One: For the defense
Throughout the shootout loss Tuesday to Florida, the Kraken defenders looked more connected and focused than they have all season long. Though the Panthers compiled 33 shots, defensemen and forwards played with good sticks all night – getting to rebounds and loose pucks with proficiency.
They also had 18 blocked shots and were quick to exit the zone on breakout plays.
“I thought it was our best defensive effort of the year,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said Wednesday after practice.
That connectivity in the team’s defensive play will be key against the big-bodied Bruins, who will undoubtedly be hunting for pucks at the net front.
Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord looked none the worse for wear after illness knocked him out of his last scheduled start Sunday in New York. But he won’t be making the start this time around – still feeling somewhat under the weather -- as Philipp Grubauer steps in.
Daccord saved 1.7 goals above “expected” based on shot quality, according to Natural Stat Trick. He also has a .957 combined save percentage in two career games against the Bruins, both in Boston, in which he yielded a goal in a win last season and two in a loss last month.
Then again, Grubauer last February defeated the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout at Climate Pledge Arena and looked good at New Jersey last Friday in taking a 3-2 loss in which two of the Devils’ goals were pretty much scored on him by his own defenders. He also kept the New York Rangers from extending a 3-1 lead with several brilliant stops on Sunday ahead of the Kraken scoring six straight goals to prevail 7-5.
Two: Stay out of the infirmary
Yanni Gourde and Jared McCann were both given “maintenance days” off practice on Wednesday, and Bylsma said each would be a game-time decision. McCann was likely to play in Thursday’s game but Gourde, listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury after leaving the game against the Panthers, is more likely to go Saturday against Tampa Bay or next week against Ottawa.
He exited soon after being slashed on the wrist by a Florida defender while on a breakaway – an apparent infraction the officials did not penalize moments ahead of the Panthers heading back up ice and scoring the tying goal. Gourde also missed a game last week in New Jersey with an undisclosed lower-body injury, so it was unclear whether this latest one was new or an aggravation of a previous problem.
The Kraken can’t afford to be without either player very long given Jordan Eberle is already due to be out until at least February. Gourde had found a new comfort level being bounced out to right wing while McCann, who assisted on the lone Kraken goal Tuesday, continues to lead the team in goals with ten and points with 24 despite having just one goal and two assists his last 12 games.
Three: Know the foe
Boston had been playing well under new interim coach Joe Sacco, compiling a 7-2-0 record and four straight wins before getting demolished 8-1 by the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who shutout the Kraken last month, allowed a career-high eight goals on 35 shots, while Boston’s penalty kill – No. 2 in the league since Sacco took over from fired coach Jim Montgomery – surrendered three goals.
Goals allowed have become an issue for the Bruins this season, with them sitting at No. 23 at 3.17 per game compared to No. 5 a year ago at 2.70. But that’s nothing compared to their goal-scoring decline from 3.21 down to a 2.53 count per game, that’s the fifth worst in the league.
Much of that is due to a Bruins power play ranked dead last at 12.7% though they did manage one goal on two tries with the man advantage against the Jets.
