Part of the allure of the Winter Classic is that although it is played outside, it is a regular-season game with two points on the line, points that the Kraken need to continue climbing back into contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Seattle endured an eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) from Nov. 24-Dec. 10, but has since turned its struggles around, earning a point in seven straight (5-0-2). After a 2-1 win at the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, the Kraken now sit in fourth place in the Pacific Division.
"Hockey's a weird game,” McCann said. “We went through it in [2021-22] where we were losing a lot, but we were also competing with some of the best teams in the League. It's more of our consistency. ... You're not going to win every game 7-1, right? Sometimes you're going to have to beat teams 2-1 or 1-0. And we’ve had some amazing goaltending the last couple of weeks here, and we want to keep it going."
With starting goalie Philipp Grubauer out with a lower-body injury, Joey Daccord has stepped in and posted a .944 save percentage and 1.71 goals-against average in seven starts (4-1-2). Chris Driedger also stopped 37 of 38 shots against the Flames on Wednesday in his first NHL start in 20 months.
The timing of the current streak adds to the hype of the Winter Classic for the Kraken and their fans. Had the game been played three weeks ago, the mood surrounding the event may have been different.
"It's headed in the right direction,” Eberle said. “It’s positive, and sometimes a little adversity throughout the season is not a bad thing. You build off that. You see teams that win Cups, there's not many that have gone through a smooth year and gone on to win. So, I'd like to think that in the end, this will be good for us.”
Adding to that adversity have been injuries to forwards Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovsky in addition to Grubauer. All three were on the ice at practice on Thursday, with Grubauer skating separately with goalie coach Steve Briere, Schwartz skating with the team but wearing a red non-contact sweater, and Burakovsky a full participant.
“I knew once we kind of got a little bit of traction that it would turn,” Eberle said. “And you can see it starting to turn, and then the positive on top of that, we're going to start getting some guys back. So, it's just going to add to the depth that we have as a group.”
Whether any of those players will be ready in time for New Year’s Day remains to be seen, but Eberle and McCann are focused on the task at hand, knowing full well that the defending Stanley Cup champions have been a tough matchup for the Kraken in the past. Seattle is 1-8-0 all-time against Vegas.
“It's still an NHL game,” McCann said. “We’re still looking to get the two points, and obviously we haven't had the best of games against Vegas, so we're looking to change that here.”
