One: Finding Back of the Net, Taking More Shots
ANAHEIM – At one point during his post-game media conference Saturday, coach Dan Bylsma answered, “Put the puck in the back of net” when asked what is missing lately from the power play, which was 0-for-3 in the matinee loss at Los Angeles and is 1-for-12 on power play opportunities since scoring in the win over Chicago during the homestand five games ago.
A couple of questions later, the questioning circled back to the power play. Was Bylsma happy about the scoring chances generated during man-advantage situations against LA?
“The power play is a game-to-game thing,” said Bylsma. “You can take positives from two games ago [3-0 home win over Nashville], having good looks and good movement and getting good opportunities. But the power play is all about in-game. [Saturday] wasn’t good enough ... we had a chance to get back in the game [late-second period] on the power play. We didn’t do that. It’s all about results. They [LA] got a power play goal, and we didn’t.”
After Sunday’s practice at Anaheim’s four-ring training complex (youth hockey is humming in southern California), Kraken alternate captain Jaden Schwartz offered up some ways to get those results: “We could be executing a little better coming to the neutral zone. But I think once we're in the zone, we could get some more pucks to the net, get inside, find some second-chance opportunities. There’s a little bit too much passing around on the outside.”
During his Sunday meetup with the media, Bylsma expanded the shoot-more mentality to even-strength play, too.
“It's about simplifying your mentality a little bit,” said Bylsma. “There's not always a better play to be made. There doesn't have to be a saucer pass or back-door tap-in for us to score ... [more shot] volume that can lead to success. And that's not just volume shooting; it's volume shooting and getting people in and around the net.”
Two: Kraken Goalies ‘Leaders’ and ‘Best Players’
D-man Brandon Montour, now with six goals (only Jared McCann has more), scored the Kraken’s only goal with about a minute-and-a-half remaining in Saturday's road loss. He hit a post about three minutes before that, effectively nearly tying the divisional showdown.
Goalie Joey Daccord again kept the Seattle squad within reach of a potential comeback, yet another clutch performance turned in by both the Kraken’s most frequent goaltender and tandem partner, Philipp Grubauer.
Daccord is top-three in save percentage (.922) among NHL goaltenders who have appeared in 14 or more games and is also tied for top-three in wins among all NHL goalies. That’s all against a backdrop of being in the top 10 of shots faced. With four games in six days this week, except for both goalies to be in goal during an important stretch for Seattle to stay in contention with the Pacific Division/Western Conference wild-card leaders.
“I can't speak enough about how his season is going,” said Montour when asked about Daccord’s work on Saturday. “There's kind of a definition of how our team needs to play. Joey and Grubi have been our backbone here. Unfortunately, Grubi’s record might not speak to it [two of three recent losses came with zero Kraken goals]. But they’re both back there being our leaders, our best players every night. We have to follow that battle level that those two put in every night.”
Three: Know the Foe: Anaheim Winners Three of Last Four
The rebuilding Ducks started November, enduring a four-game losing streak. But recovered to rack up 11 of 12 possible standings points in the following six games this month. The end result is Monday matches up two .500 teams. Both Anaheim goalies, veteran John Gibson and 24-year-old Czech-born Lukas Dostal, have been strong in net during the recent prosperous six-game run, even more impressive since Anaheim is among the league leaders in shots on goal allowed.
