Seattle Kraken Game Day Preview: Home vs. Kings to end homestand – Hockey Writers –
The Seattle Kraken are preparing to take on the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, December 10th. This game is the first of a four-game series between the two teams. The Krakens conclude a four-game homestand tonight as they look to snap a six-game losing streak.
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This game is the second of a two-game road trip for the Kings. They just defeated the Utah Mammoths 4-2 on Monday, December 8th. The Kings are now on a two-game winning streak and looking to extend it to three before heading back to California.
Siren storyline
The biggest storyline leading up to this game was Berkeley Caton being placed on injured reserve (IR) after suffering an upper body injury. The young rookie has contributed five assists in 21 games this season. Hopefully he can recover quickly and get back on the ice.
Instead, Ben Meyers was recalled by the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Kraken’s American Hockey League affiliate. Meyers has appeared in nine games for the Kraken this season and has three assists. His last game was on November 13 against the Winnipeg Jets before he was sent back to Coachella Valley.
So far this season, Meyers has played 11 games for the Firebirds and scored 13 points (nine goals and four assists). He’s a big part of the Coachella Valley offense and hopefully he can find a way to translate that into the Kraken’s bottom six as long as he’s on the team.
It’s unclear at this point, but Meyers could be a healthy scratch in this game. The Kraken still have Jani Niemann on their side, who played in the final game against the Minnesota Wild. Overall, he has played 17 games and scored four goals. We’ll have to wait and see what the final lineup will be for tonight’s game.
The player to watch in this game is Chandler Stephenson. This tournament is his bobblehead night, so whenever Kraken wins a tournament, the first 10,000 people in attendance receive a bobblehead version of his classic fish “feeding”. He hasn’t scored in three games, but this game seems like the perfect time to break that mini drought.
Team statistics
Seattle Kraken
Season record: 11-10-6
Top scorer:
- Jordan Eberle – 9 goals (G), 8 assists (A), 17 points (P)
- Marty Beniers – 3 G, 13 A, 16 P
- Jaden Schwartz – 8 G, 7 A, 15 P
- Brandon Montour – 6 G, 9 A, 15 P
- Chandler Stephenson – 5 G, 9 A, 14 P
Goalie statistics:
- Joey Daccord – 7-7-4, 2.99 goals against average (GAA), .891 save percentage (SV%)
- Philipp Grubauer – 4-1-1, 2.54 GAA, 0.900 SV%
- Matt Murray – 0-2-1, 2.21 GAA, 0.922 SV%
Los Angeles Kings
Season record: 14-8-7
Top scorer:
- Adrian Kempe – 10 G, 16 A, 26 P
- Kevin Fiala – 10 G, 11 A, 21 P
- Quinton Byfield – 4 G, 15 A, 19 P
- Anze Kopitar – 6 G, 9 A, 15 P
- Corey Perry – 7 G, 7 A, 14 P
Goalie statistics:
- Darcy Kuemper – 10-6-5, 2.23 GAA, 0.914 SV%
- Anton Forsberg – 4-2-2, 2.69 GAA, 0.894 SV%
Expected lineup
(Subject to change before puck drops)
Projected lineup articles based on hockey writers.
Seattle Kraken
Jared McCann — Marty Beniers — Jordan Eberly
Mason Marchment – Chandler Stephenson – Ellie Tolvanen
Jani Nyman — Sean Wright — Kaapo Kakko
Tye Carty — Frederic Gaudreau — Ryan Winterton
Vince Dunn — Adam Larson
Ryan Lindgren — Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura — Rick Evans
Joey Daccord
Philip Grubauer
Scratches: Ben Meyers, Jamie Oleksiak, Kyle Fleury
Injuried: Berkeley Caton, Jaden Schwartz, Matt Murray, Max McCormick
Los Angeles Kings
Alex Laferrière – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Joel Armia
Warren Fogler – Phillip Danault – Trevor Moore
Andrei Kuzmenko – Alex Turcotte – Corey Perry
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmondson — Brent Clark
Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci
Scratches: Jeff Marlott, Jacob Movillare, Samuel Helenius
Injuried: not applicable
What’s next for Kraken
The Kraken will play a one-time game on the road against the Mammoths on Friday, December 12th.
