3 Game Essentials | Kraken at Capitals | March 5

One: All About 'Gio'

Saturday night, the 38-year-old defenseman plays in his 1,000th NHL game. Only 363 other players have reached the milestone in more than a century of league history, including just 120 defensemen.
The NHL Draft started in 1963. Since then, only 10 undrafted defensemen have appeared in 1,000 games or more. Giordano won the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league's top defenseman, at age 35 in 2019. He's one of only four D-men to do so at age 35 or older. The other three, Nicklas Lidstrom, Al McInnis and Doug Harvey, are all in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Soak it in, Kraken fans. We all know Giordano might be traded by the March 21 deadline. Enjoy watching him quarterback the first-unit power play on this road trip, which starts in Washington Saturday and Carolina Sunday. Appreciate how expertly he moves up into the offensive action (especially on the penalty kill, lately scoring two shorthanded goals in the last five games) yet blocked shots in practically every period of every Kraken game he has played this year.
"He's incredible," says Adam Larsson, a stellar defender of his own right (they both are among league leaders in not making mistakes in the defensive zone). "Not just staying and playing in this league that long but he is still going strong out there ... He doesn't even take any practices off. He is so competitive every single game."

Two: Giordano by the Numbers

When Giordano debuted for the Calgary Flames in January 2006, advanced analytics were barely a wisp of a concept in hockey. Here's data to back up the aforementioned Larsson's claim that his teammate and sometimes defensive partner is "still going strong."
This season, per Evolving-Hockey.com, Giordano is 14th among all NHL defensemen in shot attempts per 60 minutes (14 or 15 shots every 60 minutes of ice time). Among his fellow Kraken defensemen who have played at least 20 games, Giordano leads opponents' shot quality more than any other SEA defender.
Stick tap to Kraken colleague Alison Lukan for the numbers. She debuts as a color analyst Saturday against Washington, partnering with future Hall of Fame play-by-play man John Forslund. Seattle fans are in for a treat.

Three: Know the Foe: Washington Capitals (29-18-9, 4th in Metropolitan Division)

The Caps might not climb any higher than fourth in their division but appear headed to the playoffs, barring a complete meltdown, since they are 13 standings points ahead of the nearest challenge for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.
Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin started his NHL career at the start of the 2005-06 season, nearly four months before Mark Giordano debuted for Calgary. Both teams started playing in the NHL during the early 1970s. Ovechkin and Giordano have played on opposing sides for the two franchises. In 2019, 13 years after first facing each other, both were named to the 2019 First All-Star Team.