Thursday night battle with Boston: previewing the Kraken hosting the Bruins, December 12th, 2024
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Coming off Tuesday’s tight shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, our Seattle Kraken look now to the second game of their current homestand as they host the Boston Bruins for a Thursday night tussle at Climate Pledge Arena. It’s the second of two matchups between the teams this season, as the Bruins took the first matchup back on November 3rd that ended with a final score of 2-0. With the way that the Kraken played in Tuesday’s defeat, you’d think they were a team that’s in a playoff position considering how strong they were defensively against a team that’s coming off a Stanley Cup win and that looks primed to get back there so far this year, but it’s only a recent stretch of success dating back to their last road trip that’s seen Seattle look this formidable. They’ll welcome an intriguing Bruins team that’s yet to find their best gear of play so far this season, and the Kraken certainly don’t want to become the team that helps Boston turn their season around. Here’s our game preview for tonight’s battle between the Boston Bruins and our Seattle Kraken.
Looking at our Kraken
Our Kraken have seemingly found a spark for their season, after a stretch of games that looked like it would doom the reason of their campaign considering just how bad the team looked and against the type of opponent that those results came against. Seattle’s challenging road trip on the East coast saw them net three of four possible wins, and with the shootout loss on Tuesday the Kraken have recorded points in four of the past five games after losing four of five to end the month of November. The Kraken have simplified their game, playing strong defensively while using grinding, gritty offensive play to generate the offense that they need to win games. Joey Daccord has carried a strong load, as he has all season, with Philipp Grubauer making the necessary saves in a wild Sunday afternoon win at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. Seattle’s impressive pace of play and suffocating performances defensively have been massive for their recent surge in how they play, and the big question is can the Kraken continue this sort of effort consistently or if this is just a flash in the pan for a team that will hang around the .500 mark all season for a second straight year. Recent results have the team and fanbase feeling good, but this sort of effort and play on a night to night basis must be sustained for Seattle to make something of this season.
Looking at the Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a team that’s largely underperformed this season, so much so that they used head coach Jim Montgomery as a scapegoat for their issues and fired him, with Joe Sacco taking over and Montgomery immediately getting scooped up by the St. Louis Blues. The Bruins had their four-game winning streak snapped with an embarrassing 8-1 loss in Winnipeg to the red hot Jets on Tuesday night. Boston has struggled against playoff teams with a 4-13 record while being outscored 58-30 against such teams, but they aren’t playing one (At least they weren’t last season) in the Kraken tonight so that might not matter. The Bruins are a middling 6-6-1 on the road this year, and just are in an odd position given the star power that they do have but little answers as to how they can push themselves forward in a way that’ll get them going. Boston is a confusing team, as they sit at third place in the Atlantic Division but have one of the worst goal differentials in the Eastern Conference at -19. The Bruins will surely come into this game pissed off and trying to erase the memory of getting blown out by Winnipeg, but it won’t be easy due to two primary factors. Boston has struggled as a team to finish their scoring opportunities so far this season, as David Pastrňák and Brad Marchand lead them in scoring (With Marchand only recently picking his game up) and after those two it’s a lot of “meh.” The other factor is that Seattle, despite their general mediocrity, has done a strong job defensively in multiple ways, whether it’s limiting goal scoring chances, preventing teams getting to the hard areas (Last game against the Panthers was a masterclass in that), or strong play from their goaltenders. Look for this contest to be low scoring.
Head-to-head history
Our Seattle Kraken hold a 3-3-1 head-to-head record all-time versus the Boston Bruins, including a 1-1-1 mark at home. All of those games have been very competitive, with four games being decided by just one goal and the largest margin of victory in this head-to-head series coming by way of a 3-0 win for the Kraken on January 12th, 2023 as Martin Jones recorded a shutout and Brandon Tanev, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jaden Schwartz tallying the goals in that contest. Perhaps the most memorable of these games between the Bruins and Kraken came on February 23rd, 2023 as Seattle fell by a score of 5-6. It was one of the Kraken’s “Reverse Retro” games that year, with Seattle breaking the ice first thanks to a Matty Beniers goal that got the fans at Climate Pledge Arena amped early on. This was a barn burner, and there was hope that the Kraken could get the victory as Jaden Schwartz’s third period goal gave Seattle a lead. That hope faded as goals by Brandon Carlo and Jake DeBrusk gave Boston the lead and the win. Considering the way that both teams have been playing, I would expect this game to be a tight one just as so many of these results have been between these franchises in the past.
Group nights for this game
It’s as close to an official “college night” as the Kraken can have, as three universities are being celebrated by way of promotional night at Climate Pledge Arena for this game. Alum and students of the University of Oregon, University of Idaho, and University of Alaska Anchorage who bought their ticket to the game through the proper link will be able to pick up a special edition Kraken hat in their schools colors in “The Lair” location of the Kraken Team Store at the game, unless you are looking for the Idaho hat as those tickets are officially sold out. Perhaps someone who knows Michael Matyas, who will go down in Kraken franchise history as an Emergency Backup Goaltender that did suit up for the team, will be in attendance for tonight’s game.
Morning skate and lineup notes
Unfortunately because of an optional morning skate today and a limited attendance, we didn’t see any lines to give any sort of “lineup notes” since we only saw limited drills before head coach Dan Bylsma’s media availability. Attendance for this optional skate was as follows: Jared McCann, Eeli Tolvanen, Shane Wright, Mitchell Stephens, Will Borgen, Ryan Winterton, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Tye Kartye, Vince Dunn, Josh Mahura, Ryker Evans, Adam Larsson, and Philipp Grubauer. Unsurprisingly, Yanni Gourde was absent from the skate and seemingly the facility (that media was allowed to see) as he continues to deal with a lower body injury that he first sustained on the road trip in the teams win against the Islanders, and seemed to aggravate in the loss against the Panthers. Bylsma called Gourde day-to-day and labelled him as doubtful for this contest, so it makes sense that he wasn’t present for this skate. Gourde’s injury is a “lingering” issue that they’ll have to monitor going forward, which isn’t great to hear as it sounds like Yanni will just have to deal with this injury as opposed to being able to fully heal from it in the short term. It’s not surprising to see only 13 players present for this morning skate, as the formula for Dan Bylsma in regards to practices at home has typically been to have a full skate the day before a game and then an optional the day of so players can “get what they need to” in preparation for the game, but there are always some things to note usually.
Starting goaltender matchup
The Kraken haven’t confirmed (Dan Bylsma wasn’t asked about it after the teams optional morning skate and he usually doesn’t name starters anyway) their goaltender in the crease for tonight’s game, but with Philipp Grubauer getting lots of work in through the duration of the practice and after the main group that was in attendance left, we imagine that Joey Daccord will get the start tonight against the Bruins. Daccord has two career starts against the Bruins, one last season and the other this season with both of them landing within the calendar year of 2024. Joey has a 1-1-0 record with a goals against average of 1.55 and a save percentage of .957 against the Bruins. For Boston, we were able to get to Climate Pledge Arena fast enough to catch a solid portion of their morning skate, and the only goaltender present was Joonas Korpisalo, so we imagine the former Ottawa Senator will get the start tonight against our Kraken. Especially considering that Jeremy Swayman struggled heavily, although the rest of his team did anyway, it makes sense that the Bruins would send out Korpisalo for that reason and considering that his numbers look good (6-2-1 record, 2.40 GAA, .909SV% with two shutouts) on the year to this point. Korpisalo only has one career start against Seattle in his career, coming with Ottawa last season when the Kraken won by a score of 4-1 and Joonas record 24 saves on 27 shots for an .889SV%.
Key players to watch
Chandler Stephenson is our key player to watch for the Kraken tonight, as he enters tonight’s game with seven points (Two goals/Five assists) in his last six games played, points in consecutive games and Seattle's lone goal on Tuesday's shootout loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. “Stevie” has put up five multi-point efforts this season, including his sixth career four-point game in the Kraken’s blowout victory over the Montreal Canadiens back on October 29th. Stephenson leads all Kraken skaters in assists (17) and is tied for second in points (20). While he isn’t a goal scorer and his numbers analytically are poor, the expensive free agent forward has been producing points lately and that’s a positive so we’ll look for Stephenson’s impact in tonight’s game against the Bruins. Another player that we’d keep an eye on tonight would be “The Maestro,” Oliver Bjorkstrand. With Yanni Gourde day-to-day and thus doubtful for tonight’s game against Boston, and Jared McCann missing practice yesterday with a “maintenance day,” Seattle will need their other forwards to pick up the slack and Bjorky has been doing that since he was sent to the press box by Dan Bylsma in an attempt to “reset” things. Bjorkstrand has done just that since spending time as a healthy scratch, and while he didn’t record a point in Tuesday’s loss he had recorded six points in four games coming into that contest including a four-point effort against the Rangers.
Seattle Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson has been racking up the points over his last six games, and will be a key presence tonight as the team is without veteran forward Yanni Gourde. (Photo by Kevin Ng)
Morgan Geekie is our key Bruins player to watch against our Kraken tonight, as “Geeks” makes just his second trip to Climate Pledge Arena since joining the Bruins in free agency following the 2022-23 season. Geekie enters tonight’s contest with four points (Two goals/Two assists) in his last five games played. Morgan’s two goals in that span came during Boston's game on December 4th in Chicago. The former Kraken played two seasons in Seattle after being selected from the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2021 Expansion Draft and recorded 50 points (16 goals/34 assists) in 142 games with the Kraken, for those who may have forgotten. No one out pizzas the hut, IYKYK. Another key, yet obvious, player to watch for Boston tonight would be Czech forward David Pastrňák. “Pasta” is the Bruins leading point getter this season, and has been a top player in the league for a good amount of time. He, like the rest of his teammates, isn’t having the sort of year that he’d like to be having, but the talent is there and ideally Seattle won’t be the team that helps him figure things out in order to get going.
Key Kraken storylines to monitor
Will Seattle’s power play be a factor tonight?
The Kraken power play has never been consistently good throughout the franchises existence, and that has been an issue for the team throughout the large majority of this season outside of the teams previous road trip where they scored four goals on eight chances on the man advantage. That power play prowess did not continue last game against the Panthers, as Seattle went 0/3 against Florida’s ninth ranked penalty kill unit, but there’s an opportunity for the Kraken to take advantage if they go a man up tonight considering that the Boston Bruins kill ranks 23rd in the league. It’s not a sure fire that they’ll feast on this unit for the Bruins, but the opportunity is there against a kill that hasn’t performed that well so far this season and if Seattle’s surge lately in that department is sustainable, we very well could see power play scoring tonight.
Can the Kraken continue their strong defensive play?
Strong defensive play has been something that’s been present for the Kraken in their three seasons of existence outside of the inaugural year, as you can kinda throw that one out the window when considering sample size due to a number of factors that largely relate to it being the first campaign of an expansion team. Seattle’s defensive effort feels emphasized coming off Tuesday’s game against Florida because of how good they looked defending the Panthers and the way that they play. The Kraken clogged up the middle of the ice and essentially forced their opponent to do all of their offensive work from the perimeter, sending many a harmless puck towards the net that was either blocked by a skater or snared easily by Joey Daccord in net due to the fact that he could track it well. Boston hasn’t done anything groundbreaking or lifechanging offensively, so there seems to be a natural pathway for this to be a low scoring affair.
How will Seattle replace Yanni Gourde in the lineup tonight?
With Kraken forward Yanni Gourde out of the lineup tonight, considered “Day-to-day” by head coach Dan Bylsma for a lower body injury he seemed to reaggravate last game, it’ll be interesting to see which forward is slotted in to take his place on his line and which of Daniel Sprong or Ryan Winterton will enter the lineup since Seattle is without a forward. Sprong would seem like a natural choice to enter the lineup considering he’s a veteran that the Kraken brought back in an effort to kick the tires on him since he’s got an offensive punch, but the way that Daniel plays is the opposite of how Seattle has looked since their road trip. The Kraken are more of a grinding, dig it out offense and Sprong does not play that sort of game, in addition to the fact that he’s not a great defensive forward either, leaving it to seem as though Seattle will insert Ryan Winterton (Called up yesterday afternoon from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley after being sent down when the Kraken had to sign EBUG Michael Matyas before their game against the Rangers) into the lineup considering he is a player that will play a defensive game and go to the hard areas.
How to watch
For those who won’t be joining us tonight at Climate Pledge Arena, this game is viewable on the Kraken Hockey Network and KONG in the local market and ESPN+ for those who aren’t in the local market. For those in the state of the Washington, here’s the list of Seattle Kraken audio network affiliates: Seattle KJR 93.3 FM (Flagship station), Spokane KIX 99.3 FM, Tri-Cities KJOX 1340 AM, Mount Vernon KAPS 660 AM and 102.1 FM, Port Angeles KONP 1450 AM and 101.7 FM, Forks KBDB 96.7 FM, Olympia KAYO 96.9 FM/KGY 95.3 FM, Bellingham KPUG 1170AM or KGMI 790 AM, Yakima KBBO 1390 AM, Shelton KMAS 1030 AM/103.3 FM, Colfax KRAO 102.5 FM, Ellensburg KXLE 95.3 FM, and Aberdeen KSWW 102.1 FM. For those in the state of Oregon: Portland KPOJ 620 AM, Astoria KCRX 102.3 FM, Hood River/The Dalles KIHR 1340 AM and 98.3 FM, Corvallis KEJO 1240 AM. For those in Alaska: Anchorage KTZN 550 AM, Juneau KTKU 105.1 FM, Ketchikan KTKN 930 AM and 95.7 FM, Kenai KSRM 920 AM, Sitka KIFW 1230 AM, Kodiak Is. KVOK 560 AM/98.7 FM, and Fairbanks KKED 104.7 FM. For those in Idaho, you can find it on St Maries KOFE 1240 AM and those in Montana can find it on Missoula KKVU 102.9 FM. If you want to watch the game alongside other Kraken fans or just be out of the house, you can click here for a list of Anchor Alliance bars including the home of Circling Seattle Sports, Rough & Tumble Pub!
What’s next after this game
Following tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins, the second consecutive game against an opponent from the Atlantic Division for them, our Seattle Kraken will have a day of practice tomorrow at the Kraken Community Iceplex before continuing their four-game homestand here in the middle of the month of December. It’ll be the third of four straight games against Atlantic Division teams (Yes, all four games of this homestand), as the Kraken will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, December 14th with a puck drop time of 7PM PST that will be broadcast on the Kraken Hockey Network and KONG locally. After playing host to a Lightning team sitting in the fourth place spot of their division and just barely holding onto the second Wild Card spot, Seattle will have a day off on Sunday, and then a day of practice on Monday before they wrap up this four-game homestand on Tuesday. That game on December 17th sees the Kraken host the Ottawa Senators with a puck drop time of 7PM PST for the first matchup between these teams this season, and it’s also Kraken Trapper Hat giveaway night.
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social
〰️
Instagram: @CirclingSeattleSports Twitter: @CirclingSports Threads: @CirclingSeattleSports Tiktok: @CirclingSeattleSports Facebook: Circling Seattle Sports BlueSky: @circlingseasports.bsky.social 〰️
Check out our previous Seattle Kraken articles here.
Check out our previous articles with writing by Charles Hamaker here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Kevin Ng, check out his portfolio here.
Check out our previous articles with photos by Rio Giancarlo here, and his portfolio here.
Support the work of Circling Seattle Sports by checking out our merchandise!