expansion draft selection from Boston and played for both the Bruins and AHL Providence (where Seattle assistant coach Jay Leach was head coach). Austin Czarnik, who started the season with the New York Islanders, started his NHL career with Boston over two seasons, signing as an undrafted free agent. Forward Karson Kuhlman, on Injured Reserve, was claimed on waivers from Boston earlier this season.

Know the Foe: Boston Bruins (29-17-4, 4th place Atlantic Division)

It's highly likely the Bruins will make the Eastern Conference playoffs as a wild-card team if they can't overtake a heavy-duty division with Florida, Tampa Bay and Toronto holding down the three spots above them. From there, it might be all about goalie Jeremy Swayman continuing his impressive play once it was decided Tuukka Rask couldn't continue his career due to hip issues.
Swayman, who starred at the University of Maine, went 7-3 in 10 games last season with the B's, playing some games in Providence when Leach was coach in 2020-21. He is 3-0-1 in four starts with a .968 save percentage and 0.96 goals against average since Rask cleared the NHL runway, including a stellar night in Monday's big 5-1 over red-hot Colorado.
Brad Marchand returns for Boston after serving a six-game suspension and fans can expect the same feisty player and chirper at the faceoff circles, net-front, plus any and all puck battles.