Pluses, minuses for Kraken-Ducks

NHL Network and ESPN analyst Kevin Weekes will offer his pluses and minuses for big games each week throughout the season.

The Seattle Kraken visit the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, NHL LIVE).
Seattle (10-15-3) looks to build on a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. Anaheim (16-9-5) enters with points in seven of its past eight games (5-1-2) and leads the Pacific Division.
Here's my breakdown of the game.

Kraken

Pluses: Since losing six straight games, they have points in eight of their past 11 games (6-3-2). It's nice to see that kind of response, especially from a first-year team.
Jordan Eberle has been the Kraken's most consistent offensive player. The forward leads Seattle with 12 goals and is second with 18 points, one behind forward Jaden Schwartz. I also like the leadership Eberle brings, along with defensemen Mark Giordano, who is the captain, and Adam Larsson.
The penalty kill ranks 12th in the League (82.0 percent) and is definitely something that has kept the Kraken in games.

Minuses: They are a quarter of the way into the season and still don't seem to have a familiarity with one another and aren't able to stitch games together. The Kraken play well in spurts but haven't shown the ability to come back; they have one win in 13 games when trailing after the first period. And the play of goalies Philipp Grubauer (7-11-3, 3.25 goals-against average, .884 save percentage) and Chris Driedger (3-2-0, 3.07 GAA, .898 save percentage) needs to be better. Driedger did make 33 saves in the win Tuesday.
Missing a player like forward Yanni Gourde, who is in COVID-19 protocol, also hurts the offense. He is tied with Jared McCann for third on the Kraken with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 22 games. Seattle has scored 2.86 goals per game, which is 18th in the NHL, but is tied with the Buffalo Sabres for 28th in goals against per game (3.50).

Ducks

Pluses: Rookies Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale have had a big impact this season, but so have Troy Terry and Sonny Milano. It may have taken each of them a few years but they're playing like all-stars now. Terry, a forward, leads the Ducks with 28 points (17 goals, 11 assists) in 29 games and Milano, also a forward, has scored 20 points (right goals, 12 assists) in 25 games. Zegras, a forward, has scored 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 28 games, and Drysdale is third among Ducks defensemen in ice time, averaging 20:02 per game.

Goalie John Gibson has been awesome. He's 11-7-4 with a 2.57 GAA and .918 save percentage and finally getting some offensive support. but he will miss his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. Anthony Stolarz has done great when he's played for Gibson, going 5-2-1 with a 2.26 GAA, .930 save percentage and two shutouts in nine games (eight starts). And the power play ranks fifth (25.3 percent), which is a credit to coach Dallas Eakins and his staff.
Minuses: There's not many negatives for the Ducks right now. But one thing is that they are 15th in shots per game (31.8) and 23rd in shots against per game (32.3).

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Terry and top line for Ducks
   2. Who steps up for Kraken without Gourde?
   3. Seattle energy level in second of back to back