Sitting at 13-11-4 in the standings, the Panthers are looking to bounce back after suffering a 4-1 loss on the road against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. With the game tied 1-1 after two periods, the Lightning scored three unanswered goals in the third period to lock down the win.
Recalled from the AHL on Monday, Zac Dalpe scored the lone goal for the Panthers -- his second goal in three games since the recall -- and Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves in net.
"We're learning and we're building our game," said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, who has played two games since missing six straight due to a non-COVID illness. "At some point we need to put wins together, but we have a good chance tomorrow [against the Kraken]. We don't want to stick on this for too long. We'll take the good things from this and move forward."
Off to the best start of any first-year Panther in franchise history, Matthew Tkachuk ranks first on the team in points, (37), assists (24) and multi-point performances (13). Also off to a strong start, Carter Verhaeghe ranks second on the team in points (24), including scoring a team-leading 15 goals.
Needing to overcome injuries, Knight (illness), Anton Lundell (illness), Patric Hornqvist (upper body) and Radko Gudas (upper body) have all been absent from the lineup in recent contests.
With no skate this morning, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice will speak at 3:45 p.m. ET.
"I didn't think we moved the puck, managed the puck or moved our feet particularly well tonight," Maurice said after the loss at Tampa Bay. "We were trying to play a game slower than the game demanded itself to be played. We've got to find a way to get fast on a back-to-back. That's going to be a challenge for these guys, but we'll figure it out."
On a three-game losing skid that began with that loss to the Panthers earlier this month, the Kraken currently occupy third place in the Pacific Division with a record of 15-8-3. Opening up their four-game road trip, they sustained a 4-1 loss at the Washington Capitals on Friday.
Leading the Capitals 1-0 on a first-period goal from Adam Larsson, the Kraken fell behind 2-1 in the second period before surrendering a pair of late empty-net goals en route to the 4-1 final.
Losing more than just the game, the Kraken will be without one of their regular defensemen against the Panthers after Jamie Oleksiak was handed a three-game suspension by the NHL for an illegal check to the head on Washington's Alex Alexeyev during the second period.
"Just go back to work. Tough stretches, they're part of this," Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol told reporters after the loss. "You have stretches where you play well and things go your way. You have tough stretches on the schedule where you've got to just step up and go play good hockey. Our group is strong in the dressing room. Remain confident, do better than we did tonight."
Andre Burakovsky leads the Kraken in scoring with 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists), while Jordan Eberle is second with 22 points (six goals, 16 assists). In the early running for the Calder Trophy, rookie Matty Beniers is third on the team in points (21) and second in goals (10).
Manning the crease for the Kraken in three of the last four games, Philipp Grubauer has posted a 2-3-1 record with a 3.21 goals-against average and .882 save percentage this season.
"We've got to keep this thing as simple and as fast as we possibly can," Maurice said.
