Predators (4-5-0) at Kraken (3-5-2) | 7:00 p.m.

One: Lots to Like

Yes, that was Dave Hakstol smiling and heartily shaking hands with assistant coach Dave Lowry behind the bench immediately after Jared McCann scored the overtime winner Monday night in Tampa. There was plenty to grin about with the trip earning five of eight possible standings points against three 2023 Eastern Conference playoff teams and a Detroit team on a five-game win streak.

“We competed hard every day,” said Hakstol. “We knew it was going to be a tough trip. If you look at the schedule and the opponents we were able to grind out five points, which is a real successful road trip. Very, very close hockey games."

Hakstol was especially pleased with the goaltending from both Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer on the Eastern swing, performances sure to set up friendly and happy debate among Kraken fans about which goalie should get the start on given nights.

Arguably, the best period of the trip was the first 20 minutes of the Tampa Bay win. The Kraken tied a franchise record with 20 shots on goal and scored from three different groups: defense (Brian Dumoulin), forward line (Yanni Gourde), and the power play (Kailer Yamamoto). Stats tell part of the story and Hakstol added another before jumping on the team plane Monday. His take is key to how Seattle can keep earning 60-plus percent of possible standings points as the calendar turns to November.

"We were able to turn pucks over and stay on pucks in the offensive zone,” said Hakstol. “There was really good energy throughout all four lines ... we were able to jump on [the Lightning} a little bit, create some of those turnovers with pace and some good checks.”

Two: Yama-Motoring

When the Kraken signed Kailer Yamamoto to a free-agent contract this summer, GM Ron Francis was looking at the Spokane native’s 2021-22 season more so than last year when discussing the 25-year-old’s potential to add significant depth scoring.

Yamamoto scored 20 goals that season and added 21 assists. Last season, when the 5-foot-8, 153-pound forward’s shooting percentage dipped to a career-low 10 percent, he totaled 10 goals and 15 assists in 58 games (the equivalent of a 14-goal campaign over a full schedule).

Yamamoto scored his second goal of the season Monday, his first since the home opener. He also executed a backhanded saucer pass from the sideboards to feed Yanni Gourde for a first-period goal. Kraken analyst JT Brown was raving about the play on the ROOT Sports telecast and rightfully so. Jared McCann was talking about Yamamoto’s contributions after the game, especially his shooting touch, and how Yamamoto wins a lot of puck battles despite his smaller stature. Other teammates talk about Yamamoto’s willingness to go net-front and impressively stay around the puck and scoring chances. He’s going to be fun for Kraken fans to watch all season.

Know the Foe: Nashville: Seattle Looks to Avenge 3-0 Shutout

Sure, it is notable that original coach Barry Trotz (who won a Cup in with the Washington Capitals in 2018) is now Nashville’s GM. Center Ryan O’Reilly, who won a Cup with St. Louis in 2019 with then teammates Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn, played in his 1,000^th game Monday and is still a highly effective two-way center signed by Trotz for team culture as well. Nashville has promising younger players in the likes of Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista. But the Predators go as all-star goalie Juuse Saros goes. His record is 4-4, including W’s against Toronto and the New York Rangers and a home shutout against the Kraken in the second game of the season for both squads. His losses show three games of sub-.900 save percentages and was chased after giving four early goals to Edmonton. Backup Kevin Lankinen made his first start in a loss at Vancouver, so Saros will more than likely be “between the pipes” for a Kraken team seeking redemption and a happily noisy Climate Pledge Arena crowd.