One: Keep eyes on the prize
The Kraken had lapses against Toronto on Thursday night in which they twice lost track of star forward William Nylander and allowed him to stand uncovered off to Joey Daccord’s right before scoring easy goals into that side of the net.
“We made some mistakes and gave them opportunities, and they made us pay,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said.
One of the sequences that led to a second period Nylander goal came off a poor line change in which the Kraken were scrambling to catch up to the play. There were other instances in the first period when they won faceoffs and had chances to exit their own zone and failed to do so.
Fortunately, those failed exits didn’t result in goals. But that’s often what keeps players on the ice longer than need be and ultimately can lead to trouble as defenders start running around in their own end. Just like losing track of opposing forwards, a lot of it comes down to focus, simplifying the game and executing.
The Kraken will need to do more of that against the Senators, who, fortunately, do not have the same world-class type of forwards as the Maple Leafs. But Tim Stutzle has eight points in five-lifetime games against the Kraken, while Brady Thachuk and Josh Norris are also very skilled and can make you pay for mistakes.
Two: A Bolstered Defense
Let’s get real. Expecting the Kraken to match the high-powered offense the Maple Leafs have was already a tall order with Vince Dunn out. Having to do it without Brandon Montour – who was with his wife for the birth of their daughter, Maison – made it an uphill battle before the opening puck drop. Montour is expected to be in the Saturday night lineup, and that’s huge for a team that needed to get more pucks through to the Toronto net than they did in the opening half of the game.
Much of the Kraken’s offense originates out of their defense, and Montour, in his last game in Montreal, was getting plenty of pucks through and helping drive the play. This will be key against an Ottawa team that frustrated the Kraken 11 months ago at the Canadian Tire Centre, turning away 39 shots in handing them a 2-0 defeat. Many of those shots were from the perimeter and unscreened, giving goalie Anton Forsberg a full view of the incoming blasts.
So, more pucks to the net and more traffic in front will help.
Three: Know your foe
Speaking of Forsberg, the goaltending is vastly improved in Ottawa due to the arrival of presumed No. 1 Linus Ullmark in an off-season trade with the Boston Bruins. But Ullmark played Friday night against the New York Rangers, so the Kraken should see Forsberg and his .895 save percentage in this one.
That’s a break, which the Kraken need as the Senators are 4-1-0 at home thus far. But unlike last season – when Forsberg’s shutout of the Kraken was the highlight of his otherwise subpar, injury-plagued season – the Kraken must capitalize this time and make him work a little harder. In his prior start against the Kings last Sunday, Forsberg allowed three goals on the first nine shots of an eventual loss in which he twice had to leave the game due to skate blade issues.
